The Jewish Cemetery in Overveen
In 1797 a part of the Jewish community in Amsterdam
separated from the Amsterdam High German Jewish
community.
At that time, 21 members of this community renounced
their membership with the assistance of Notary Public
J.C. Wagner. The so-called ‘Neie Kille’ (New Community)
came thus into being. Mr. Izak Graanboom was appointed
Chief Rabbi and Leizer ben Mendele Schoucheit was
appointed kosher butcher. Services were from then on
held in a private house, namely the one of Salomon Cats.
This was a development which had its origin
in the formal Emancipation of the year 1796.
During the nineties of the 18th century the
very first Jewish political society had been formed, of
which the name “Felix Libertate” (“fortunately free”)
is self-explanatory.
Its aims were Jewish-ideological freedom and
equality of the citizen. The persons who took the
initiative, made use of the advent of the French in 1795
in order to introduce
a structural change in the social status of
Jewish individuals in Dutch
society.
This was a political aim that was marked by
translating the famous “Declaration des droits de
l’homme et du citoyen” into Yiddish and reading it aloud
in the synagogue. It changed the synagogue of old into
the center of bourgeois political propaganda! It was a
drastic change in the autonomy of the national-religious
structure of Jewish communities. Very soon there
appeared the contours of deep conflicts. The ‘New
Lights’ collided with the historic communities which
fiercely opposed these new ideas and in the end this led
to the separation of 1797. In the old kehilloth there
was no room for these ‘Aufklaerer, who wanted to
equalize the national foundations of the centuries-old
communities with all citizens of the Dutch nation; they
wanted to break away forever from the untouchable
authority of the parnassim who did not belong anymore in
this new way of life.
From then on there were two kehiloth, the old one and a
‘neie’/new, mini community, “Adath Jeshurun”,
which
had no shortage of great figures. These were modern
intellectuals, lawyers and businessmen, who did not want
anymore to be called Dutch Jews but Jewish Dutchmen.
This was about ‘people’ and ‘rights’ of all ‘free
and equal humans’. Not religion but citizenship was the
main issue. The community had regulations which,
however, were written in the Dutch-Jewish jargon because
obviously the members of the community still understood
this better.
The French rulers put an end to this in January
1809.
Thus, conflicts arose and from the chronicles of
that time, it was apparent that the separation
within the closed community led to fierce emotional
explosions. It seems that the leaders of the old
community did not encourage restraint. To the contrary,
they even encouraged the endless conflicts! The reason
for this was the debilitating fury of the parnassim who
sensed the advent of changing times. This fury came to
be expressed not only in the streets but also by the
publishing of leaflets, called ‘Diskoers’ (Discussion) –
quite a large collection of these pamphlets were from
1798, mainly in Yiddish. The members of the Portuguese
community
remained far apart from these discussions. Their
attitude with regard to the emancipation was, with some
exceptions, expressed in a different way.
These pamphlets did not
spare
the new rabbi from criticism
and he was more or less banned by the old kehilla.
Among others, they insinuated
that Izak Graanboom, the new Chief Rabbi,
preferred money most of all, although he actually lived
very modestly in the lower part of the synagogue of the
new community in Rapenburger Street and never accepted
any presents.
The
Synagogue
After the establishment of the ‘neie Kille’ religious
services were first held in private
homes, but on June 23rd, 1797 an
official synagogue was inaugurated opposite the Plantage,
on the Nieuwe Heerengracht. There also was a mikve, a
small conference room and the
premises of the Chief Rabbi.
Long before 1940
all
traces of
this building were already gone.
The name of David
Friedrichsfeld should be mentioned. He was an
enthusiastic disciple of Moses Mendelssohn
; he lived in Amsterdam since 1781 and played an
important role in the
history of the Emancipation. David Friedrichsfeld
became cantor of the new community.
Because
no archives are left about
this period, it is not easy to get a
clear picture of Adath Jesurun. The
pre-war literature mainly
concentrated on the persona of the
Rabbi,
who was portrayed by orthodox
authors, like Chief Rabbi Maarsen
and Dr. D.M. Sluys, as “not very
dangerous”.
On May 1st, 1799 the Kehilla moved to
Rapenburger Street (No. 173
today). When in 1808 the reunion took place,
without any special difficulties, this Synagogue became
an ordinary community synagogue,
together with the mikve and the butcher shop.
