Bernadette van Woerkom
Leonard Freed After The War Was Over Jewish Life in Amsterdam in the 1950s
Bernadette van Woerkom
Leonard Freed After The War Was Over Jewish Life in Amsterdam in the 1950s
Contents
Foreword 6 Prof. Emile Schrijver
Introduction 8 Bernadette van Woerkom Photographs In Jewish Circles 26 Life in the Old Jewish Quarter 98 At Home in Amsterdam 118 The Young Generation and the Future: To Leave or To Stay? 134 Commemorating the Shoah 150 Text: Bernadette van Woerkom, Wally de Lang, YaĂŤl Koeleman, Margreet Udo
Captions
154
Timeline
157
Publications and Collections 158
Foto: Brigitte Freed Leonard Freed,1960 Coll. Brigitte Freed
Contents
Foreword 6 Prof. Emile Schrijver
Introduction 8 Bernadette van Woerkom Photographs In Jewish Circles 26 Life in the Old Jewish Quarter 98 At Home in Amsterdam 118 The Young Generation and the Future: To Leave or To Stay? 134 Commemorating the Shoah 150 Text: Bernadette van Woerkom, Wally de Lang, YaĂŤl Koeleman, Margreet Udo
Captions
154
Timeline
157
Publications and Collections 158
Foto: Brigitte Freed Leonard Freed,1960 Coll. Brigitte Freed
Foreword
The photographs in American photographer
This joyous discovery was made in 2012, when the
We are deeply grateful for the contributions of
our former curator Edward van Voolen, and all the
Leonard Freed’s series Jews of Amsterdam form
Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam came into
everyone who worked on this project. Above all,
other donors who gave their financial support to
a unique historical document of a period in the
contact with Brigitte Freed, the photographer’s
our heartfelt thanks go to Brigitte Freed for her
this project.
Jewish history of Amsterdam from which very few
widow, who since his death has managed his
enthusiastic support and the confidence she
visual records remain.
extensive archives in their home in Garrison, New
placed in us. Her vast knowledge of her husband’s
Prof. Emile Schrijver
York. This was the result of a search for Freed’s
life and work was vital to our research and a con-
Director, Jewish Historical Museum
Freed made this series in the late 1950s, shortly
photographs from the book Jews of Amsterdam,
tinual source of inspiration. Without her generous
in Amsterdam
after moving to Amsterdam as a beginning pho-
as a part of the museum’s recent policy of taking
support, the book and exhibition could never have
tographer and becoming fascinated with the
more active steps to document the postwar history
come into being. We would also like to thank Elke
remarkable recovery of Jewish life in the city after
of the Jews in the Netherlands. Thanks to Brigitte
Susannah Freed for her involvement in the project.
the Second World War. He spent a year photograph-
Freed’s generous assistance, the museum had
ing Jews in their homes, in the synagogue, and at
the opportunity to study the Jews of Amsterdam
Bernadette van Woerkom, the museum’s curator
work. The outcome was a many-faceted portrait of
archive in depth. It was found to contain a treasure
of photography, put a lot of energy and com-
Amsterdam’s Jewish community, which had been
trove of wonderful, unique images of Jewish life in
mitment into the making of the book and the
reduced from its prewar population of 80,000 to
Amsterdam in the 1950s. The museum was then
exhibition, as always. The historical research on
only 20,000 after 1945. Freed’s series was an hom-
able to purchase the eighty vintage prints from the
the photographs was performed with admirable
age to the resilience and vitality of the survivors,
archive in 2013, as well as 150 new prints of its own
tenacity and ingenuity by the historian Wally
who had picked up the thread of their lives after
selection in 2015.
de Lang. Victor Levie was responsible for the attractive design of the book and the exhibition.
