27 Pastoorstraat

Before the Second World War Pastoorstraat was a central point for the Arnhem Jews, and the synagogue, after a design by the Arnhem city architect Hen- drik J. Heuvelink, was an important building. The foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1852, with the synagogue being blessed a year later on 19 August 1853. The location was a conscious choice. The house of Jonas Daniël Meijer (1780-1834), the first Jewish lawyer in the Netherlands, stood here until 1852. He was born in Arnhem and lived there till 1890. Meijer was also advisor to King Lodewijk Napoleon and to King Willem I. [1] Around 1853 approximately 1,200 Jews lived in the capital of Gelderland. Due to the fact that the community continued to grow, the seat of the Head Rabbi was moved to Arnhem in 1881. The building in Pastoorstraat then received the status of Dutch-Israeli main synagogue. [2] The Jewish bathhouse was nearby, in Kerkstraat, and from 1893 the Jewish School was located in the Kippen- markt, behind the house of God. By the end of the 1930s the number of Jews in Arnhem had risen to about 2,100, partly due to the arrival of refugees from Germany. Measures against the Jews Jewish resistance Raids The synagogue during the Battle of Arnhem Jewish evaders After the liberation in 1945 Recovery Restoration

Measures against the Jews

During the years of occupation, 1940-1945, the lives of the Arnhem Jews changed drastically. For the first months they could go about their lives fairly normally, but in August 1940 Jewish shops in Rog- gestraat and Steenstraat were daubed with racist slogans. Pam- phlets were also pasted up bearing ’calls’ such as “Do not buy from Jews” and “Jews not admitted”.[3] A month later NSB’ers tried un- successfully to set fire to the synagogue. In the autumn of 1940 Jewish teachers were sacked from non- Jewish schools. From then on they were only allowed to teach at Jewish schools. Text books were radically ‘adapted’: everything that did not fit in with the German philosophy, was removed from the school books, such as information about Jews and Deutschfeindliche (anti-German) writers, their poetry and novels.[4] Early in 1941 the German state commissioner Arthur Seyss- Inquart’s anti-Jewish measures took on a more severe form. Jewish footballers were no longer permitted to play for Vitesse, violinists had to leave the Gelders Orkest (Gelderland Orchestra), people were banned from membership of the Air Defence Service, and shops were ransacked. A second attempt to burn down the synagogue occurred on the night of 10/11 January, but nearby inhabitants managed to extinguish the fire quite quickly. [5] The material damage was limited but the psychological blow was enormous. The compulsory wearing of a yellow star with the word ‘Jew’ written on it, banning from schools, swimming pools and public parks are just a few examples of the discriminatory measures introduced by the German occupiers.

1 Jewish resistance However, the Arnhem Jews didn’t just stand by looking helpless. Various young men and a few slight- ly older people joined the resistance. For some this proved fatal, for example for 38 year-old Elias Paul Broekman. He went into hiding in Breda, and became a member of a commando unit. On 4 May 1942 Broekman was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) “for insulting the N.S.B.” [6] He was taken to Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany, where he was shot on 29 June 1942 while “attempting to escape”. His father Aron Broekman also died at that camp on 25 June of the same year. [7] Elias’ wife Frederica Broekman-Mendels spent two years at Auschwitz concentration camp. She survived the war, as did her two children Lottie and Robbie. All their effects were gone, so they received a 21 guilders per week benefit from Arnhem council. [8]