Sanhedrin
In 1807 Napoleon wanted to convene
the so-called Sanhedrin, in the
style of the old Jewish court of
justice. The intention was to
regulate the relationship of the
state and the often conflicting
Jewish traditions. This
could, in fact, be seen as
a recognition of Adath
Jeshurun by the powers that be. The
orthodox factions did not want to
have anything to do with the
attempts of Napoleon to give equal
rights to the Jews, who were
citizens of the other countries, and
their laws.
citizens
Research about this was done
by J. Michman (Melkman). In the end,
only the separate kehilla was
represented in Paris.
In this context it should not be
forgotten that the end of Adath
Jeshurun was already in sight.
The Chief Rabbi Izak Graanboom
This exceptional person was the
youngest son of non-Jewish Swedish
parents who became Jewish out of
pure conviction and who came to live
in Amsterdam in 1763, hoping to find
there a more liberal, spiritual
atmosphere. He himself,
a twelve year old boy, and his father were
admitted in the Covenant (Brith) of Abraham. Since then
the name of the boy was ‘Aaron Mosche Jitschak ben
Awraham Awienoe’, son of the Patriarch Abraham. The
family called itself Abrahams and only in 1811 after the
law of adoptions for family names came into force , did
they choose the name of Graanboom, originally from the
Swedish Granboom.
From the Hebrew family chronicle, 1858-’59, (parts of
which were written by S.I. Mulder and published by
L.Fuks) it appears that it was with
the Sefardic community where the family converted
to Judaism.
In 1789 Izak published an article in the form of a
sermon, with explanations of bible texts. This article
formed the starting point of Izak’s history.
His life until
1797.
According to details he published himself
at that time, we know that his parents died soon
after their arrival in the Netherlands. Their life had
been extremely difficult. He thus was left all alone.
Izak met superior scholars who educated him in the
spirit of Judaism. He mentioned the names of Rabbi Beer
and Jookev Dietz who taught him Talmud and Poskim free
of charge. For three years he was taught by Rabbi Beer,
until he was admitted to the great Beth Midrash in
Amsterdam. At the same time he became a member of the
household of the ‘Gaon’, Chief Rabbi Saul Lowenstam
(1750-1790), where he learned Tora.
Initially Izak did not want to make his living from the
Tora and therefore learned the trade of diamond
cleaving. With this he could support himself and his
family for about twenty years. Then he got into economic
difficulties and around 1780 he was accepted in the
teachers’ union of the school. He turned out to be a ‘lamdan’,
an authority on Halacha. He thus received the title of
More.
Considering the above, one wonders why he was appointed
Chief Rabbi of Adath Jeshurun.
Because of his origins, he probably was more lenient
than the descendants of the families of the great rabbis
from which the Amsterdam communities usually used to
recruit their rabbis.
Therefore, this man was probably better fitted
to comply with the cosmopolitan way of thinking
of Adath Jeshurun.
Apparently, he was a somewhat naïve,
dreamy man who cultivated Judaism,
an idealist who thought he would be
useful in his new working
environment. It was not necessarily
his fault that he did not succeed.
His intentions to influence
the Jewish spirit of Adath Jeshurun positively
ended in disappointment. The rabbinate barely lasted a
decade. The Neie Kille lasted a bit longer. Rabbi
Jitzchak died on March 10th, 1807, a short
while before the revolutionary community again jointed
the great Kehilla. He was buried in Overveen.
Subsequent efforts by his son to
rehabilitate his father, reflected
the course of the life of a
spiritual leader, somewhat
frustrated
by the circumstances, who was
as well
a somewhat irresolute man
who, during a decade, went stooped
under a self-chosen yoke. He must
have suffered from the opposition
that his act had caused in 1797. It
did not help that he rescinded the
title of Moreh and that
purposely he did not want to
be called ‘Av Beth Hadin’ (Chief
Rabbi – Literally ‘father/president
of the Court of Justice). He was
satisfied with the simple title of
More Tsedek (fair teacher).
There are only three tombstones left
in the oldest part of the
cemetery. The question arises,
therefore,
whether stones have sunk into
the ground or whether perhaps
this is a result of
vandalism. This is not a superfluous
question as the tombstone of the
Chief Rabbi has been a target of
destruction several times.