the horrors of the Shoah, and an expression of the Since Leonard Freed’s own documentation of the
Our Museum Studies intern Yaël Koeleman
photographs was fairly sketchy, the museum did a
made herself indispensable during our many
The series was Leonard Freed’s first major photo
great deal of research into the people, places, and
preparatory activities and wrote some of the texts
project; he took more than 2,500 photographs
events depicted. This yielded a huge volume of
accompanying the photographs. Margreet Udo
on seventy-three rolls of film. A small selection,
documentation and a wealth of stories that placed
was an outstanding editor and also wrote some of
consisting of fifty-two photographs, was published
the photos in a larger historical context and gave
the accompanying texts. Batya Wolff and Mirjam
in Freed’s first photo book Jews of Amsterdam
them a deeper meaning. That gradually led us to
Vogt made a number of moving video interviews
(published by De Bezige Bij in 1958), and Freed
the realization that behind the image conveyed
for the exhibition with people who had been
incorporated a few photographs into later publica-
by Freed’s photographs, that of a hard-working
photographed by Freed.
tions, such as Amsterdam: The Sixties (1997), but
community looking to the future, another world
most of the photos in the series were never used by
lay concealed from outsiders and from the camera
Scores of people shared their memories with
Freed. Fortunately, the entire series was preserved
lens: the invisible inner world of suffering endured
us during our research into the history of the
virtually intact in his archives, with all the original
in silence and the suppressed memories of the war,
photographs; our thanks go to them for their
contact sheets and almost all the 35mm negatives,
which would not be discussed openly until many
time and effort. Finally, we would like to thank
as well as more than eighty vintage prints.
years later.
the Rembrandt Association, the BankGiro Lottery,
optimistic spirit of the reconstruction period.
6
7
Foreword
The photographs in American photographer
This joyous discovery was made in 2012, when the
We are deeply grateful for the contributions of
our former curator Edward van Voolen, and all the
Leonard Freed’s series Jews of Amsterdam form
Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam came into
everyone who worked on this project. Above all,
other donors who gave their financial support to
a unique historical document of a period in the
contact with Brigitte Freed, the photographer’s
our heartfelt thanks go to Brigitte Freed for her
this project.
Jewish history of Amsterdam from which very few
widow, who since his death has managed his
enthusiastic support and the confidence she
visual records remain.
extensive archives in their home in Garrison, New
placed in us. Her vast knowledge of her husband’s
Prof. Emile Schrijver
York. This was the result of a search for Freed’s
life and work was vital to our research and a con-
Director, Jewish Historical Museum
Freed made this series in the late 1950s, shortly
photographs from the book Jews of Amsterdam,
tinual source of inspiration. Without her generous
in Amsterdam
after moving to Amsterdam as a beginning pho-
as a part of the museum’s recent policy of taking
support, the book and exhibition could never have
tographer and becoming fascinated with the
more active steps to document the postwar history
come into being. We would also like to thank Elke
remarkable recovery of Jewish life in the city after
of the Jews in the Netherlands. Thanks to Brigitte
Susannah Freed for her involvement in the project.
the Second World War. He spent a year photograph-
Freed’s generous assistance, the museum had
ing Jews in their homes, in the synagogue, and at
the opportunity to study the Jews of Amsterdam
Bernadette van Woerkom, the museum’s curator
work. The outcome was a many-faceted portrait of
archive in depth. It was found to contain a treasure
of photography, put a lot of energy and com-
Amsterdam’s Jewish community, which had been
trove of wonderful, unique images of Jewish life in
mitment into the making of the book and the
reduced from its prewar population of 80,000 to
Amsterdam in the 1950s. The museum was then
exhibition, as always. The historical research on
only 20,000 after 1945. Freed’s series was an hom-
able to purchase the eighty vintage prints from the
the photographs was performed with admirable
age to the resilience and vitality of the survivors,
archive in 2013, as well as 150 new prints of its own
tenacity and ingenuity by the historian Wally
who had picked up the thread of their lives after
selection in 2015.
de Lang. Victor Levie was responsible for the attractive design of the book and the exhibition.
the horrors of the Shoah, and an expression of the Since Leonard Freed’s own documentation of the
Our Museum Studies intern Yaël Koeleman
photographs was fairly sketchy, the museum did a
made herself indispensable during our many
The series was Leonard Freed’s first major photo
great deal of research into the people, places, and
preparatory activities and wrote some of the texts
project; he took more than 2,500 photographs
events depicted. This yielded a huge volume of
accompanying the photographs. Margreet Udo
on seventy-three rolls of film. A small selection,
documentation and a wealth of stories that placed
was an outstanding editor and also wrote some of
consisting of fifty-two photographs, was published
the photos in a larger historical context and gave
the accompanying texts. Batya Wolff and Mirjam
in Freed’s first photo book Jews of Amsterdam
them a deeper meaning. That gradually led us to
Vogt made a number of moving video interviews
(published by De Bezige Bij in 1958), and Freed
the realization that behind the image conveyed
for the exhibition with people who had been
incorporated a few photographs into later publica-
by Freed’s photographs, that of a hard-working
photographed by Freed.