Raids In February 1941 the Germans carried out their first raids at a number of places in the Netherlands in which Jews were picked up and taken to Amersfoort Camp. From there they were sent to concentration camps in Germany. The first raid on Arnhem Jews took place on 9 October 1941. Ten people were picked up that day and sent to Mauthausen, where all of them were killed. The following year saw more raids when the transition was made to systematic deportations. The Arn- hem police were ordered by the state commissioner to make an alphabetic list of all Jewish inhabitants. The police were then supposed to go to every one of the 581 addresses and arrest the occupants. If they were not at home the gas and water supplies were cut off and the house was sealed. In the period up to 10 December 1942, 131 houses were cleared out. The lists were continually checked and adjusted. [9] From October 1942 Westerbork Camp in the province of Drenthe served as Polizeiliches Durch- gangslager Westerbork: the transit camp on the way to the east. Later on the well-known diarists An- ne Frank and Etty Hillesum were imprisoned here before being sent to concentration camps in Germa- ny and Poland. The German general commissioner for security in the Netherlands, Hanns Albin Rauter, promised his boss Heinrich Himmler in Berlin that the Jews would be very quickly dealt with. On 10 September 1942 he sent the following message: “Am 15. Oktober wird das Judentum in Holland für vogelfrei erklärt, dh. es beginnt eine grosse Polizeiaktion, an der nicht nur deutsche und niederländische Polizeiorgane sondern darüber der Arbeitsbereich der NSDAP, die Gliederungen der Partie, der NSB, die Wehrmacht usw. mit he- rangezogen werden. Jeder Jude, der irgendwo in Holland angetroffen wird, wird in die grossen Judenlager eingezogen.” “On 15 October open-season will be declared on Jewry in Holland, in other words, on that date a huge police action will begin in which not only Dutch and German police establishments will take part, also involved will be the NSDAP, the NSB, the Wehrmacht etc.. Every Jew found anywhere in Holland will be locked up in one of the big Jewish camps.” At the same time Rauter ensured that all Police Corps chiefs received instructions. For Arnhem this meant that on 10 December 1942 the police had to pick up 959 Jews. They were held at ten assembly points awaiting transport to Westerbork Camp. Seventy policemen were each given a list of the names and addresses of the victims to be arrested. 271 houses were searched during the raid. Jews were found and arrested at 138 addresses. And on that December evening the Joods Oude Lie- denhuis at Markt 5 was emptied. All sixty occupants and about 20 Jewish staff members were transported to Westerbork. Not one of them returned after the war. [10] 346 Arnhem inhabitants were finally taken to Drenthe.

2 In March 1943 Rauter made it known that from 10 April all provinces, with the exception of Utrecht and North and South Holland, had to be “Judenrein” (‘Clear of Jews’). The remaining Jews in Arnhem were ordered to report to the station, from where they were taken by passenger train to Vught camp. [11] Approximately 1,300 Jews were deported from the Gelderland capital. 1,162 of them died in concentration camps. Four people were executed, two in Velp and two in Nunspeet. Only about 134 Arn- hem Jews who were arrested, survived the war. The synagogue then remained empty for months. In May 1943 the premises were given a new purpo- se when all Dutch citizens were ordered to hand in their radios. The sets were confiscated so that the population would by unable to listen to broadcasts from Radio Oranje on the British wavelength. The building was packed from floor to ceiling with requisitioned radios. [12] Surrendered apparatus was not destroyed but carefully administered and stored. This job was done by the Arnhem council which fitted out the synagogue with storage racks. It was intended to return the radios to their owners after the “Endsieg” (Final Victory). [13]

Children have built a snowman in front of the synagogue in Pastoorstraat; 27 Ja- nuary 1941. L to R: Moosje Cohen, Frans- je Staring, Rudi Bachrach, Jopie Goudeket, Ische Cohen, Kaatje Cohen, Hannie Moo- nen, not identified, Siegfried Bachrach (S. Bachrach collection)

