The Jewish community of Beek
Source: "Wat baek os bud," by Prof.
Dr. J.C.G. Jansen,
Dr. L.M. Lemmens, D.I. van Gelder
and J.M.G. Aussems.
Beek is located in the province of
Limburg, south of Geleen.
It is certain that Jews lived in
Limburg during the middle ages,
usually in the towns. In Maastricht,
Roermond en Venlo lived quite large
groups of Jews. In Maastricht there
was even a synagogue, which was
closed at the start of the 14th
century. The street there is still
called the "Jodenstraat" – the
Jewish street. It is unknown whether
the economic activity of the Jews
during the Middle Ages included
Beek, but the possibility exists.
We know that Western European Jews
used to extend credit to local
farmers. The farmers sold their
products usually between July and
November. In spring they were often
left without any income and then
they had to borrow money from the
Jews against interest.
Usually part of the harvest or of
the non-harvested crop served as
collateral.
We are not sure whether this also
occurred in Beek, but between 1350
and 1650 certainly no Jews were
found there. During this period
there were no Jews in Maastricht or
in the "county of Overmaze." Only in
Sittard were there some Jews from
time to time.
Even after 1650 we have only scarce
information regarding Jews living in
Beek. At the end of the 17th century
the Jews of Beek are mentioned with
regard to legal processes. The
scarce information was found in
archives of notaries and courts of
law. Compared to their brethren from
Meerssen, Eijsden, Vaals or
Maastricht, the Jews from Beek
possessed very little land and
needed almost no notarial
assistance.
In order to register small legal
matters, like a protest regarding
defamation, or a difficult claim of
small debts, the Jews in other parts
of Limburg went to the local notary.
The Jews of Beek however, had to use
the services of aldermen, whose
archives are badly conserved and
provide very little information
about the Jews from Beek, or
elsewhere.
Nevertheless some information has
been found, mentioning almost forty
Jewish persons, living in Beek
between 1685 and 1820.
About 1740 three Jewish families
lived in Beek and at the end of the
18th century twelve families.
The ancestor
The first known Jew in Beek was
Meyer Joseph, whose name appears in
an undated document, probably issued
between 1723 and 1725. It states
that Meyer had lived in Beek already
28 years, which means that he
arrived there between 1685 and 1687.
His daughter Helena was born there
in 1690 and the name of her mother
was Mechteld Capel.
Meyer Joseph, like other Jewish
ancestors in the vicinity, possibly
arrived in Beek in the wake of
Portuguese Jews, who were appointed
before 1690 by the Council of State
in The Hague as caretakers of the
army, which was engaged in wars
against France between 1672 and
1709.
These well- to- do Portuguese Jews
provided bread for the soldiers and
hay for their horses, in cooperation
with German Jews living in the
region. Some of these Jews remained
in the villages, and also in Beek.
After the wars these Jews looked for
new sources of income. They provided
the villages with coffee, tea,
tobacco, textiles, and meat.
In 1712 Meyer Joseph was registered
as a butcher. In the same year his
daughter Helena was mentioned in a
terrible murder case.
Till 1722 Meyer Joseph headed the
only Jewish family in Beek,
afterwards the number of Jewish
families rose. About 1740 two or
three Jewish families lived there,
joined in 1755 by newcomers.
After 1785 their number rose, due to
difficulties in Eijsden. The
authorities had erected tenement
houses for the Jews, housing more
than one hundred inhabitants, which
exceeded the local population by 10
per cent.
In order to settle, requirements had
to be met. "The law had to be
strictly fulfilled" and evidence of
moral behavior and guarantees had to
be provided. Not all Jews were able
to meet these conditions. Therefore
many Jews had to leave and to find
other villages in the Overmaze to
settle in.
In Beek the number of Jewish
families in 1794 rose to twelve.
In 1796 the French occupation
proclaimed equal rights for all
burghers and from now on no town or
region could exclude the Jews. Many
left for the present Belgium, which
had not accepted any Jew for ages.
In 1808 only seven Jewish families
remained in Beek. In the same year
they were obliged to adopt family
names as decreed by King Lodewijk
Napoleon.
Five of the Jewish families had
lived in Beek between six and
fifteen years, and another five had
lived there for more than thirty
years. Part of the Jews came from
Middle Germany, three from the Rhine
region and one came from France.
Generally the authorities did not
persecute the Jews, and did not
decree anti-Jewish measures. Beek
became a safe refuge for Jews, who
elsewhere were afraid for their
life.
The Jewish community
In 1828 Beek became an independent
Jewish community with the status of
an "additional synagogue." There
were eleven Jewish grown-up males
and the community had about thirty
members. They congregated in a house
synagogue, situated in the home of a
well- to- do member. Due to the
small number of members, the same
people always held the available
positions in the community, causing
resentment and conflict. Therefore
there were members who did not visit
the synagogue anymore and
discontinued paying their dues to
the community.
