The Netherlands – also called Holland – is one of Europe’s smallest countries, but the Jewish heritage experience in the Netherlands is both rich and rewarding. Holland has a long Jewish history and the modern capital of Amsterdam is full of fascinating Jewish cultural sites, as well as being home to a small but thriving Jewish community. If you’re planning a trip to Europe a luxury Jewish heritage tour in the Netherlands should be at the top of your list!
A Quick Intro to the Netherlands and its Jewish Heritage
The Netherlands sits on Europe’s North Sea coast, sandwiched between Belgium and Germany and facing Great Britain across the sea. By US standards, Holland is a tiny country being somewhere between West Virginia and Maryland in size. The Jewish history of the Netherlands goes back to at least to the 1100s, but became significant in the late 1500s. Holland was emerging from the disastrous Spanish occupation and rebuilding itself as a new Dutch Republic. The following century saw the arrival of the Dutch Golden Age and Jews played an important role in the prosperity that followed. Amsterdam became known as the Dutch Jerusalem!
The first major wave of Jewish immigrants came from Portugal as Sephardic Jews sought religious tolerance and commercial opportunities. The community grew and built the famous Esnoga or Snoga Synagogue. The community prospered and enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance from the Dutch authorities. Excluded from most trade guilds, the Portuguese Jews excelled as merchants, brokers and doctors.
During the 1650s the Netherlands absorbed a wave of Ashkenazi Jews fleeing persecution in Lithuania. Despite initial difficulties the newcomers were absorbed and the country’s Jewish communities continued to prosper. A major milestone in the Jewish heritage of the Netherlands was the formal Jewish emancipation that followed the French Revolution in 1795. From that point on, Jews gradually integrated into mainstream Dutch society. This process ended brutally in the spring of 1940 with the German occupation of the Netherlands.
In 1939 there were 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands. An estimated 75% were murdered in the Holocaust. Today, there are 45,000 people in the Netherlands who identify as Jewish, almost half of whom live in Amsterdam. In numerical terms, the community is a shadow of its pre-war self, but it endured and is vibrant and prosperous. When you sign up for a Jewish heritage experience in the Netherlands with Gil Travel, you’ll be able to meet members of the Jewish community and explore the country’s rich Jewish past and its welcoming present.
Plan a Luxury Jewish Heritage Tour in the Netherlands
The advantages of planning a luxury Jewish heritage tour with a professional travel company go far beyond enjoying Amsterdam’s finest luxury hotels and exclusive restaurants. A custom tour with Gil Travel also includes a clear focus on helping you to explore Jewish history and historical sites in much greater depth. There’s a huge difference between walking around the Jewish Quarter with a guidebook or a few leaflets from the tourist office, and exploring it with a professional historian as a guide.
An experienced tour guide can make an historical site come to life and can provide a depth of accurate information and detail that will transform your visit. If you’re traveling with kids, they’ll love interactive historical interpretations that include period costumes, hands-on activities and the chance to handle historical artifacts or replicas, as well as personal stories from hundreds of years ago. When you’re visiting the Anne Frank House or Holocaust exhibitions, interactive and creative activities can be particularly powerful and moving.
Top Jewish Heritage Sites in the Netherlands
The majority of important Jewish heritage sites in the Netherlands are located in Amsterdam. This is really convenient for tourists and reduces travel time between “must see” places to an absolute minimum. Amsterdam is an easy city to get around (not least because it’s flat) and most Dutch people speak fluent English. One of the first things you’ll notice when you explore the city is that there are bicycles everywhere. Bikes are one of the most popular forms of transport and are a great way to get around. If you want to hire a bicycle or take a cycling tour of Amsterdam, Gil Travel can arrange a flexible itinerary.
