Can you imagine a place where history whispers from every stone? This is the Joodse begraafplaats. It is a Jewish cemetery. Today, we will explore its story.
The Joodse begraafplaats has a rich past. The Hoogduits-Joodse community bought the land in 1642. They got financial help from the Portuguese Jewish community. The cemetery has grown over time. It has been used since it opened. There was a short break during the siege of Amsterdam in 1672.
Before 1642, the High German Jews buried their dead in the Portuguese cemetery in Ouderkerk. They were often called Tudesco or Todesco in the burial register. The High German Jewish community was officially founded in 1635. However the first rules are from 1640.
In 1660, Ashkenazi newcomers from Poland bought land nearby. When the Polish Jews joined the High German Jewish community in 1672, their land was added to the cemetery.
In June 1738, more land was added. A map was made two years later. S.I. Mulder wrote in 1851 that this map was still at the NIHS office. Another piece of land was bought in July 1780. The leaders hoped this would be enough space for a long time.
The Joodse begraafplaats expanded again in March 1844 and September 1856. Part of the area became a Kohanim path. The community also built a cleaning house and reception area between 1851 and 1854. Architect W.J.J. Offenberg designed them. Rich members donated money. A loan was taken out. Secretary S.I. Mulder wrote about the decisions, plans, and opening speeches in detail. He copied documents into a register.
From 1879, the NIHS annual reports said the cemetery was 55 hectares. About 30 hectares were part of the De Velser en Hom farm. D.M. Sluijs joined the office in 1905. The cemetery was re-measured. It was 40 hectares. The De Velser en Hom farm took up 22.5 hectares. A new burial field was planned that year.
The annual reports often mention maintenance work on the cemetery buildings. A new piece of land was bought in 1924. On October 6, the ‘Kocherbosch’ was bought at auction. It was about 9.5 hectares. It was next to the cemetery. The church board said that even though the location was in a built-up area, the sandy topsoil could be used to raise the lower parts of the cemetery. This would be cheaper than getting sand from around Naarden.
After this purchase, the archives do not mention more land being added to the Joodse begraafplaats. The reception area and cleaning house were torn down. In 1933, two new buildings were built in their place. The municipality of Muiden provided a school building as a reception area during construction. A tent served as a cleaning house on the cemetery grounds. The new reception area opened on November 5, 1933. The 1933 annual report notes that the hall had a special lantern that could also be used as a Sukkah. The cleaning house had opened two months earlier.
At the same time, a new burial field of 12000 m2 was created. The new field opened on June 25, 1934.
The NIHS archives are at the Amsterdam municipal archive. There is an inventory of many documents about 120 m. This includes 98 burial registers. Some uncatalogued archives that came back from the Czech Republic and Russia a few years ago. These are remains of the original archive that the German occupiers stole in World War II and moved to Eastern Europe. They include some burial registers. The series is incomplete. It starts in 1834 and goes to the war years. There are gaps. These gaps have been filled with data from the ‘Rijenboeken’, which the NIHS still owns. All data from these documents is in the index. This helps people find information about the deceased.
The Joodse begraafplaats stands as a testament to Amsterdam’s Jewish history. It connects us to those who came before. Take a moment to appreciate this place. Remember the stories it holds.