The synagogue during the Battle of Arnhem During the fighting in September 1944 the synagogue was once more threatened with destruction when fire broke out in various premises in the inner city, some started by German soldiers. It was not until 20 September that the Arnhem fire service received permission from the Germans to tackle the fires in a limited part of the city. Orderly Theo W. Scholten was one of the firemen who volunteered for this task, and he recalled later: “We were stationed on the Eiland, corner of Wielakkerstraat. There was a hydrant there and we could therefore draw water. From that point we laid out the hoses down the middle of Kerkstraat to Pastoorstraat. In Bentinckstraat German soldiers were sitting drinking and singing in some of the warehouses there. Including in a sack company. [14]. From there I also saw German patrols leaving for the front line. They crept along in single file, keeping close to the houses in Kerk- straat, and they indicated to us that we should do the same. But we were of the opinion that our way would make sure that the British didn’t mistake us for Germans. Therefore we preferred to keep to the middle of the road and trusted that our white-painted helmets would show that we were civilians working as firemen. Wonder of wonders, the Israeli synagogue packed with commandeered radio sets was spared. There was a fire next door and that is where we began our work. It was a long-lasting and therefore a tiring and hot task. Luckily a company gave us some cooling with refreshing bottles of lemonade. After a while we were relieved and we went back to the pumping vehicle. At a certain point Germans with an artillery piece arrived in Wielakkerstraat and began to posi- tion it quite close behind us. Of course we didn’t find this very pleasant and let that be known. But they said “Don’t worry, we’ll fire over your heads.” I can’t remember now how long we stayed there. We were probably relieved and others continued the fire-fighting. I do remember that from Kerkstraat we saw flames rising from the Grote Kerk. But we weren’t allowed to go there.” [15]

3 Fire chief Jonker was concerned for his men who were risking their lives extinguishing fires: “During the afternoon of Wednesday 20 September a message was received to say that fires in other parts of the city could now be dealt with. On receipt of this message personnel and equip- ment were sent out immediately. The first place we were permitted to go was to extinguish a fire in Bakkerstraat. Even during the first call out this part of the city was under heavy attack by aircraft. Nevertheless the fire crews managed to suppress the fire, but had to leave the fire- scene in haste. Men and machines returned to the fire station under a rain of bullets.” [16]

Jewish evaders The evacuation of the city at the end of September 1944 was disastrous for the Jewish evaders. Va- rious people were arrested at that time. One of these was 50 year-old Derk Bresser, who was arrested by the SD on 4 January 1945 for assisting evaders who had remained in Arnhem. He died on 1 April 1945 at Wöbbelin concentration camp in Germany, where many Dutch Jews were taken. [17] Five weeks later, on 4 May 1945, the camp was liberated by the American 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.

After the liberation in 1945

School for Religious Education at Kippenmarkt after the liberation in 1945 (Jaquet Collection, Gelders Archive)

Many Arnhem Jews did not return to the city at the end of the war in Europe. The exact number of people who died, cannot be established. A close study of the data from the Red Cross and the Arnhem civil register by Cees Haverhoek revealed that a total of 2,256 Jews lived in the municipality during the occupation for a shorter or longer time. Some 1,300 of them were murdered, or died of starvation or illness in a concentration camp. [18] The Jews who survived their time in hiding or traumatic experiences in the camps were faced with a difficult choice: return to Arnhem or make a fresh start somewhere else. Many chose the latter and moved to Amsterdam or elsewhere in the Netherlands. Others emigrated, going to places such as Pa- lestine, Australia or the United States. A large number of Arnhem Jews went to live in a specific villa- ge in Israel. Of the Jewish religious leaders in the Arnhem municipality only chazzan (cantor) Leendert Boas survived the war, and he continued in this function until his death in 1957.

4 Recovery Because the synagogue was badly damaged in the hostilities, the Jewish religious school in Kippen- markt was used as a temporary substitute until 1950. [19] A Comité Actie Synagoge Herstel (Synagogue Recovery Action Committee) was set up which held fund-rising activities and, together with the contributions received from the damages claims lodged by the state for the recovery of war damage, sufficient money was accumulated for the restoration to be put in hand. Led by the Amsterdam architect Jac. S. Baars, the building firm E. van Amerongen carried out the restoration work between the years 1949-1950. [20] Amongst other things the sloping roof was removed in the restoration. The renovated synagogue was taken back into use on 10 De- cember 1950.

