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De emancipatie van de Joden in 1796-1940. De rol van de Overijsselse opperrabbijnen Hertzveld, Frankel en Hirsch Erdtsieck, Grietje

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Publication date: 1995

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Citation for published version (APA): Erdtsieck, G. (1995). De emancipatie van de Joden in Overijssel 1796-1940. De rol van de Overijsselse opperrabbijnen Hertzveld, Frankel en Hirsch. s.n.

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Jewssettled in Overijsselas long ago as the first half of the l4th century.In 1349, however, theseearly Jewish settlerswere persecuted,then banished,as they were thoughtresponsible for the Black Death,which then broke out. During the lTth centuryJews again settled in Overijssel,but their presencewas only toleratecl.on the understandingthat they would not proselytizethe Gentile population.

During the lSth centuryJews fulfilled an importanteconomic role in the rural areas of Overijssel.Jewish peddlars travelled throughout the farming areasof the Province and,in doingso, established contact between the Jewish and non-Jewish population. Not only did theseJews have family ties in the Germaniclands, but they also had businesscontacts there.

Before 179-5,the organizationstructure of Jews in the Republic ran along parallel lines to that of the non-Jewishpopulartion of the region.Central governnlentplayed no significantrole in local policy; the councilsof the major citiesplus the nobility decidedpolicy, and werepractically autonon)ous. Within theJewish congregations a similar situation prevailed.These congregations had always been governedby the leading figures in their midst. The Parnassim- adnrinistrators- had an extremely powerÍul position within the community becauseof the authority vestedin them by the oÍÍlce they held.Among otherthings, the Parnassimcontrolled the provisionof meat, servicesto the poor, and the use of the ritual bath. They were authorizedto imposefines, and evenexcommumicate members. This power was sanctionedby the 'Kehillah' civil authorities,who alsotried to settleconflicts within the or organized Jewishcommunity. The councilsof the major citiesplus the nobility decidedwhat rightsJews would be granted. ln 1796the Decreeof Emancipationgranted Jews equal civil rights. Debateson the equality clf Jews took place in the National Assembly.The representativesof Over- rjssel:J.A. Uytenhagede Mist, thetown clerkof Kampen;J. Kantelaar,a clergyman in Kampen;J.B. AuÍ'fmorth,burgornaster of ; J.H. Floh. a clergymanin Henge- lo; J.A. De Vos van Steenwijkfiom Vollenhoveand H.J. Colnschate from , all played a markedrole in thesedebates. EqLrality brought an end to the autonomy of the Kehillot, the Jewishcongregations. Among otherthings, this resultedin the Dutch governmenttaking responsibilityÍbr the appointmentof Chief Rabbis.

229 Rabbisand Chief Rabbishave been active in Overijsselsince the lSth century,and many of them originally came from or Poland. The Chief Rabbis held office in . After the Chief Consistoryhad beenestablished in I 808. the rabbi of Zwolle actedas Chief Rabbi of the area.Tlre local rabbiscontinued tlreir rvork in Overijssel,such as RabbiOppenheimer in Almelo,and RabbiKrukziener in Olden- zaal. In 11308,Hartog JoshuaHertzveld was appointedChief Rabbi of the main synagoguein Zwolle, which includedthe regionsof Overijssel, and a part of .

Hertzveldsteadfastly upheld the emancipationpolicy of the Dutch government.By implernentingthe languagepolicy and rnaintainingdecorum in the synagoguethc governmenthoped to bring about the integrationof Jews in Dutch society. Hertz- veld's proposal to change the worship rnet with great opposition Íiorn orthodox Jews,with tlre Lehrenbrothers as the leadingopponents. and his proposalto in- troduce confbnnation ftll Jewish children was alsclntet with Ílerce resistance.He was accnsedof being indoctrinatedby the ideology of the Reform Movement in Germany.The orthodoxcommunity also torpedoedHertzveld's proposal to convene a rabbinicalconvention.

