Developing Concepts at Amsterdam's Jewish Historical Museum

STUDIA ROSENTHALIANA 45 (2014), 37-55 doi: 10.2143/SR.45.0.3021380

Developing Concepts at Amsterdam’s Jewish Historical Museum

HETTY BERG

N FEBRUARY 2007, seventy-five years after Amsterdam’s Jewish I Historical Museum first opened to the public in 1932, the museum completed an extensive programme of reconstruction and refurbishing. New public facilities were put in place as well as new temporary exhibition spaces and a children’s museum, while all the permanent displays were completely overhauled. As project leader in charge of this renewal, one aspect that I found particularly intriguing was how the motivation of those involved in the current process compared to the motivation of those involved with the founding of the museum in 1930 and its development in the intervening years. Our museum is one of Europe’s oldest Jewish museums, having been founded as an institution eighty years ago. It is therefore interesting to compare the development of thinking at the museum: the ideas that motivated its founders; those who strug- gled to re-establish the museum after the war; the staff who expanded the museum in the Weigh House; the team that created the new museum in its new setting in 1987; and those who made the current renewal possible. How have their goals and visions developed? People who make exhibitions and museums make choices, they attribute value and significance and set priorities which they pass on to society through their presentations. They decide what they consider relevant from a social, political and cultural perspective.1 How has this evolved over the years at Amsterdam’s Jewish Historical Museum? How is this reflected

1. Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek, ‘Categorizing the World’, in: Julie-Marthe Cohen and Emile Schrijver (eds), Presenting Jewish Ceremonial Art (Amsterdam 2001), p. 55. 38 HETTY BERG in the presentations and the context of the museum’s displays? One way of examining this is to study the museum’s publications over the years, its guides, catalogues and brochures, photos as well as text.

By the end of the 19th century, museums and exhibitions had become a fixture in the cultural life of Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum, with its presentation of national art treasures, and the Stedelijk Museum, with its contemporary masters and applied art, were followed in 1926 by a museum of local history: the Amsterdam Historical Museum. Among the many temporary exhibitions presented in this period, the Stedelijk featured a show in 1916 on Jewish Amsterdam. As its title suggests, its perspective was the vanishing Jewish life of the ghetto. In a period in which the Jews of Amsterdam were moving out into the expanding sub- urbs and embracing a modern secular lifestyle, a nostalgia had developed for the old life of the Jewish quarter, a desire to preserve the heritage of what was perceived to be a disappearing culture.2 It was the Genootschap voor Joodsche Wetenschap that organised the establishment of a Jewish historical museum foundation in 1930. A guide published in 1931 explains its purpose: The Jewish Historical Museum foundation aims to assemble a collection illustrating Jewish historical, cultural and religious life in the Netherlands and abroad [...] In our previous exhibitions we have attempted to highlight the meaning and specific nature of the displays [...] however, it was always disappointing that these shows were only temporary [...] this is what has prompted us to bring together objects illustrating Jewish religious life and synagogue services as well as memorabilia reflecting the fortunes and history of Dutch Jews in a museum.3 In 1932, the foundation obtained two rooms in one of the turrets of the Weigh House on the Nieuwmarkt square, home to the Amsterdam His- torical Museum (fig. 1). Billed as a separate museum in its own right, the presentation was opened by Amsterdam alderman Emanuel Boekman, responsible for the arts. In his speech, he noted:

2. Julie-Marthe Cohen, ‘A Jewish Museum Gained, Lost and Regained’, in: Julie-Marthe Cohen, Jelke Kröger, Emile Schrijver (eds), Gifts from the Heart, Ceremonial Objects from the Jewish Historical Museum, (Amsterdam 2004), p. 13 ff. 3. Gids voor het Joodsch Historisch Museum (Amsterdam, 1931), p. 5. DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 39