The community of Beek was in a
difficult financial position and
could not even pay its dues to the
chief rabbinate.
The results of Belgian independence
As a result of political changes in
1839, the Province of Limburg was
divided. In 1841 it was decided by
Royal Decree that the Jewish
communities of Dutch Limburg would
belong to Maastricht, while the
Jewish communities of Luxembourg,
Liege and Brussels would not belong
anymore to the "Nederlands
Israelitische Kerkgenootschap" – the
Dutch Israelite Church Community.
All other synagogues were classified
according to the number of their
members.
The synagogue
The authorities of Beek were also
tolerant with regard to matters of
religion. The service in the home
synagogue was permitted and existed
in Beek till the end of the
seventies of the 18th century. In
1789 the Torah roll was handed by
the heirs to a banker from
Maastricht, who sold the roll to
somebody in Elsloo, under the
condition that the Jews from Beek
would be allowed to buy the Torah
roll at the same price, whenever
they would decide to establish a
synagogue again.
In 1794 a home synagogue was
established again. The financial
problems of the community were
somehow solved.
The small Jewish community of Beek
remained constant for more than one
generation. According to the results
of the French census from 1808 and
1809 there lived between 26 and 28
Jews in Beek. The results from 1829
and 1849 showed about the same
numbers. In 1866 there were about 40
Jews, and in the same year an old
dream was fulfilled. The Jewish
community founded a real synagogue.
In September 1861 the Jewish
community requested permission to
build a synagogue on a parcel of
land acquired by them. In July 1862
the council of Beek refused to
authorize their request, for the
following reasons:
"Said parcel is in the immediate
vicinity of the municipal school
where 300 till 400 children from all
classes and age are learning. This
could disturb the religious services
and may cause discomfort to the
Israelite Community as well as to
the parents of the rash young
pupils. Such a situation could even
cause clashes, the nature of which
may not yet be envisioned.
Said parcel moreover, is situated
very near to the existing Roman and
Protestant churches."
The Jewish community had to look for
another place. In the spring of 1863
they succeeded to exchange the
parcel at the platschj (now
Brugstreet) for an orchard at the
Molenstreet, where only an old house
was standing.
In May 1863 the municipal council
finally authorized the building of a
synagogue. It was hard to raise the
necessary funds. The municipality
offered a subsidy of 240 guilders.
In March 1866 a tender was
announced. The inauguration of the
synagogue took place in August 1866,
with the Jewish choir "Halleluja"
from Sitttard.
Architecturally the building was
very simple. It was built of bricks.
The windows had segmented arches and
above the entry was verse 20 from
psalm 118 in Hebrew letters,
reading: "This is the gate of the
Lord, into which the righteous shall
enter."
Near the road a wall was erected
with an iron grid. Some trees were
planted. After several years the
synagogue was surrounded by an
industrial area.
In the synagogue beautiful copper
chandeliers hung from the ceiling
and on the floor and on tables stood
lovely candlesticks.
Till about 1900 weekly prayers were
held in the synagogue. Afterwards
people went to Sittard because in
Beek there was no "minyan" anymore.
These trends were caused by rising
assimilation.
Only during the high holydays, was
the synagogue of Beek used again;
these services were attended by a
Rabbi coming from another place.
Financing the maintenance of the
synagogue was a difficult matter.
From 1890 the provincial authorities
paid for maintenance, but after 1900
not much more could be done. In 1954
the synagogue was sold to the
municipality of Beek and finally the
building was demolished. Only a
monument reminds us of its
existence.
Teaching and Jewish education
Already in 1822 public teaching for
the poor existed in Beek, for
Catholic, Protestant and Jewish
children. Lessons were given in a
small school near the Platschj.
Children from villages around Beek,
also were taught here. The school
had one class with a floor of clay
and benches for eight till ten
pupils. The passages between the
benches formed the partition between
classes.
In 1857 when the teaching law was
announced, the teaching improved.
A new school in the Raadhuisstraat
was opened.
Since 1892 Jewish girls were taught
at the school of the Sisters in the
Molenstraat.
A sign of the growing assimilation
was the fact that Jewish children
went to school also on Saturday.
According to the archives three
Jewish teachers gave lessons in
Jewish subjects in Beek. The Jewish
community valued the fact that their
children would be taught some
prayers and Hebrew knowledge. The
father with most children usually
brought a young man from Germany,
aged sixteen till twenty, who had
just studied some Hebrew himself and
who had now to transfer his
knowledge to the children. The young
men were honored with the title of
"schoolmaster."