tions, such as Amsterdam: The Sixties (1997), but
community looking to the future, another world
most of the photos in the series were never used by
lay concealed from outsiders and from the camera
Scores of people shared their memories with
Freed. Fortunately, the entire series was preserved
lens: the invisible inner world of suffering endured
us during our research into the history of the
virtually intact in his archives, with all the original
in silence and the suppressed memories of the war,
photographs; our thanks go to them for their
contact sheets and almost all the 35mm negatives,
which would not be discussed openly until many
time and effort. Finally, we would like to thank
as well as more than eighty vintage prints.
years later.
the Rembrandt Association, the BankGiro Lottery,
optimistic spirit of the reconstruction period.
6
7
New Life Sunday morning at home with Max Snijders, journalist and co-author of Jews of Amsterdam, his wife Stella Kirschner, and their daughter Carla, 1957-1958
In Jewish Circles After the war, many Jews in Amsterdam severed their ties with organized Jewish life, out of fear or bitterness. But most Amsterdam Jews remained members of Jewish congregations, although synagogue attendance decreased. In the 1950s, Jewish traditions surrounding birth, marriage, and death were still widely observed. Many of Freed’s photographs relate to the religious aspects of Jewish life—and not just because Jewish rituals and ceremonies were photogenic. Freed felt a sincere affinity with his subject matter, even though he was not a practicing Jew. He was strongly attracted to the timeless, picturesque settings of both the city’s small Eastern European shuls and the monumental Portuguese Synagogue. He also took photographs of intimate Jewish rituals that were part of family life, although he had difficulty finding people who were willing to let a photographer into their home. After the war, the inward-looking Jewish community remained deeply suspicious of the outside world for years. Freed liked to focus on the younger generations and on the transmission of Jewish teachings and traditions from old to young. He was skilled at becoming close to people, so that he could photograph their spontaneous movements and gestures, creating pictures filled with energy and life. All his photographs contain some element of motion, however small or inconspicuous it may be. Movements and facial expressions suggest the bonds between the people in the photos. This was Freed’s way of evoking a powerful sense of community.
26
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New Life Sunday morning at home with Max Snijders, journalist and co-author of Jews of Amsterdam, his wife Stella Kirschner, and their daughter Carla, 1957-1958
In Jewish Circles After the war, many Jews in Amsterdam severed their ties with organized Jewish life, out of fear or bitterness. But most Amsterdam Jews remained members of Jewish congregations, although synagogue attendance decreased. In the 1950s, Jewish traditions surrounding birth, marriage, and death were still widely observed. Many of Freed’s photographs relate to the religious aspects of Jewish life—and not just because Jewish rituals and ceremonies were photogenic. Freed felt a sincere affinity with his subject matter, even though he was not a practicing Jew. He was strongly attracted to the timeless, picturesque settings of both the city’s small Eastern European shuls and the monumental Portuguese Synagogue. He also took photographs of intimate Jewish rituals that were part of family life, although he had difficulty finding people who were willing to let a photographer into their home. After the war, the inward-looking Jewish community remained deeply suspicious of the outside world for years. Freed liked to focus on the younger generations and on the transmission of Jewish teachings and traditions from old to young. He was skilled at becoming close to people, so that he could photograph their spontaneous movements and gestures, creating pictures filled with energy and life. All his photographs contain some element of motion, however small or inconspicuous it may be. Movements and facial expressions suggest the bonds between the people in the photos. This was Freed’s way of evoking a powerful sense of community.
26
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Circumcision Circumcision of Aron (Ronny) Kropveld, son of David and Sonja Kropveld of Aalten, in a hospital in Winterswijk (Gelderland), February 13, 1958
We do not know why Leonard Freed traveled to the east of the country to photograph a circumcision, instead of going to one in Amsterdam. These are the only photographs for Jews of Amsterdam that he made outside the city.
