Welcome and introduction

We are two students, Marissa Herder & Charlie Maynard, studying at Leiden University College The Hague. The aim of this blog is to convey a study for a comparative worldviews course, highlighting difference on a cultural and religious level, whilst at the same time pushing for a change in the way this difference is represented. The China Town in the Hague was gradually founded over a number of years following the Second World War, replacing what was previously the largest Jewish neighborhood in The Hague. Given that this was established after the War, it's quite a sensitive topic among certain people, especially considering the conversion of the Synagogue to today's Mosque.

The area behind the ‘New Church’, between the ‘Stille Veerkade’ and the ‘Amsterdamse Veerkade’, the ‘Gedempte Burgwal’ and the ‘Gedempte Gracht’ formed the former Jewish Neighborhood, with about 17.000 residents. It was a poor place where people mostly lived from vending their goods in the streets. The characteristics of this neighborhood were the narrow streets and the small squares. Around 1943, the community was highly impacted by the Second World. According to a recent documentary about the Wagenstraat, the deportation of Jews from The Hague was more efficient than anywhere else in Europe. After the war, only roughly 2000 members of the community returned, and the neighborhood would never be the same.
Today there are a few memorials which represent the previous neighborhood, its inhabitants that used to live there and the suffering which many of them were forced to endure as they were torn from their homes and taken to concentration camps in Germany, Poland and a number of other countries. However, it is our feeling that today there is a great lack in representation of the Jewish Neighborhood. This is not to say that there are no memorials or signs of it, but rather that these indicators are not doing what they were designed to do, which is to inform people of a history.

When residents of the Hague are asked; 'Did you know that the China Town used to be the Jewish Neighborhood?', the most common answer is simply 'no'. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in recognition of the impact that the Shoah had upon the Jewish community not only in the Hague, but all over Europe, it seems as though people should at least be aware of the history. It is our feeling that the local government could be doing a much better job of educating the public on this topic, thus it is on this basis that we conducted the following interviews which are discussed and explained below.

Rabbijn Maarsenplein - Children's monument

Long ago, this street was called the Bezemstraat and home to a primary school which many Jewish children attended. During 1942 and 1943, the classrooms became more and more empty. More than 1700 of the children were taken from The Hague and never returned, and that is why this monument was designed and presented, in 2006. It symbolizes stacked chairs, the chairs from the children that disappeared from the classrooms. At the same time the chairs look like ladders, and thus can be seen as a ‘stairway to heaven’ which is where those children are now. It was meant to function as a place for kids to play, so that it forms a bridge between past and present, while remembering people to respect each other’s culture. The names of the children and their age when they passed away are inscribed in the monument. The ring around it says: ‘Disappeared is the Jewish Neighborhood, disappeared are the children. Taken away and murdered in the Second World War. Because they were Jewish. 1700 Jewish children from The Hague did not return. Many of them played here. Went to school here. Let us not forget them and make sure this never happens again.’ 

When you walk across the Rabbijn Maarsenplein on a cold Saturday morning in December, you’ll be amazed by the amount of people who walk across the square without knowing anything about the history of it. People carelessly sit on the Children’s monument, and have no idea how symbolic those six chairs are. 
However, when you ask people who pass by what they know about the neighborhood and the monument, lots of different stories come to the surface. A young couple that lives right across the street from the square told us that they knew the stories that one of their grandmothers told them. They rightly stated that the neighborhood had been really poor, except for a few exceptions on one of the canals. 

As we were evaluating some of the earlier answers, a man walked around the monument and read the text on the outer ring. I walked up to him to ask what he knew about it, to which he replied that he had lived here for a long time but only recently saw a documentary that covered the neighborhood, which we will refer to later. He became curious and decided to come take a look, he himself was fairly surprised that he had never noticed the Children’s monument before. He was under the impression that many people didn't know anything about its existence, not even the inhabitants of the neighborhood.
Another man we spoke to knew of the monument and its religious background, but did not know that it was about the children from The Hague. He had no idea about the history of the neighborhood, and told us he had always wondered why this monument was built right at this spot. After we explained him what had once been the function of this square, he genuinely thanked us and hoped that the city of The Hague would do a bit more to preserve this part of its history. 

The second monument on this square is a replica of the plaque 'Rachel Weeps', a memorial for the deceased Jewish children from high schools in The Hague. Unfortunately, nobody we asked had ever noticed this memorial. It is not big, but certainly more can be done to make it clear what it is for. Especially for this plaque, no information is available. Nobody knows what it is for, and that's a shame.
As it got later, this seemed to be the general opinion of everyone we questioned. Why are all the monuments so subtle and so hidden? Especially the younger people who had only been living in the neighborhood for a couple of years were surprised about  the limited amount of information made available by the municipality. It is important for any city to cherish all the different aspects, especially for a city like The Hague that has now gained a reputation as city of peace and justice.