When Hertzvelddied in 1846,the chief rabbinateof Overijsselremainc'd vacant till 'Lehren' the appointmentof JacobFránkel in 1852,which the group had tried to thwart by every ethical and unethicalmeans. Fránkel, as Hertzveldbefbre him, was suspectedof supportingreÍbrm ideology. The consternationsurrounding this ap- pointment was, in fact, a biittle being Ítrught in Overijsselbetween liberalism and orthodoxy;this battlewas won by the liberals.Fránkel's appointment led to a break- awayof conservativeÍactions within theJewish congregations, such as in Steenwijk. fbr instance.Chief Rabbi Fránkelcontinued to uphold the emancipationpolicy of his predecessorHertzveld, not only as far as the introductionof the choral singing was 7 concerned.but also by supervisingJewish communitiesregarding decorum in the synagogue.irnplementing the languagepolicy of the Dutch government,and abol- I ishingthe strictconventions surrouncling religious education. Altltough Frànkel was J;,J an advocateof the languagepolicy to ban Yiddish, he personallynever took the trouble to learn to speakor write Dutch. Fránkeldied in 1882.

ln spiteof the decreepassed in 1196granting Jews equal civil rightswith the restof the population,it took anotherfifty yezrrsbefbre enrancipation filtered through into certainprotèssions. Many Jewscontinued to work at their old protèssionsin trade andindustry. The riseof industry.however, gave Jews the opportunityof improving 'rag I their proÍ'essionalstatus. Jews who wereoriginally in the trade',like the Span- jaard family in Borne,eventually became textile manuÍàcturers.

Another fifty years passedbefbre Jews had any significant influence in urban go- vernment.Before 1850 only a smallnumber of Jewswere members of city councils, fr such as Salomonlsraël Themanswho, betweenl83l and 1842,was aldermanin 2 .Afier the Íirst half of the l9th centurv.however. it was no lonser an

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I t Èxceptionfbr Jews to hold postson local councils.In Alnrelo, membersof the Salomonsonfanrily of manufacturerswere local councillorsfor seventysuccessive years,and in Borne, being a memberof the local council was almost a family affair' fbr the Spanjaards.The nrajorityof Jewishcouncillors and aldermencame Íiom liberal circles or representeda local political party. A tèw were membersof the S.D.A.P(Social Dernocratic Labour Party). ln the SecondWorld War the Germans dernandedthe resignationof ever-yJewish councillor and alderntan.

The emancipationof Jew'sin Overijsseldid not leadto extensiveassimilation. Con- version to remainecla rare exception,as did expr'essionsof anti-Semi- tism. The civil governmentin Overijssel.the councilsof the major citiesplus the nobility. was not, as a rule, guilty of introducinganti-Semitic legislation. Jews in rural areasand smalltowns were usually allowed to conducttheir business in peace. The Jewsin Kampenand Zwolle had to obeythe ruleslaid down by the guilds.and did not adrnit Jews for economic reasons.After 1796. this situation rc- mained virtually unchanged.lt took decadesbefbre Jews held governn.rentposts as rnentionedearlier. Only in the secondhalf of the l9th centurydid socialemancipa- tion of Jewsoccur. and this was the trend acrossthe board,because, until then,Jews hadbeen a small,disadvantaged minority. The integrationof Jewsinto Dutch socie- ty was consideredby sorneas a threat to the nationalcharacter of the and led to both oral and writtenanti-Semitic statements. A well-knownexample is Abraham Kuyper's brochureon Liberalistsand Jews.

Only in one place, Oldenzaal.were Jews in the Netherlandsconfronted by blatant acts of anti-Semitism.Catholics from Oldenzaal,returning from a pilgrimage to 'pogroms' Kevelaer,assaulted Jews and smashedtheir windows.These occuÍTed between1892 and 1897.The immediatecause was the Buschofïaffairin Xantenin 1892.Finally the burgomasterthen in oÍfice,De Wael,took stepsto suppressthese riots, which occuned eachtinre pilgrims returnedfrom their annualpilgrirnage. The anti-Sernitismin Germanyclearly had ramificationsin Oldenzaal.The Freemasons of Deventerwere also afÍèctedby this Germananti-Semitism.