His demise had also been announced
abroad. Three leading members of the
Neie Kille
resided in Paris at that time
as members of the Sanhedrin
organized by Napoleon. The Great
Assembly of Bonaparte led to the
establishment of the first Jewish
newspaper published in the Dutch
language. The death of Izak
Graanboom was mentioned in this
newspaper. There also appeared an
elaborate description of the
ceremony of grief held at
this Sanhedrin meeting. In the notes
of February 1808- a year after his
death- a funereal ceremony was
recorded, stating that
a funereal speech would be
held, as well as “Reading a Mass for
the Soul”. Later this curious ‘Mass
for the Soul’ was changed into a
‘Prayer for the Soul’. The evolution
from the ‘Yiskor’ of old to ‘Mass’
was characteristic for the
atmosphere of those times. It all
was
was done with good
intentions. In 1797 Izak Graanboom
himself had sanctioned the
secession, a historical deed the
importance of which cannot be
underestimated. His sanction was
covered by rabbinical authority
which notwithstanding outside
criticism, was based on wide
knowledge and an independent
character. The Rabbi was a man whose
scholarship was certainly not less
than that of the famous Rabbis of
Amsterdam.
The
cemetery
The organizational talents of Messrs. Asser and De Lemon
made it possible to take steps to buy a cemetery very
soon after the breach
by the ‘enlightened’ with the old community in
March 1797,
in April of that same year. As the official lists of
those who have died and were buried in Overveen have
been preserved, we know exactly who was buried there
between October 15th, 1797 and December 30th,
1808. Exactly 100 members of Adath Jeshurun. The Beth
Chaim
remained in use until 1808, a period of about 10 years
during which not many people were buried because of the
small number of community members. During the year 1805
many graves
were destroyed in the cemetery and therefore a wall was
built around it as well as a small ‘metaher’ house, a
well and a pump. The southern wall contains several
epigraphs, among
them
the Hebrew text from Job 3:19:
‘The
small and the tall is there and the servant is there,
free from his master’.
In 1900 a letter
was written to the church council of the NIHS by
A.J. Waal Malefijt,
probably a descendant of the person, who had
first signed the deed of purchase of the cemetery, about
100 years earlier. In this letter he informed the church
council , that use of the land near the cemetery would,
for many reasons, probably increase the risk of
disturbance of the peace as well as of material damage.
This land could be used as a playground for the youths
of Haarlem. He offered to buy the land from the NIHS, to
plant the area with trees and thus to prevent more
damage. There was no reaction to this letter and the
consequences did not fail to occur. As far as we know,
damage to the cemetery wall continued
and we can read about the vandalism to the
matseva (tombstone) of Izak Graanboom.
In 1903 the front wall was renewed after
the cap
of sand stone collapsed and the entrance gate was
refurbished as well.
During the thirties of the previous century several
parcels of land around the cemetery were sold.
Between 1930 and 1940 seven Jews were buried in the
cemetery at Overveen of whom two were descendants of
Izak Graanboom. During the second world war there were
two funerals. The continued existence of the cemetery
became a point of
friction with the national-
socialists. Correspondence concerning this
subject is
kept in the archives of the community of Bloemendaal.
“They” wanted to declare the cemetery “closed”, but some
officials in
their
succeeded in preventing this. Thus, the general manager
of the Public Works, Mr. J. de Jong, wrote the following
letter to the real estate agent who offered the land for
sale:
“The cemetery belongs to the Neth. Isr. Main Synagogue
in Amsterdam. It is situated along the Tetterode Road,
is referred to in the Land Registry under Section E
no.’s 931 and 932 and has a surface of 3306 M2.
Tetterode Road does not comply with art. 10 of the
building regulations, therefore, according to art. 28,
one is not allowed to build on this land and thus it
cannot be considered to be a building site.
As
one can give a cemetery a different purpose only after
it has been officially closed for 30 years, this lot has
neither value as a building site nor as walking trail
and I advise you to forego the purchase hereof.”
In
July 1944 the Mayor decided not to make use of the
offer. A year later the Netherlands were liberated.
Only in 1948
there again occurred a funeral in Overveen.
The Jewish community in Amsterdam
refurbished the Metaher house (
purification
house) and took the
initiative to restore some
tombstones. The community of
Bloemendaal looked after payment for
the mowing and arranged for a
beautiful wrought iron fence.
Actually this cemetery in the dunes
had already become history during
the year of 1808. Since that time
it was a ‘Beth Chaim’ where
individuals with very special
sentiments wanted and still want to
be buried: like the next of kin and
other descendants of members of the
Neie Kille.
After the war six funerals took
place here – between 1952 and 1964.