The Anne Frank House
The tragic story of Anne Frank and her family has come to symbolize the suffering of Holland’s Jews in World War Two. The Franks, and another family, hid from the Nazis in a secret annex above some office space. 13 year old Anne began a diary detailing her life in hiding and the challenges of being a teenager in such claustrophobic and frustrating conditions. The family were eventually betrayed and deported. Anne, her sister Margot and mother Edith died in the concentration camps.
A visit to the Anne Frank House (museum) on Westermarkt 20, is a poignant experience and a reminder of the barbarism that scarred Amsterdam within living memory. The museum is superbly designed and is compelling, but your visit will definitely be a saddening experience. A typical visit takes around an hour and there is an English audio guide available.
Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam
The Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam is commonly known as the Joods museum and is conveniently located across the road from the famous Portuguese Synagogue. The museum is at the heart of the old Jewish Quarter and occupies an old synagogue site. The museum gives a great insight into the Jewish history in Holland from 1600 to modern times and is a real pleasure to explore. One of the finest exhibits is the meter tall silver Rintel chanukiah.
Portuguese Synagogue
Amsterdam’s beautiful Portuguese Synagogue was built in the 17th century and is still a house of worship. The design reflects the prosperity and self-confidence of the Sephrdic Jewish community in the 1600s and is a treasure trove of exquisitely designed ritual items and historical Jewish artifacts. Daytime visitors to the Portuguese Synagogue are struck by the light and space inside the building, while night time visitors are enthralled by the magical candle lit atmosphere (even today there is no electric lighting). A visit to the Portuguese Synagogue is a real trip back in time!
National Holocaust Memorial
Holland’s National Holocaust Museum is located at Plantage Middenlaan 27, Amsterdam. The museum seeks to document the collective wartime experience of Dutch Jews and commemorate the 102,000 people who were murdered. Like the Anne Frank house, the Holocaust Museum is not an easy place to visit. It is a monument to human suffering and you’ll see exhibits that will stay with you for a long time. The building next to the museum was a kindergarten that the Nazis used to process child deportees. The National Holocaust Museum ranks as a top tier educational resource.
Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam
The old Jewish quarter of Amsterdam is known as the Jodenbuurt. It’s situated around the Plantage Middenlaan and Waterlooplein, a traditional Amsterdam neighborhood crisscrossed by canals and bridges. At first glance there’s not much to distinguish the Jodenbuurt from surrounding districts, but a professional tour guide will quickly point out all kinds of historical details, monuments and sites. As you explore the quarter, you’ll find that it takes on an atmosphere of its own. Your guide can also take you to some of the best kosher food places in the city. In action to the sites we mentioned above, there are some other important sites in the Jodenbuurt.
- Ets haim Jewish Library
- Jewish Children Museum
- February Protest Monument
- Hollandse Schouwberg
- Pinto House
- Gassan Diamonds
Planning a Luxury Jewish Heritage Experience in the Netherlands
Amsterdam is an amazing city with a centuries old Jewish heritage. The city authorities and Jewish community have done an impressive job of preserving and showcasing Jewish history, but you really need professional guides and contacts if you want to get the most out of a visit. The best way to plan a luxury Jewish heritage tour in the Netherlands is to select a professional Jewish travel company with excellent reviews and a strong – and long standing – reputation. An experienced company with the right resources and local contacts can work with you to create a custom tour that matches your personal interests, available vacation time and luxury travel preferences.
In addition to private tour guides, it’s usually possible to arrange lectures by local historical experts, meetings with key figures in the Amsterdam Jewish community, kosher dining and food tours (and Shabbat services), plus day excursions to other Jewish sites across the Netherlands.
If you have a family connection to Holland or Dutch ancestors, Gil travel may be able to connect you to professional researchers who can comb the archives and compile a unique family dossier. A heritage tour takes on a whole new dimension when you can visit the homes and synagogues that your ancestors lived and prayed in, or even visit their graves.
If you want to find out more about working with the travel experts to create a luxury custom tour of Jewish Amsterdam and the Netherlands, talk to Gil Travel now. We’ll help you to build a personalized itinerary for the trip of a lifetime!