Further reading:
http://www.joodskindermonument.nl/index.html (Dutch)
http://www.jhm.nl/culture-and-history/the-netherlands/zuid-holland/den-haag (English)

Gedempte Gracht - Amalek monument

The Gedempte Gracht had been the thriving center of commerce for the Jewish neighborhood before the war. After the war, Levi Lassen, one of the survivors, was shocked to find this neighborhood suddenly empty. He decided to buy a number of the shops and devoted the rest of his life to creating a new shopping area, in memory of the Jewish people from The Hague who lost their lives. He died in  1962. Five years later, one of his wishes came true with the construction of a monument to remember the victims of the war – the Amalek Monument.
It is a David’s Star with four people on it. Three are most likely part of one family, with a fourth person at their feet. The text on the stone is a quotation from the Bible and says ‘Think about what Amalek did to you… And do not forget it.’ The Amalekites were a nation south of Palestine, and according to various Bible stories, they have always been the enemy of Israel. Amalek, one of the man, was ‘the first foe to attack the people of Israel after they had come out of Egypt as a free nation’ and thus became the arch-enemy in Jewish literature. This is what the text on the plaque refers to.

On Saturday afternoon, in spite of the cold weather, there are hundreds of people walking around the city center of The Hague. The Amalek Monument is attached to the back of C&A, but unfortunately barely differs in color from the wall. This might be one of the main reasons that none of the people we spoke to had ever seen this monument, let alone knew the meaning behind it. 
A woman that had been living in The Hague for twenty years felt almost embarrassed that she had never noticed this before. Most people could vaguely remember hearing the name Levi Lassen somewhere, but had absolutely no idea who he was. Even the shopkeepers right across the street of the monument could not exactly tell us what the monument was for, except that it was something Jewish.

The Hague has clearly tried to remember the horrors of the Second World War in the form of monuments, but apparently they are not known to the citizens. We wondered what the function of such a monument is, when nobody notices it or has the opportunity to find out what it is about on the spot. A little sign with the history of the neighborhood or the Gedempte Gracht would have been extremely helpful for most people. If the citizens of The Hague do not know about the existence of a monument like the Amalek stone, then what exactly are we remembering? Is a hidden monument that nobody knows the meaning of, better than no monument at all? 

Further reading:
http://www.levilassen.nl/over-de-stichting/oprichting-stichting/ (Dutch)

From synagogue to mosque

In order to conduct the most effective interviews at the China town Mosque, we had to ensure that there would be as many people as possible. We chose to go on Friday. Friday is the holy day for Islam, and it is when the mosque is busiest as all the Muslims in the surrounding area gather to pray. To make our interviews even more accurate we decided to focus on those who visited the mosque on a frequent basis, and therefore our first question was based on the frequency of their visits. We arrived at the mosque a few minutes before the end of prayer, and when everyone began coming out, we began asking questions.

To our surprise, every single person that we interviewed knew that the Mosque was formerly a synagogue, this appears to be something that is well discussed among those who go to the Mosque. In fact, a number of people that we interviewed even knew the date of the transition. Its former status as a  synagogue meant nothing to some, but for others it became apparent that it was very important. As it was formerly a house of prayer many people from the Jewish community were happy that the building remained standing for the same reason but just a different religion. Because of this some believed that the transformation shows the tolerance of Islam. This also works vice versa, as some older Jewish people were also pleased to see the building continue as a house of prayer as opposed to being developed into a cinema or something more commercially orientated.  Others felt that the change, may have been hard for some of the Jewish residents, however, because it is now a House of Allah, it is a good thing. Another gave a much more practical answer, and put the change down to demographics; ‘The Muslim Community came here and was in need of a bigger mosque, so this was perfect’.
Following this we then tried to see if we could find anyone who knew of any remnants of the synagogue in or around the mosque. Some of them were able to point out a placard which has inscribed on it "Dutch Israeli main synagogue The Hague". When we asked a bit more on this topic, we were told that because the structure of the building is actually a monument, no physical changes to it can be made, however when such a change would take place, a notice would have to be put up in order to recognise the change in later years. This is also evident as the Mosque’s minarets were erected separately from the building itself leaving no structural changes.