There is every reason why the city of Amsterdam should finally have such a museum – this city, in which Jews have played such an important role, numerically and also culturally and intellectually. In this respect Amsterdam has long been preceded by other cities in Europe in which Jews have played a less significant part.4 Concerning the museum’s goal, the guide states: Jewish religious life is rich, and requires a great many ritual objects for its various expressions [...] which have undergone outward changes in the course of the centuries. [...] It would be a great cultural loss were these products of antique and modern art to vanish. [...] The museum’s job is to ensure that these specimens of craftsmanship are not destroyed or lost.5 This desire to salvage objects relating to Jewish culture was an interna- tional phenomenon. Indeed, when they established the museum foundation, the Genootschap were following the lead set by similar societies of Jewish academics in Vienna and Germany. Some fourteen Jewish museums were established in major cities in West and Central Europe between 1895 and 1936.6 It was part of a wider trend among Jews who feared the disappearance of their heritage and loss of their culture. At the same time in an increasingly hostile climate, members of the intellectual elite of Jewish Europe wished to present their heritage and demonstrate the Jewish contribution to civilisation.7 This question of preserving Jewish heritage acquired an entirely different dimension when the German army invaded Holland in May 1940. Ritual objects were destroyed, synagogues ransacked and anything of perceived value stolen. While some attempted to save items from the Nazis, it was not long before they discovered that they themselves were the real target. Along with the vast majority of the Dutch Jewish community, many of those involved with the Jewish Historical Museum never returned.8

4. Handelsblad, 25 February 1932. 5. Gids voor het Joodsch Historisch Museum (1931 and 1932), p. 5. When the museum opened a revised edition of the 1931 guide was issued. 6. Nomi Feuchtwanger-Sarig, ‘Linking the Past to the Future: A Centenary of Documenting Jewish Art’, in: Cohen and Schrijver (eds), op. cit., pp. 20-23. 7. Feuchtwanger-Sarig , op. cit., p. 19. 8. Julie-Marthe Cohen describes elsewhere in this volume how the museum fared during the war years and in the postwar period. See also Cohen, op. cit., p. 12-30. 40 HETTY BERG

After the war, those who had survived the Holocaust and decided to remain in the Netherlands resurrected the institutions of the pre-war community. This included the Jewish Historical Museum, and so a new board was appointed in 1947.9 However, the museum remained closed. In those first postwar years, other aspects of the Jewish community’s infrastructure took priority. Most Jews had more immediate concerns: they were restarting their lives from scratch, worried about the fate of their relatives, anxious to have their property restored and many had to deal with traumatic experiences.10 In 1955, the Jewish Historical Museum re-opened in the Weigh House, home of the Amsterdam Historical Museum (fig. 2). Dutch Prime Minister Willem Drees and various Amsterdam councillors were at the opening. A catalogue was published to mark the event, with short descriptions of the collection’s 277 items.11 In a preface, the board expressed their joy that their desire to re-open the museum had at last been fulfilled and offered a short summary of the museum’s history. Curator Lion Morpurgo added an introduction expressing the hope that the museum would expand ‘to provide a collection that will repre- sent to the Netherlands what Jewish life meant in this country. And when we look back at Jewish life today, we must not forget the catastro- phe that befell the Jews in the years 1940-1945.’ An essay follows, by the much respected writer Abel Herzberg, focusing on the war years and taking up two of the five introductory pages. The newly opened museum devoted an entire room to the Holocaust, with documents provided by the Dutch war archive. Given the lack of focus on the subject among the public at large, this aspect of the museum’s sense of purpose is particularly significant. In the late 1950s, an English ‘Summary’ was published for interna- tional visitors offering more detailed information about the displays and the museum in general, shedding light on the motivation behind the postwar presentation.

