Dutch Jews As Perceived By Themselves And By Others

How did Jews in the Netherlands view themselves and how were they viewed by others? This is the single theme around which the twenty-five essays in this volume, written by scholars from the Netherlands, Israel and other countries, revolve. The studies encompass a variety of topics and periods, from the beginning of the Jewish settlement in the Dutch Republic through the Shoah and its aftermath. They include examinations of the Sephardi Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Jews in the periods of Emancipation and Enlightenment, social and cultural encounters between Jews and non-Jews throughout the ages, the image of the Jew in Dutch literature in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the churches' attitudes toward Jews. Also highlighted are the second World War and its consequences, Dutch Jews in Israel and Israelis in the contemporary Netherlands.

The two decades since the last authoritative general history of Dutch Jews was published have seen such substantial developments in historical understanding that new assessment has become an imperative. This volume offers an indispensable survey from a contemporary viewpoint that reflects the new preoccupations of European historiography and allows the history of Dutch Jewry to be more integrated with that of other European Jewish histories. Historians from both older and newer generations shed significant light on all eras, providing fresh detail that reflects changed emphases and perspectives. In addition to such traditional subjects as the Jewish community’s relationship with the wider society and its internal structure, its leaders, and its international affiliations, new topics explored include the socio-economic aspects of Dutch Jewish life seen in the context of the integration of minorities more widely; a reassessment of the Holocaust years and consideration of the place of Holocaust memorialization in community life; and the impact of multiculturalist currents on Jews and Jewish politics. Memory studies, diaspora studies, postcolonial studies, and digital humanities all play their part in providing the fullest possible picture. This wide-ranging scholarship is complemented by a generous plate section with eighty fully captioned colour illustrations.

The articles of this volume deal with the connections between the history and culture of the Jews of the Netherlands from the beginning of the seventeenth century until the Holocaust and its aftermath, and phenomena and processes that distinguish all of Jewish history in the modern period.

Egodocuments' is a term coined by the Dutch Jewish historian Jacques Presser in the 1950s. He defined them as "historical sources in which the researcher is faced with an 'I'? as the writing and describing subject with a continuous presence in the text", and demanded their integration into the "acceptable", authoritative array of sources. Seventy years later, historiography in general has embraced his view regarding this type of source material, which sheds light on the emotions, imaginations, perceptions, egos, and characteristics of individuals. Holocaust research has become a leading venue for using, researching, and analyzing egodocuments due to the enormous amount of such sources available concerning this event.00This volume comprises contributions presented in a symposium dedicated to "Egodocuments In Dutch Jewish History", convened by the Center for Research on Dutch Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in December 2017. They stretch from fascinating documents that give voice to eighteenth-century Jewish crooks, to puzzling twenty-first century writings of Jews ? as well as of non-Jews who present themselves as Jews ? with a special emphasis on Holocaust-related egodocuments.

This study explores the shifting boundaries and identities of historic and contemporary Jewish communities. The contributors assert that, geographically speaking, Jewish people rarely lived in ghettos and have never been confined within the borders of one nation or country. Whereas their places of residence may have remained the same for centuries, the countries and regimes that ruled over them were rarely as constant, and power struggles often led to the creation of new and divisive national borders. Taking a postmodern historical approach, the contributors seek to reexamine Jewish history and Jewish studies through the lens of borders and boundaries.

Publisher description

This work is composed of essays describing Jewish life in Dutch history, from the Middle ages to the present.

During the Nazi occupation of Holland, 1940-1945, the Jewish community there suffered devastation on a scale as great as in any other nation in Europe. Only a small percentage of Dutch Jews survived the systematic annihilation. The land was flat and easy to patrol, people's backgrounds and religions were well documented, and the physical appearance of a Jew was often obvious and very distinctive. In this environment, love was difficult-but not impossible. This memoir tells a love story that grew during the occupation-that of Nardus and Sipora Groen, as written by their son, author David Groen. It is the story of two Jews who were drawn together by the basic goal of survival. One was an Orthodox Jewish man who evaded the grasp and arrest by the Nazis numerous times, although each time as a member of the resistance and never as a Jew. The other was a woman whose innocent beauty and Jewish-looking face compelled her to move from place to place and exhibit an almost unimaginable courage in order to avoid detection and almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis. Together, and with the help of many special people, including a couple whose righteousness reached the highest level one can imagine, they have lived to tell their story. David Groen, the youngest child of Nardus and Sipora Groen, has had the benefit of a listening to their firsthand accounts throughout his life. David has an extensive knowledge of Jewish history and has interviewed many of the individuals featured in the story, both in the United State and the Netherlands. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he has lived all over the world, including Jerusalem, London, and Philadelphia. He currently lives in Queens, New York.