Because of the exceptional way it came into
existence, this cemetery has become Historical
National Monument.
The Tomb of Chief Rabbi Izak
Graanboom
In the summer of 1807 the
wish
was expressed to establish a
monument on the tomb of the Chief
Rabbi. On July 30th a
concrete plan was formed. During the
whole summer
this occupied many people and
the
final result became visible
on September 17th.
Underneath is the translation of the
text on this monument:
“Zera Yitzhak (seed of Isaac)
This is the stone on the tomb of our
Master, Teacher and Rabbi. Chief
Rabbi and Head of the School of our
Community, whose name was known in
Israel
by
the title DE GAON (the scholar), DE
TSADDIEK
(the righteous),DE CHASID
(the religious), Rav Aharon Moshe
Jitschak ben Abraham, shepherd of
the flock ADATH JESHURUN.
He shook off pride and arrogance.
His behavior was of a withdrawn
nature. Only for his religion did he
make a strong stand, in order to
show his people God’s way, where
light shines in order to make their
hearts always fear God, teach them
MUSAR (ethics).
Thus, he was a witness under Jacob and established the
Tora among Israel.
May this monument cover his
physical
remains, his love
remains anchored in our heart, may his sun shine forever
in ZERA (the seed of )JITSCHAK and the light of his
wisdom and his knowledge.
You, human being, passer-by: stop and let your eye shed
a tear, because the glory of Israel has been thrown into
the earth.
Ahh! To the body formed in God’s image, the Lord says:
‘Rest in darkness’.
A CHASID has disappeared from this earth and is not
present anymore because God has taken him
towards him to show him heavenly love – where he
can always visit His Sanctuary.
He
entered eternal life on Tuesday, the first day of ROSH
HODESH ADAR SHENI (the New Moon Holiday of the second
month of Adar, as that year was a leap year with 13
months) and was buried the following Thursday of the
year 5567 (1807).”
In
the course of the years the tombstone has been
vandalized many times. In the beginning it was repaired
but now it lies in broken pieces.
People
occupied themselves for a long time with the maintenance
of the cemetery, among others with the building of a
stone wall. In the beginning of the 20th
century it had deteriorated to such an extent that 2/3
had to be renewed.
Of the five children of Rabbi Graanboom only one,
Israel, is buried in Overveen. In the course of time
five other persons with name Graanboom were buried in
Overveen, amongst them the grandchild of the Chief
Rabbi. The wife of the Chief Rabbi, Rachel/Ruchama (de)
Wolf, was not buried next to her husband,
neither the wife of the prominent member Moses
Asser.
Above mentioned
possibility to be buried in Overveen also after the
union, was used much less than could be expected,
probably because of financial considerations. Moreover,
the total Adath Jeshurun period lasted only a little
more than 10 years and there were not many members. From
the time of the reunion of the two communities and
onwards only members (Balbatim) were buried there
(according to S.I. Mulder in 1851).
Between January 1809 and 1940 a total of 113 persons
found their final resting place in Overveen, between
1940 and 1964 about ten.
Demography
There are no exact details about
social events in the community
between 1797 and 1808.
From a letter of July 22nd
1808
it is apparent that the
kehilla
was not large, just before
the reunion: ‘….Though from (1802),
somehow various Jews from the Old
Community united with the New
Community, but they became rather
less than more…..’
In ‘Demography of the Jews in The Netherlands’ by E.
Boekman in
the first
census of 1795 Adath Jeschurun did not yet exist and in
a later report of 1808 the community had already
disappeared. Another report somewhat later suggests that
they were one-sixtieth of a total of 30,000 persons in
the Ashkanazi community, which would
amount to 500 persons.
The
Assers
The Asser family played a leading role in
achieving civil equal rights for the Jews.
Cited below is an act of the adoption of a family
name, certified by Mr. J. Huydecoper of Maarsseveen by
Moses Salomon (1754-1826), the undisputed champion of
Emancipation:
‘Before me the undersigned member of the provisional
management of the city of Amsterdam appeared: Moses
Salomon Asser, residing at Heeregracht near Utrechtsche
street no. 15 canton 3, who declared that he keeps
or if need be, accepts the family name of Asser
and first names of Moses Salomon, that he has three
sons, three grandsons and one granddaughter, to wit:
Carel Asser age thirty three, residing on Prinsegragt
above the Stads Timmertuin no. Canton1 –married to Rose
Levin out of which marriage was begotten Lodewijk Asser,
age eleven.