SephardicJews, with their eruditeand aristocraticbackground, had beenadmitted to Freemasons'lodgesin Hollandas early as the 18thcentury, although at that time Jews were not admittedto other non-Jewishinstitutions such as learnedor literary societiesand clubs either in or elsewherein the Netherlands.The three Iodgesin the Provinceof Overijssel.namely, Le Profond Silencein Kampen,Firles Mutua in Zwolle, and Le Préjugé Vaincu in Deventer, had no Jewish members duringthe l8th century.ln 1818,Salomon de Jong was the first Jew to becomea memberof the Kampenlodge. It is surprisingthat. althoughJews in Overijsselnever constitutedmore than 1.69cof the population,peroentage-wise they were overrepre- sentedirr thelodges. For instance,in themasonic year 1840-1841,more than25o/o of the membersof the Freemasons'lodge in Zwolle were of Jewishorigin. In Deventer, Le Préjtrgé lodge had a top year as far as Jewish rnembershipwas concernedin 1900-1901,when Dutch and GermanJews madeup approximately257o of the total

z-. I brotherhood.German Jews were integratedin Deventerafter being reÍusedmenrber- ship in a number of German lodges.Le Préjugé Vaincu made an ofllcial protest againstthe anti-Semiticpolicy of theseGerman lodges.

During the 20th centuryseveral masonic societies in reorganisedthemselves in lodges, namely: Fraternité in Almelo, De Troffel in , and Tubantitt in .The Fraternité and De Troffel were small" with only a few Jewish mem- bers.However from its foundationin 1897the TuhanÍialodge had a high percentage of Jewishmembers which, on average,was25o/o. This was all the more remarkable becauseJewish rnembershiphad declineddrastically in the lodgesof Kampen and Zwolle aÍïer the turn of the century. The emancipationof Jews in Dutch society, completedwith some success,together with a new reflection among the Jews upon their own identity, were the root causesof this. The appointmentof the agudist Hirsch as Chief Rabbi of the district of Overijsselheralded the beginning of this 'Nederlands period of reflection.However, in the IsraëlitischeGemeente' (NIG: The NetherlandsJewish Congregation) of EnschedeHirsch had very little inf'luence,and the young sonsof manufacturersfrorrr the Spanjaard.Weijl, and Rozendaalfamilies, for example,became members of lodges.Unlike the JewishFreemasons of the 19th century, the Jewish Freemasonsof the 20th century did not play a leading role in Jewishcongregational life in Overijssel.

During the l9th century the administratorsof the NetherlandsJewish Synagogues sometimesincluded Freemasons. In 1858,three of the five governorsof the Zwolle synagoguewere Freernasons:Joël Philipson,president and correspondingmember of the Main Committee; Abraham Bramson, treasurer;and Leon van Enthoven,

I member.A similar situationprevailed in the NIGs of Kampen and Deventer,where i Jewsoften occupied important masonic positions in lodgesas well. SeligmanSusan from Deventerwas not only presidentof the NIG in Deventer,but also held the chair as masterof Le Préjugé Vainculodge in Deventer.

The lodges expectedall their membersto have a certain level of erudition and/or í^l affluence.The professionspractised by someof the Jewishlodge membersincluded professors,teachers, doctors, surgeons,lawyers, registrars, manufacturers,mer- chants,bandmasters, and butchers.For all theseJewish Freemasons the lodge func- tioned as a steppingstone into non-Jewishsociety.

In 1882,after the deathof JacobFránkel, the Jewishcommunity in Overijsselhad to continue without a permanentChief Rabbi. The ad interim Chief Rabbis were: TobiasTal, 1882-1883;J.S. Hillesum 1883-1888; L. Wagenaar1888-1898; M. Mo- nasch1898-1899; T. Lewenstein1899-1900. and A. van Loen 1900-1902.It wasnot ,. until 1902 that S.J.S.Hirsch was appointedas the permanentChief Rabbi for the district of Overijssel. fr The appointnrentof the orthodox SamuelJuda Simon Hirsch markedthe beginning 2 of a new era for the Jewishcommunity in Overiissel.There was a definite U-turn in I i z-'t z i