Restoration In August 2002 Rabbi Jacobs gave the signal for a large-scale restoration by walking from the railway station to Pastoorstraat and blowing on a ram’s horn. [21] The work, which cost 2.9 million Euros, was completed in 2003. Queen Beatrix was present at the festive transfer of the church by the Stich- ting Arnhemse Synagogue (Arnhem Synagogue Foundation) to the Joodse Gemeente Arnhem (Arnhem Jewish Community) on 8 October 2003. The entire interior was returned to its original pre- war state. The glass walls between the prayer room and the front entrance were added to improve the natural light-fall.

A tinted glass plate was mounted on one of the walls. The plate bears the following text in Hebrew and Dutch: IN DE STENEN VAN DIT HUIS ZIJN HUN STEMMEN VOOR ALTIJD OPGENOMEN HET GELUID VAN HUN STEM WERD MONDDOOD GEMAAKT MAAR DE KLANK BLIJF EEUWIG RESONEREN

Basically: ‘Their voices are stored for eternity in the bricks of this house. The sound of their voices was silenced, but it will continue to resound for centuries.’ This text was composed by a member of the Joodse Gemeente Arnhem. Their house of God is again (still) the Nederlands-Israëlitische Hoofdsynagoge, and in 2003 the community numbered some seventy persons. In 1965 a second church was established: the Liberaal (Liberal) Joodse Gemeente Gel- derland, which in 2003 had approximately the same number of members. [22]

5 Notes to top

[1] ‘Jonas Daniël Meijer’, Jewish Historical Museum. http://www.jhm.nl/personen.aspx? naam=Meijer,%20Jonas%20Daniel Consulted on 3 March 2007. New site: http://www.jhm.nl/ [2] ‘Joden in Arnhem’, consulted on 3 March 2007. [3] Margo Klijn, De Stille Slag. Joodse Arnhemmers 1933-1935 (Westervoort, 2003), 93. [4] Ditto, 126. [5] Ditto. [6] Gelders Archive, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter 4865/105. [7] http://www.joodsmonument.nl/person.php?thg_id=1007.72455&lang=nl Consulted on 15 June 2007. New site: http://www.communityjoodsmonument.nl/person/2378/nl [8] Gelders Archief, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter 4865/105. [9] Cees Haverhoek, ‘Jodenvervolging in Arnhem tijdens de Duitse bezetting’, Arnhem de Genoeglijk- ste, year 19 (1999), number 3. [10] van Sonsbeke, Arnhemse straten, geplaveid met herinneringen, Deel I (Arnhem, 1982), p. 47. [11] Niek Nelissen, ‘We gaan vol moed naar het onbekende. Het gruwelijke lot van het gezin Pinto’, Arnhem de Genoeglijkste, year 22 (2002), number 2, 118. [12] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 116-117. [13] J. Vredenberg, ‘De synagoge aan de Pastoorstraat’, Arnhem de Genoeglijkste, year 22 (2002), number 2, 68. [14] According to the 1942 address book, at that time the Arnhemsche Zakkenhandel (Arnhem Sack Company) was located at number 22. [15] Th. W. Scholten, Enkele aantekeningen over mijn activiteiten bij de ordonnansdienst van de Arn- hemse brandweer in de oorlogsjaren 1940-1945 (December 1976), 5. Gelders Archive, Documen- tation collection Second World War, inventory number 8. [16] A. Jonker, Verslag omtrent de belevenissen bij de brandweer vanaf 17 september 1944 tot begin december 1944 (undated), 9. Gelders Archive, Documentation collection Second World War, inventory number 1410. [17] Gelders Archive, archive Municipal Secretary Arnhem 1940-1949, inventory number 390, letter 4865/131a. [18] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 233. [19] Ditto, 234-235. [20] Vredenberg, ‘De synagoge aan de Pastoorstraat’, 69. [21] Klijn, De Stille Slag, 238. [22] Ditto, 235.