Dutch-Jewish
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (30,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Rotterdam, The Hague, Apeldoorn | |
| Languages | |
| Dutch, Hebrew, Yiddish | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dutch people, Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews |
Most history of the Jews in the Netherlands was generated between the end of the 16th century and World War II.
The area now known as the Netherlands was once part of the Spanish Empire but in 1581, the northern Dutch provinces declared independence. A principal motive was a wish to practice Protestant Christianity, then forbidden under Spanish rule, and so religious tolerance was effectively an important constitutional element of the newly independent state. This inevitably attracted the attention of Jews who were religiously oppressed in many parts of the world.
It is likely that the earliest Jews arrived in the “Low Countries,” present day Belgium and the Netherlands, during the Roman conquest early in the common era. Little is known about these early settlers, other than the fact that they were not very numerous. For some time, the Jewish presence consisted of, at most, small isolated communities and scattered families. Reliable documentary evidence dates only from the 1100s; for several centuries, the record reflects that the Jews were persecuted and expelled on a regular basis. Early sources from the 11th and 12th centuries mention official debates or Disputationes between Christians and Jews, in which attempts were made to convince the Jews of the truth of Christianity and to try to convert them. A few references to them are in existence which distinctly mention them as present in the other provinces at an earlier date, especially after their expulsion from France in 1321 and the persecutions in Hainaut and the Rhine provinces. The first Jews in the province of Gelderland were reported in 1325. Jews have been settled in Nijmegen, the oldest settlement, in Doesburg, Zutphen, and in Arnhem since 1404. As of the 13th century, there are sources which indicate that Jews were living in Brabant and Limburg, mainly in cities such as Brussels, Leuven, Tienen, and Maastricht. Sources from the 14th century also mention Jewish residents in the cities of Antwerp and Mechelen and in the northern region of Geldern. Between 1347 and 1351, Europe was hit by the plague or Black Death and this led to a new theme in medieval anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Jews were held responsible for the epidemic and for the way it was rapidly spreading, because presumably they were the ones who had poisoned the water of the springs used by the Christians. Various medieval chronicles mention this, e.g., those of Radalphus de Rivo (c. 1403) of Tongeren, who wrote about how the Jews were murdered in the Brabant region and in the city of Zwolle because they were accused of spreading the Black Death. This accusation was added to the other traditional blood libels against the Jews, such as piercing the Host used for communion and using Christian children as an offering during Passover. For this reason local Jewish communities were often murdered in part or entirely or exiled. Thus, in May 1370, six Jews were burned at the stake in Brussels because they were accused of theft and of desecrating the Holy Sacrament. In addition to these drastic measures, traces can also be found of abusing and insulting Jews, e.g., in the cities of Zutphen, Deventer, and Utrecht, for allegedly desecrating the Host. Rioters massacred the majority of the Jews in the region and expelled those who survived. In 1349 the Duke of Guelders was authorized by the Emperor Louis IV of the Holy Roman Empire of Germany to receive Jews in his duchy, where they provided services, paid a tax, and were protected by the law. In Arnhem, where a Jewish physician is mentioned, the magistrate similarly defended him against the hostilities of the populace. When Jews settled in the diocese of Utrecht is unknown, but rabbinical records regarding Jewish dietary laws speculated that the Jewish community there dated back to Roman times. In 1444, Jews were expelled from the city of Utrecht, and until 1789 no Jew might pass the night there. They were however tolerated in the village of Maarssen, two hours distant, though their condition was not fortunate. Nonetheless, the community of Maarssen was one of the most important in the Netherlands. Jews were admitted to Zeeland by Albert, Duke of Bavaria.
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