Replica Of Dutch Synagogue Destroyed By Nazis Opens In Israel
Image by Courtesy of Genootschap Nederland Israel
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — An exact replica of a Dutch synagogue that was blown up during World War II was inaugurated in Israel.
Many Jews of Dutch ancestry celebrated the inauguration last week at Mevo Horon, a town in the West Bank near Jerusalem, the news website Joods.nl reported Tuesday. The town’s Chasdei Enosh synagogue is an exact copy of the Terborg synagogue, which was destroyed in 1945 near the city of Arnhem in the eastern Netherlands.
The building project was the result of an effort by descendants of Jews from the Arnhem area.
Frank Levy, who was born in Arnhem and immigrated to Israel, said it was a “dream come true” to see the synagogue. A classic example of Moorish revival architecture, it is one of only a handful of synagogues built in Israel according to that style.
“The Germans tried to make this impossible,” said Levy about the German occupation forces, who, along with local collaborators, helped murder 75 percent of Dutch Jewry. “But here we are.”
Also in attendance was Pesach (Pascal) Pop, a nephew of Johan Cruyff, a legendary Dutch soccer player who died in 2016. A descendant of Jews who lived in the Arnhem area, he found the building’s blueprints while investigating his family’s history.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