Asser Tobie age thirty, residing at his father’s home,
married to Carolina Itzig from which marriage
were begotten Anna Gratia Mariana Asser, age six, Eduard
Isaac Asser, age four, Karel Daniel Asser,
age fifteen weeks.
Hendrik Asser age twenty four, residing on Rokin near
the Bourse no. canton 2.
They will keep the above mentioned first names, being
this document signed
the sixteenth December, 1800, by the above
mentioned person as stated and myself.
M.S. Asser
Huydecoper van Maarsseveen’
However, on his tombstone Moses Asser is mentioned as
Mousje Ben Kalman Sjouchet (Sjouchet = butcher).
The Wertheims
It is remarkable that on the tombstones of Abraham Carel
Wertheim and his wife (second half of the nineteenth
century) next to him,there are almost no Hebrew letters.
It is questionable whether the
Chief Rabbi
in those days, Dr. Dunner, was at peace with
this. From the text on his tomb it appears that he was
an important individual: chairman of the Church Council
of the Netherlands Israelite Main Synagogue, Member of
the Upper House and Knight of the Order of the Dutch
Lion. However, his children, who died young, had an
almost complete Hebrew text on their tombstones.
He was a man, who, because of his dualistic views of
Judaism, was still quoted until 1940. He was a
citizen
in society and a Jew in the synagogue.
The Vissers
The Second World War had broken out.
On January 3rd,
1939 the lawyer, Mr. Dr. Lodewijk Ernst Visser was
appointed President of the Supreme Court. However,
already in November 1940 he was dismissed by the
Germans. Thus began the most important part of the life
of this fierce
fighter guided by principles, who vigorously
resisted the
Nazis and their supporters on various fronts . In the
relatively short period before his death in February
1942 he
stood out as the irresistible defender of the rights of
his fellow Jews and with whom he felt in unity during
this time of oppression. He took part in the resistance
against the occupiers and disputed fiercely
with the civil service in The Hague. Furthermore,
internally he fiercely opposed
the Jewish Council (Joodse Raad). His wife,
Cornelia Johanna Sara initially stood fearlessly
at the side of her husband. She eventually ended
up in Westerbork together with the group of the
Barneveld-list
in September 1943, where she died and was
cremated in March 1944. Her urn was
placed next to the tomb of her husband and her
daughter in Overveen. On her tomb is mentioned the death
of their son in Mauthausen .
Tombstone Illustrations
On about one
third of the matsevoth (tombstones) in Overveen appear
illustrations, unusual in Jewish circles; this being one
of the aspects of the period of the Emancipation. On the
tomb of Moses Asser we find the Dutch lion, which also
appeared on his signet ring. Moses Asser thus had a
family coat of arms, the first Jewish Dutchman
who had been endowed with this. This decoration appears
also on an image of waves; probably a symbol of the sea
and a
reminiscence of the fact that the erstwhile businessman
once was a sea- and insurance broker. (His son Carel
received his doctoral degree in 1799 in Leiden with a
dissertation on maritime law).
Another ‘decorated’ tombstone was
the o
ne of Samuel Joel, one of the
parnassim. On this stone there was a
knotted tree.
A
faded past
Already for a long time
the archives of Adath Jeshurun do not exist
anymore. Not only because
during the time
a lot of material was sacrified to the fireplaces
of schoolrooms and to paper mills, but also
as a victim of the course of the general history
of Dutch Judaism. All this in spite of the regulation,
article 20 in the “plan of agreement and unification” of
1808: ‘Parnassim of the United Community, both of the
Old and the New Community, will take over all
minutes/records, archives, charters, documents, marriage
certificates, registers of birth and death lists, and
anything else – to take care of these and to hand over a
copy of these to anyone interested against a reasonable
fee’.
The secretary of the Netherlands Israelite Main
Synagogue, Dr. D.M.Sluys,
concluded in his study ‘The regulations of Adath
Jeschurun’ : “The regulations, together
with the clauses/stipulations themselves,
disappeared from the vigilant eyes of caretaker Bendit
Plotske, who sold the archives of the New Community for
waste paper around 1826.
Nevertheless a ‘Minutes book of the Directors’ was still
available in the archives of the NIHS until 1940.
Sources:
“Versteend verleden”/Petrified Past, Jaap Meijer
/ Jet Slagter
Translation into English:-Nina Mayer
Editing:- Ben Noach
Final review:-
Hanneke Noach
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