9. On the members of the board see ibid., p. 27. 10. See Edward van Voolen’s article on the postwar history of the museum until 2004, ‘New Life and a New Home in Amsterdam’, in: Julie-Marthe Cohen, Jelka Kröger, Emile Schrijver (eds), Gifts from the Heart, Ceremonial Objects from the Jewish Historical Museum, (Amsterdam 2004), p. 31-32. 11. Gemeente Museum Waaggebouw Amsterdam Joods Historisch Museum (Amsterdam 1955), no page numbers. DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 41

It is a source of satisfaction to the Jewish Historical Museum that it is again able – after fifteen years of enforced interruption caused by the war and its aftermath – to reopen its doors [...] and to present to the visitor from Holland and from abroad a number of instances of Jew- ish religious objects that were or are still being used in Holland, together with other exhibits relating to the life of the Jews in the Netherlands for over 350 years.12 The writer explains how the museum was founded, how it fared during the war and how in the postwar years an effort was made to assemble enough items from public sources to augment the pieces that had been recovered from the Nazis and create a presentation to fill the entire top floor of the Weigh House. A few reasons are offered why it took until 1955 to reopen the museum. Apart form the paucity and condition of the exhibits, another difficulty was that the rooms previously used by the Jewish Historical Museum were now occupied, and a solution had to be found to be able to restore the pre-war arrangement.13 Resources were also scarce, although a grant from the Jewish Claims Conference enabled many objects to be repaired and financed the display. Concerning the collection, the writer notes apologetically: As a result, the collection currently on view is not inferior, in so far as its artistic and material value is concerned, to that which existed in 1940. It does not, however, in any way claim to be exhaustive or to offer a survey of all aspects of Jewish life in Holland. Moreover, the main guiding principle for this postwar Jewish exhibition has been artistic.14 Among the exhibits described, the writer noted the historical pictures of Jewish life in Holland: ‘The large-scale destruction caused by the war, lend many of these scenes a quality of nostalgic poignancy.’ There seems to have been a reluctance to discuss the history of Dutch Jews in the pre- war period. Regarding the room with displays of war documents, the writer notes that ‘a small cabinet is devoted to the darkest period of Dutch Jewish History, the years 1940-1945 [...] It was felt that some ref- erence to this disaster which befell Dutch Jewry should not be missing

12. Jewish Historical Museum Summary (Amsterdam), no page numbers. 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid. 42 HETTY BERG from the re-opened museum.’ Over 160 documents, all of which are described in detail in the brochure, were presented in twelve volumes that were available for visitors to read and for the squeamish to avoid. Ending in a defiant vein, the writer concluded that ‘the present exhibition is modest evidence that this Final Solution, despite the untold suf- fering it inflicted and the vast number of victims it made, has not suc- ceeded altogether, and that also today there is a Jewish community in Holland, caring for its past as well as for its future.’15 Re-opening the Jewish Historical Museum was an act of pride, a signal that the deci- mated Jewish community had survived and, despite its enormous loss, intended to manifest itself with a new sense of confidence as a cultural presence in Dutch society. In retrospect, Judith Belinfante, who was appointed director of the museum in 1976, noted of the first two decades of the Jewish Historical Museum in the Weigh House that ‘the museum was open, but the dar- ing and drive of the pre-war days were missing. So many wounds, so much loss made it nearly impossible to look ahead.’16 Nevertheless, as the brochures published in these years show, museum staffers clearly reflected about their work and felt a concern for the future, a need to collect historical material and to show how Jews had formed part of Dutch society.17 With regard to the art collection there is perhaps some cause for satisfaction. However, the actual Jewish-historical section of the museum’s collection certainly [...] does not meet the requirements that might be expected today.’18 In this richly illustrated brochure published in 1965, the museum actually suggested to readers that they donate or lend objects to the museum, or purchase an object and dedicate it to someone’s memory in order ‘eventually to combine both elements of Jewish art and Jewish history in proper proportion’. This may have been the Jewish Historical Museum first appeal.

15. Ibid. See also: Frank van Vree, ‘Iedere dag en elk uur. De Jodenvervolging en de dyna- miek van de herinnering in Nederland’, in: Hetty Berg en Bart Wallet (eds.), Wie niet weg is, is gezien. Joods Nederland na 1945, (Zwolle 2010), p. 64-67. 16. Judith C.E. Belinfante, ‘Joods Historisch Museum, Jewish Historical Museum’, Neder- landse Musea III (1978), p. 19. 17. Brochure, c. 1959. 18. Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam 1965 (On the occasion of the tenth anniversary). DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 43