28
slaughter, and circumcisions. After 1945, few Jews were left outside the major cities. The NederlandsIsraëlietisch Kerkgenootschap (NIK)—the umbrella organization for Jewish congregations in the Netherlands—appointed traveling officials to serve their religious needs.
This circumcision took place in a hospital under the watchful eye of a nurse and the Kropveld family doctor. In the twentieth century, it became increasingly common to have circumcisions performed at home or in a hospital, rather than in a synagogue.
During a circumcision, everyone must stand except for the sandek, who sits and holds the child. The mother and other female family members were not present on this occasion, in keeping with Jewish custom.
The mohel (circumciser) was Salomon S. Meyer from Amsterdam, the owner of the antiquarian bookstore Pampiere Wereld. Before the Second World War, each Jewish congregation in the Netherlands had its own officials who were responsible for education, ritual
Ronny Kropveld emigrated to Israel in 1971 with his parents and brother. The whole family is still living there. Ronny has built up a flourishing business in the diamond industry. He is married and has three children.
29
Circumcision Circumcision of Aron (Ronny) Kropveld, son of David and Sonja Kropveld of Aalten, in a hospital in Winterswijk (Gelderland), February 13, 1958
We do not know why Leonard Freed traveled to the east of the country to photograph a circumcision, instead of going to one in Amsterdam. These are the only photographs for Jews of Amsterdam that he made outside the city.
28
slaughter, and circumcisions. After 1945, few Jews were left outside the major cities. The NederlandsIsraëlietisch Kerkgenootschap (NIK)—the umbrella organization for Jewish congregations in the Netherlands—appointed traveling officials to serve their religious needs.
This circumcision took place in a hospital under the watchful eye of a nurse and the Kropveld family doctor. In the twentieth century, it became increasingly common to have circumcisions performed at home or in a hospital, rather than in a synagogue.
During a circumcision, everyone must stand except for the sandek, who sits and holds the child. The mother and other female family members were not present on this occasion, in keeping with Jewish custom.
The mohel (circumciser) was Salomon S. Meyer from Amsterdam, the owner of the antiquarian bookstore Pampiere Wereld. Before the Second World War, each Jewish congregation in the Netherlands had its own officials who were responsible for education, ritual
Ronny Kropveld emigrated to Israel in 1971 with his parents and brother. The whole family is still living there. Ronny has built up a flourishing business in the diamond industry. He is married and has three children.
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Bar Mitzvah (Coming of Age) Preparations for the bar mitzvah of Naftali (Tali) Schipper in the Lekstraat synagogue on October 19, 1957, and the celebratory dinner afterwards in the Carlton Hotel on Vijzelstraat, 1957
The year before he turned thirteen and had his bar mitzvah—his Jewish coming-of-age ceremony—Tali received weekly Hebrew lessons from the religious teacher Jozef Broekema, who was affiliated with the Lekstraat synagogue and prepared countless boys for their bar mitzvahs. The lessons took place in Broekema’s home, where Tali also studied his parashah: a portion of the Torah read aloud in the synagogue. A different portion is read each week. Freed photographed Tali on several occasions, but not during the bar mitzvah ceremony in the Lekstraat synagogue, because of the prohibition against taking photographs on Shabbat. Tali was the son of the well-known jeweler Bernard Schipper and Lientje de Wilde. Bernard had fled from Poland to the Netherlands as a child in the early 1920s, after his parents were murdered in pogroms. In Amsterdam, he became a jeweler. On May 7,
32
1940, three days before the German invasion of the Netherlands, Bernard and Lientje were able to escape to England by ship with their newborn son Hessel. The family spent the war years in Suriname, in the interior. Tali was born there on September 30, 1944. After the family returned to the Netherlands in 1947, a daughter was born in 1948: Gonny. After the war, Bernard Schipper built up a flourishing business as a jeweler and diamond merchant, with stores on Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat in Amsterdam and in the cities of Hilversum and Utrecht. His brother Herman Schipper had a jewelry store on Heiligeweg. The reputation of the Schipper brothers extended far beyond the Dutch borders. When Tali’s father died unexpectedly in 1968, Tali took over his business at the age of 24. The name ‘Bernard Schipper’ remained unchanged. In 2000, Tali Schipper sold all the stores.