í \ the emancipationcourse set by Hertzveld and Fránkel. During the first decadeof Hirsch's rabbinatethree significantconflicts arosebetween the Chief Rabbi and the NIGs of Zwolle,Enschede, and Almelo, which markedthe beginning of an oÍhodox trend. For instance,Hirsch wantedto place a barrierin front of the women's gallery 'protect' in the synagogueat Zwolle to women from the gazeof the male congrega- tion, and to prevent the men being distractedfrom their religious duties by the presenceof women.The governorsof the NIG were againstthis plan, but the barrier was erectednevertheless.

In Enschedea power strugglearose between Hirsch and the adrninistrationregarding Kashrut procedures:Hirsch consideredthat the certified butchersappointed by him were, first and foremost, accountableto himseli but the congregationaladmini- strationof Enschedethought otherwise. In this caseHirsch won, as he had sufficient authorityto bring the suppliesof koshermeat to a standstill.

The conflict in Almelo was of a completelydifferent nature:a portrait of a former governorof the NIG in Almelo, Godfried Salomonson,which had beenpresented to the Jewishcommunity, was hung in the shul.However, Salomonson's request for a non-Jewishburial was reasonenough for Hirsch to order the removal of his portrait from a place of worship. The NIG in Almelo refusedto obey Hirsch, but eventually GodfriedSalomonson's son Hendrik had an annexbuilt ontothe svnasosueto house his Í-ather'sportrait.

In 1919Chief Rabbi Hirsch becarnethe leaderof Agudttt Israë\, and,continued as its leaderuntil he died fiom naturalcauses in 1941.His opponentin Overijsselwas Ru Cohen, the leader oï De Devertter Vereniging (Deventer Society) which Cohen foundedin l9l8 togetherwith SchalomFischer and Emile Visser.Ru Cohen spear- headedthis societyuntil he went into hiding in 1943.The aim of both societieswas to train young people.mostly young foreigners,to becomePalestine Pioneers. Ini- 'hakhshara'. tially De Deventer Verenigingestablished a or training coursefor the 'Haluzim' PalestinePioneers in which the or pioneerswere accommodatedin com- munal dwellings.This system.however. was abandoned,not only becauseof the high costsinvolved, but alsobecause the youngpeople learned more by living with farmers.Ru Cohen died in BergenBelsen concentration camp in 1945.Chief Rabbi Hirsch's involvement with the He-halutz pioneer federation stafted after Jewish persecutionin Germanyhad alreadybegun in 1933,as his aim was to saveas Inany young orthodox German refugeesas possible.For this reason,an orthodox hakh- sharawas Íirundedin 1934in Enschedeunder the auspicesof Agudat Israel.

Besidesthe trainingprovided by Zionistsin Deventerand by Agudistsin Enschede there was a third possibility to becomea Palestinepioneer: Dath Wcitireísof the Mizrachim,which was a minor religiousfaction within the Zionistmovement.

In 1934De DeventerVerenigitrg founded a girls' and a tradehakhshara. In tlre same vearZionists and Mizrachim Íbrmed an alliance.Between 1940 and 1943these three

/--)) movementswere forcedto amalgamateby the Germans.A relativelyhigh numberof PalestineFighters survived the war, either becauseof their resistancework, or be- causethey went underground.

AÍier the war a new hakhsharawas establishedin Deventer,which continuedfor a number of years before being Íbrced to close its doors becauseof a lack of new Halutzim.De DeventerVereniging no longerexists, neither does the Jewishcommu- nity in Deventer. Many NIGs in Overijssel had to be disbandedaÍter the war, becauseofalackof Jewishmembers.ln l995therearestillfourJewishcongrega- tions in Overijssel.In Zwolle, Almelo, and Enschedethe NIGs are affiliated to the NetherlandsJewish Church Denomination.There is also a liberal congregationin Enschede,but all thesecongregations were strugglingfor survival.Jews still live in Overijssel.Jewish Overijssel, however, belongs to the past.

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