By 1974, the Amsterdam Historical Museum had outgrown the Weigh House, and moved to the former city orphanage. The entire building was now available for the Jewish Historical Museum. Permanent presentations on Judaism included the synagogue, holidays and everyday life, while displays on the history of the Jews in the Netherlands featured Jews in the years 1595-1796, emancipation and civil equality between 1796 and 1940 as well as the Holocaust. Instead of concentrating on art, the postwar focus made way for a new perspective, based on cultural history. Reflecting on the new permanent presentation in 1978, Judith Belinfante noted the difficulties that were perceived to be inherent in this approach: The holidays and the synagogue are shown systematically, with informative texts to help the visitor imagine how the objects are used. In the historical section it is far more difficult to place an object in its context. While a ritual object has a function that can be described in unambiguous terms, objects of historical import do not. Seldom does such an object speak for itself. At most it is a link in a complex historical reality that can never be reconstituted in all its parts. There is no one best way to project an image of an historical reality. The organiser of an exhibition determines which of the many historical facets of a painting or object should be stressed. For the 1975 arrangement the binding concept was the integration of the Jews in Dutch society. The same objects, in another presentation, could have been used to illustrate something completely different.19 Pictures of the displays reveal a modern design with three-dimensional geometrical shapes to indicate the sections and support texts and addi- tional material (fig. 3). From the unusual cube shape of the cabinets and the use of cut-outs from enlarged photos it is clear that particular atten- tion was paid to the design. The photos illustrate life in Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter and provide a context for the historical objects and add a human touch to the design. The display of Second World War documentation, once a separate section in the museum, was now integrated into the historical presentation. Even so, as can clearly be seen in the photo (fig. 4), it was still in a separate room and the displays were in folders that had to be opened to

19. Belinfante, op. cit., p. 19-20. The Foreword notes ‘That history is sketched in terms of the place of the Jewish minority within Dutch society as a whole.’ Idem. p. 5. 44 HETTY BERG be viewed. The change in the intervening twenty years had been limited. The sparse, white and rather forlorn room seemed to symbolise the loss of those who had been murdered and the void they had left. An implicit aspect of the display was to try to encourage a sense of historical perspective among postwar Jews, and a sense of historical responsibility among non-Jews. The museum’s new permanent display led the way among Europe’s Jewish museums in presenting a historical narrative and taking command of its own history. As Edward van Voolen later remarked, a new phase had begun in which an awareness developed of Jewish history both in relation to the outside world, and within the community itself.20 It was no accident that this occurred at a time when the Jewish community seemed to be experiencing a new confidence in its future in the Netherlands and a revival of Jewish culture.

When the museum moved into the former Ashkenazi synagogue complex in 1987, it was determined that this would not become a monument commemorating the past, but would ‘fortify the link with the present.’21 A motto was chosen for the new museum from the Talmud: ‘Seeing leads to remembering, Remembering leads to action.’ The synagogues had once been at the centre of Jewish life; moving into the complex was a step in reclaiming history. The exhibits in the Jewish Historical Museum are not to preserve the past, but to present information about a history and a dynamic culture. A culture that once flourished at the very spot where the Jewish Historical Museum is situated today, that met a tragic fate in the war years 1940-1945, but since has witnessed a revival in Amsterdam. The active presentation of this culture is an important act in itself, because it has once again given the buildings a Jewish function.22 Moving into the synagogue complex, the building itself became a part of the presentation, in other words the museum became site-specific. However, tremendous caution was taken in displays to avoid reviving memories and showing the synagogue’s ritual function. In fact, in the

