The History of the Jews in the Netherlands

'A clear picture of the longer-term developments ... Much space is devoted to social and religious life, to culture and to the economy.' De Volkskrant
This history of the Jews of the
Netherlands and the role they have played in Dutch society was originally
published in Dutch and widely acclaimed for the breadth of its coverage. It
covers both the internal evolution of the Jewish community and its social,
cultural, and economic interaction with the wider population.

From the first Jewish settlements in the
medieval duchies of Gelderland, Brabant, and Limburg to the Jewish community of
today, the interaction between Dutch Jews and Dutch Christians has mostly been
one of fruitful collaboration which only the period of German occupation from
1940 to 1945 was seriously able to disrupt. The contribution that Dutch Jews
have made, and continue to make, to cultural life, to the economy, and to
science is recognized as being of central importance to the Netherlands as a
whole.

The ten eminent scholars contributing to
this book each describe Jewish life in a particular period, from the Middle
Ages to the present. In doing so they consider the strains caused within the
Jewish community by the effort to play a full part in Dutch society while
maintaining Jewish culture, setting the discussion in the context of trends and
tensions within Dutch society in the period in question. The circumstances of
the Jews under German occupation and in the immediate post-war period are also
discussed.

The
History of the Jews in the Netherlands
is a definitive, indispensable work for the study of both European Jewish and
Dutch history.

CONTRIBUTORS J. C. H. Blom, F. Chaya Brasz, Joel J. Cahen, Renate G. Fuks-Mansfeld, Jonathan I. Israel, Yosef Kaplan, Peter Romijn, Ivo Schoeffer, B. M. J. Speet, Daniel M. Swetschinski