33
Bar Mitzvah (Coming of Age) Preparations for the bar mitzvah of Naftali (Tali) Schipper in the Lekstraat synagogue on October 19, 1957, and the celebratory dinner afterwards in the Carlton Hotel on Vijzelstraat, 1957
The year before he turned thirteen and had his bar mitzvah—his Jewish coming-of-age ceremony—Tali received weekly Hebrew lessons from the religious teacher Jozef Broekema, who was affiliated with the Lekstraat synagogue and prepared countless boys for their bar mitzvahs. The lessons took place in Broekema’s home, where Tali also studied his parashah: a portion of the Torah read aloud in the synagogue. A different portion is read each week. Freed photographed Tali on several occasions, but not during the bar mitzvah ceremony in the Lekstraat synagogue, because of the prohibition against taking photographs on Shabbat. Tali was the son of the well-known jeweler Bernard Schipper and Lientje de Wilde. Bernard had fled from Poland to the Netherlands as a child in the early 1920s, after his parents were murdered in pogroms. In Amsterdam, he became a jeweler. On May 7,
32
1940, three days before the German invasion of the Netherlands, Bernard and Lientje were able to escape to England by ship with their newborn son Hessel. The family spent the war years in Suriname, in the interior. Tali was born there on September 30, 1944. After the family returned to the Netherlands in 1947, a daughter was born in 1948: Gonny. After the war, Bernard Schipper built up a flourishing business as a jeweler and diamond merchant, with stores on Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat in Amsterdam and in the cities of Hilversum and Utrecht. His brother Herman Schipper had a jewelry store on Heiligeweg. The reputation of the Schipper brothers extended far beyond the Dutch borders. When Tali’s father died unexpectedly in 1968, Tali took over his business at the age of 24. The name ‘Bernard Schipper’ remained unchanged. In 2000, Tali Schipper sold all the stores.
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Marriage Wedding of Gerry Polak and Phia J. Vos in the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein, Amsterdam-Zuid, September 22, 1957
Leonard Freed produced a long series of photographs of this wedding celebration, to which a large group of friends and relatives had been invited. The service was led by Aron Schuster, who had become Amsterdam’s chief rabbi in 1955 and was the most prominent spiritual leader of the Jewish community in the Netherlands at the time. Freed photographed each step in the wedding ceremony, beginning with the signing of the ketubah (marriage contract) by the groom and two witnesses. This document describes the groom’s obligations to his bride. A Jewish wedding takes place under
38
a chuppah, or canopy, which symbolizes the home that the bride and groom will establish together. After the Second World War, the focal point of Orthodox Jewish life in Amsterdam shifted from the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein to the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein in the Amsterdam-Zuid district. The grandeur of this edifice, built in an Expressionist style in 1928, made it an attractive location for weddings. Even today, most of Amsterdam’s Jewish weddings still take place there. Upon the departure of Chief Rabbi Aron Schuster in 1973, the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein was named after him.
39
Marriage Wedding of Gerry Polak and Phia J. Vos in the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein, Amsterdam-Zuid, September 22, 1957
Leonard Freed produced a long series of photographs of this wedding celebration, to which a large group of friends and relatives had been invited. The service was led by Aron Schuster, who had become Amsterdam’s chief rabbi in 1955 and was the most prominent spiritual leader of the Jewish community in the Netherlands at the time. Freed photographed each step in the wedding ceremony, beginning with the signing of the ketubah (marriage contract) by the groom and two witnesses. This document describes the groom’s obligations to his bride. A Jewish wedding takes place under
38
a chuppah, or canopy, which symbolizes the home that the bride and groom will establish together. After the Second World War, the focal point of Orthodox Jewish life in Amsterdam shifted from the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein to the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein in the Amsterdam-Zuid district. The grandeur of this edifice, built in an Expressionist style in 1928, made it an attractive location for weddings. Even today, most of Amsterdam’s Jewish weddings still take place there. Upon the departure of Chief Rabbi Aron Schuster in 1973, the synagogue in Jacob Obrechtplein was named after him.
39