20. Van Voolen, op. cit., p. 35-36. 21. Joel Cahen, ‘Jewish Historical Museum from Nieuwmarkt to Jonas Daniel Meijerplein in Half a Century’, in: Joel Cahen (ed.), Vier Eeuwen Waterlooplein Four Centuries (Amsterdam 1987), p. 139. 22. Ibid., p.144. DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 45 permanent displays on religion, on the festivals, ceremonies and community life, the presentation of ritual objects seemed to have been taken out of context. The environment of the Great Synagogue was not presented as a place to which objects were being returned; it was too emotionally charged with loss. Indeed, the presentation was as unemo- tional as possible, apparently due to a fear of opening wounds. After all, the buildings had not been used since the war and the murder of most of the people who used to gather here. Despite the obvious historical context, the museum avoided referring to memories that might cause pain to the survivors (Fig. 5, left). While in 1975, the museum had deliberately tried to create the sense of a synagogue, now that it was actually in a synagogue, the sole conces- sion to religious ritual was a symbolic representation of various ceremonial objects on the site of the platform from which the service was once conducted. The removal of the steps to the ark in which the Torah scrolls had been kept was also intended to show that a synagogue service would never take place in the building again. The objects were orphans, out of place and out of time. The museum was taking care of them, preserving them.23 There was no chronological exhibition showing the history of the Jews in the Netherlands in the new presentation in 1987. Instead, the galleries of the Great Synagogue contained a display based around the theme of the charity to show the historical development of the Jews in the Netherlands from 1600 to the 1980s. Various aspects of Dutch Jewish history were dealt with in the other main section of the permanent display: the presentation on Jew- ish identity. Since the early 1980s, one of the objectives of the Jewish Historical Museum had been to reinforce a Jewish sense of identity among Dutch Jews.24 It was much discussed in the 1980s in the community, and found its way into the public arena through film, litera- ture, theatre and journalism. The exhibition posed the question: Who is a Jew? And perhaps more importantly, how do Jews define themselves in the Netherlands? The display dealt with five elements: religion, Israel

23. This philosophy was again vividly expressed in the textile catalogue Daniel M. Swetschinski (ed.), Orphan Objects: Facets of the Textiles Collection of the Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam (Amsterdam 1997). 24. Jewish Historical Museum, Jaarverslag 1981, p. 3-4. 46 HETTY BERG and Zionism, persecution and survival, personal history, interaction with the surrounding Dutch culture (Fig. 6). At the heart of the display stood an ark, which had also figured prominently in the Weigh House during the previous decade, surrounded in a semi-circle by pictures of Dutch Jews through the ages, from their attire and appearance clearly part of Dutch society. In addition, for the first time documents relating to the war were openly displayed, although still in an unobtrusive way, so that people could easily pass by without having to view them (Fig. 7). Presenting the idea of Jewish identity at the entrance to the museum as an introductory display was revolutionary.

In the 1980s, the once vibrant Great Synagogue had still to be mourned. Two decades on, with the renewal of the museum in the 21st century its memory has been revived by bringing religious objects back to life in the synagogue interior. Not by reconstructing the interior, but by providing a new context for the objects in a modern design that partly follows the synagogue’s original floor plan. The inspiration was provided by Martin Monnickendam’s painting of the Great Synagogue service marking the tercentenary of Amsterdam’s Ashkenazi community (Fig. 8): particularly the atmosphere, the colours and the placing of some of the objects. Many have been put in their original place like the eternal light, the Rintel Chanukah lamp and the curtains on the walls. Once again the objects occupy their natural place in a living context. The marble steps to the ark, removed in 1987, have been restored and now provide a show- case for Ashkenazi ceremonial objects (Fig. 5, right). Interestingly, the Great Synagogue, which it was thought would never serve a ritual purpose again, has since hosted a wedding and a circumcision. The multi- media presentations in the synagogue benches enable visitors to explore the past and the present; people from different Jewish walks of life talk about their connection to Jewish religion. The benches also allow visitors to meet one another, experiencing the function of a synagogue as a ‘house of assembly’. Reticence about showing objects in their historical context is now a thing of the past: the history of the Jews from 1600 to the present day, including the period 1940-1945, appears on the galleries of both the Great and the New Synagogue (Fig. 9). In addition to various gems from the collection, the museum has created a new kind of object: the DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 47 digital artefact – short videos, touch screen labels, large projections. These show the faces and voices of those who lived through historical events, good and bad, and bring people into the room who speak directly from their own experience. Various permanent displays reveal the full range of Jewish identity, a subject which no longer needs to be addressed as directly as before. Jewish culture is visualised using different mediums. There is no overarching narrative. Instead, different stories allow visitors to deduce for themselves what being a Jew in the Netherlands has been about at different times in history to the present day. A completely new element is the children’s museum.25 Few young children used to visit the museum, and most school pupils learned about Jews solely in relation to the Second World War. The idea of creating a children’s museum was born from a desire to present Jewish culture and religion to children through presentations designed to attract and appeal to children, conveying its vibrancy and diversity. The importance attached in the museum to this section of the public is reflected in the central location of the children’s museum in the Obbene shul (Upper Synagogue), at the heart of the synagogue complex.