Till 1911 the Jewish children of
Beek were probably taught by a
learned member of the community,
since there were no available funds
to pay the salary of a real Jewish
teacher. After 1911 the children
were taught on Sundays, at the home
of one of the parents, by an
assistant teacher from Maastricht.
Owing to the small number of Jews in
Beek, there never were regular
Jewish classes.
The Jewish cemetery
The cemetery at the Putbroekerweg is
older than the synagogue. The oldest
stone is from 1794. Possibly the
Jews of Beek could bury their dead
outside the village, on a parcel
which the Jewish community had been
allowed to buy. This parcel had been
probably bigger, but its present
area was now 3.90 are only. In 1861
the cemetery was divided and later
on enlarged, caused by the change in
the outline of the road.
In 1871 the communities of Limburg
were ordered to regulate "the burial
of the dead and the protection of
the cemeteries." The regulation
describes how the burial had to be
effected.
The conveyance of the body to the
cemetery and the burial had to be
executed between sunrise and sunset.
During the burial no disorder should
take place and on the cemetery
itself no cattle or other animals
would be allowed to graze or to
stroll. The drying or bleaching of
garments was also forbidden.
Those were the first steps of an
intensive control of burial,
effected by the authorities, which
were necessary in view of contagious
illness.
These regulations caused financial
difficulties to small cemeteries and
it took a long time before a Metaher
house was erected in Beek with the
help of a subsidy.
Today there are eighteen tombstones
in the Beek cemetery. How many
Jewish inhabitants were buried there
is not known, but for sure have to
are many more. According to the
annual report of 1888 four people
were buried in that year alone.
The east side of the cemetery is
bordered with a beautiful hedge and
the foliage of two large trees
covers most of the cemetery.
In 1905 the exact acreage was 5.30
are. In 1966 the ownership of the
cemetery was transferred to the NIK-the
Organisation of the Jewish
Communities in the Netherlands. The
cemetery is well maintained by the
Beek municipality.
Religious and social tension
In the middle of the 19th century
there was an anti-Semitic incident
in South Limburg, causing
anti-Semitic tension. This incident
was proof of the existing tension
between Jews and Christians in South
Limburg.
In Jewish eyes the Catholics were
stupid and backward, but the
Catholics thought the same about the
Jews.
In view of the much needed economic
relations between the groups it was
deemed advisable not to vent these
opinions. Nevertheless, on many
occasions the religious differences,
mixed with economic conflicts,
played a part. Usually these
conflicts broke out without any
realistic reasons to point to.
The situation improved however.
According to Beek inhabitants,
interviewed in 1990, both
communities learned to live with
each other, during the period
between both World Wars. On the
street, in shops, or in
associations, people had contact
with each other. Both groups shared
a daily life. The social life of the
Jews was fully integrated with the
life of
the non-Jews.
the village and everybody celebrated
carnival and other Christian
Holydays.
This form of integration was not
always appreciated by other Jews in
the country. In Beek some Jews
converted and became Catholics or
Protestants and there were mixed
marriages. Gans wrote about this
development: "What the pastor said
was for them at least as important
as the words of the rabbi."
In Meerssen an antisemitic weekly
was published and during the 19th
century also in Beek antisemitic
utterances were heard. Nevertheless,
during the second half of the 19th
century the number of Jews in Beek
rose steadily. From 1900 till 1950
the number remained about 15 Jews.
year number
of Jews
1849 26
1859 34
1869 41
1879 43
1889 35
1899 15
Economic activity
The Jews in Beek were not very
wealthy. They had simple
professions, which are not even
mentioned in our sources. There were
day laborers, butchers, pedlars,
textile sellers and cattle dealers.
The word "merchant" is not
mentioned. There was somebody who
gave loans, but in very small
amounts.
During the whole 18th century the
Jews of Beek had no professions with
a good income. There was no trade
whatsoever in luxury articles, like
gold, silver or watches. In the
official documents three day
laborers are mentioned, two
knitters, two cantors of the
synagogue, a buyer of fish, three
teachers and two unemployed men.
In later years the Jews of Beek
traded in agricultural products,
like cattle, butter and grain. Since
1850 some Jews became land owners,
and some Jewish families could be
regarded as prosperous.
But generally speaking the people of
Beek were not rich, Jews included.
There were firms for the making of
cigars and a few syrup firms
existed.
The end of the Jewish community of
Beek
From the approximate twenty Jews
living in Beek before the war,
twelve were saved by hiding. The
rest were killed. After the war the
Jewish community was not
re-established again and in 1954 the
Jewish community of Beek was united
with the one of Maastricht.
Extracted from source (in Dutch)
by:- Yael (Lotje) Benlev-de Jong
Translated from Dutch by Michael
Jamenfeld
Review:-Ben Noach
End editing:-Hanneke Noach
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The Synagoge of Beek