The children’s museum recreates a Jewish home (Fig. 10). Children are encouraged to identify with what they see through the familiarity of everyday routines presented in the rooms – there is a living room, study, corridor, kitchen, bedroom and music room. Each room has a theme- related activity, following the Jewish tradition that a person learns by doing. The main message is, in the words of Hillel when asked to encapsulate the Torah in a sentence, ‘Do not do to your neighbour what is hateful to you. The rest is commentary, go and learn.’ The children’s museum has a greater sense of freedom, of inspiration rather than information, more intuitive than cognitive. Nevertheless, it also addresses complicated issues such as being part of a family, memory and behav- iour, Holocaust and survival, responsibility and respect. The children’s museum operates on a basic level, enabling everyone to understand, creating an opportunity for dialogue by bringing young people from

25. Between 2001 and 2005 a pilot children’s museum was presented on the galleries of the New Synagogue. 48 HETTY BERG different backgrounds into the museum, and with them the future. Visitors are encouraged to connect with the Jewish mind-set and culture. Indeed, the visitor is as important as the presentation, and this inter- change of perspective is the starting point for dialogue.

When the Jewish Historical Museum was founded, the trend through- out Europe was to establish museums to salvage objects relating to Jewish culture and to present the community’s heritage to the outside world. Rebuilding after the chaos and destruction of the Second World War, the museum’s perspective changed; the war itself became a key element in the presentation and a factor in every aspect of the display. The new presentation in 1955 enabled the museum to participate in the process of mourning the loss of the Dutch Jewish community and to start to reclaim its history. The historical presentation created in 1975 encouraged visitors to learn about Jewish history in relation to the surrounding environment. The idea of strengthening a sense of Jewish identity became a new feature in the 1980s. The move to the former Ashkenazi synagogue in 1987 enabled this Jewish monument to be used as a venue for a dynamic Jewish culture, although memories were con- sidered too delicate to disturb. In the new millennium, the museum has come to terms with history and dares to tell the stories, however painful. Now the museum has taken the next step: interacting with visitors, who are invited to become co-creators of narratives in the children’s museum as well as in the educational and visitor programmes. As in the 1930s, the museum seems to say on behalf of the Jewish community: we are here, we are part of the fabric of society. The development of the museum reflects the normalisation of Jewish life in Dutch society, the growing confidence within the Jewish community and the increasing sense of Jewish identity among postwar Jews. Indeed, the museum is part of this process and actively encourages it. DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 49

Figure 1. JHM in the turret of the Weigh House, 1932

Figure 2. The re-opened JHM in the Weigh House after the Second World War, 1955 50 HETTY BERG

Figure 3. JHM’s new displays in the Weigh House, 1975

Figure 4. The room dedicated to the Second World War documentation, 1975 DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 51

Figure 5. The permanent display on religion in the former Great Synagogue, left in 1987, right in 2004

Figure 6. Introduction of the permanent display on Jewish identity in the former New Synagogue, 1987 52 HETTY BERG

Figure 7. The Second World War display, part of the display on Jewish identity, 1987 DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 53

Figure 8. Synagogue service in the Great Synagogue marking the 300th anniversary of the Ashkenazi community, Martin Monnickendam, 1935 54 HETTY BERG

Figure 9. The display on the history of the Jews from 1900 to the present day on the galleries of the New Synagogue, 2007 DEVELOPING CONCEPTS AT AMSTERDAM’S JEWISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM 55

Figure 10. The kitchen in the JHM children’s museum, 2007