In order to be as sensitive on the topic as we could be, we chose not to ask explicitly whether or not they think that more could be done to represent the Jewish Community that was once more prevalent here. It is now a mosque, and there shouldn’t necessarily be a David’s Star hanging around, a placard to represent the past is enough and it’s actually very clear. So we then chose to ask one final question to our interviewees, which was whether they knew about China Town’s history as the Jewish neighbourhood. Some were able to point out the Children’s memorial and others were able to point out the Amalek monument, but some people had no idea. The last person we interviewed, had actually come to The Hague as a foreigner, and he felt that it was because we made him aware of the historical background that he had to learn more about the history of China Town and the Jewish Neighbourhood. He felt obliged to know the history of the city which he know lived in.

Naeeda Aurangzeb recently made a beautiful documentary about the changed character of the Wagenstraat and the history of the Mosque. She concludes that many people in the Turkish community do not understand her fascination with the Jewish history, as they were just always the 'different' people. But aren't we all different? The same goes for the Dutch shopkeepers who worry about the state of China Town, and while it is not as exuberant as in some other cities in the world, they worry about the growing foreign population. Someone we spoke to criticized the attitude of many people, who seem to think that religion is something that has to be practiced indoors. Any display of religion is frightening and a religious person is automatically 'different' and therefore untrustworthy. This is an alarming development in a multicultural city and country, where a part of the government actively strives for more tolerance. 

Further information:
Documentary on the history of the mosque (Dutch)

http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1310072 

Feelings of another generation

We wanted to get a better picture of what those who lived in the Jewish neighborhood thought and to get a better contrast of the differences between now and then. So we traveled to Voorburg where we met Richard Dessaur who was born in the Jewish neighborhood in 1947. He informed us of the struggle that many Jewish families had to endure when they returned to The Hague after the war between the years of 1945 and 1948. The Dutch Government was not helpful to these people and shortly after the War some aspects of the government remained tainted with antisemitism. Many of these Jewish families including the Dessaur family had to fight to get back in to their own houses, which had been occupied with squatters and often even collaborators with the Germans (NSB) whilst they were in hiding abroad. Given such hardships after the War, we felt that Mr. Dessaur might not be comfortable with the disappearance of the neighborhood  or the conversion of the synagogue, but in fact just like most of the people we later interviewed, Mr. Dessaur was happy with the conversion as it meant that the building could still be used as a house of prayer. Similarly he was able to recognize the benefits of the highly multicultural Chinatown.

To illustrate how The War effected its victims, Mr. Dessaur told us that if somebody happened to lose their partner, they’d often remarry someone else who had experienced the same thing. He stated that this was not out of love, but through understanding of one another, which highlights not only the physical effects but also the deep psychological changes that have been created as a consequence of the war. But this also feeds in to a sense of community, something which was particularly strong in the Jewish neighborhood. Mr. Dessaur told us that everyone seemed to know everyone, and this strongly contrasts with our interview with Hanneke Gelderblom, who lived outside of the Jewish neighborhood  and had very little interaction with it. As a consequence she did not have that sense of community until much later in life. Mr. Dessaur told us that even today the Jewish community, though significantly smaller than before, is still very tightly knit.

When we asked him how he felt of a better understood Jewish neighborhood  he didn't care too much for the idea. Mr. Dessaur understandably felt that there shouldn't necessarily be a better representation of the Jewish neighborhood  but rather of those Jewish residents of The Hague that had their lives taken from them. However, he felt that this may have been because he was not actually alive during the holocaust and therefore only has second hand experience of it, and didn't experience the changes to the Jewish community. He stated that if we were to ask his mother whether or not she thinks something should be done to better remember the neighborhood  she would strongly support the idea as she experienced the war for what it really was. According to a sociological study by H. Schuman et al, there are deep psychological differences between experiencing a war first hand and being educated about it through books or parents. A surface level memory from a young age is significantly stronger than the deepest historical understanding of a war. Mr. Dessaur felt that dying without a name for people to remember is the worst thing that can happen, and something should at least be done in this regard. He then suggested that perhaps a building with the names of those who died should be constructed, so they can all be remembered on an individual level. Perhaps something similar to the war memorials in Ypres and Amsterdam. He also felt that the use of the internet to list these names could potentially be even more beneficial as this seems to be something that people might be more liable to see.

Further reading:
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.leidenuniv.nl:2048/stable/pdfplus/2095611.pdf?acceptTC=true&

Bring the pearls in The Hague together

While Hanneke Gelderblom was raised in a Jewish family, she doesn’t recall any form of religious practice at home. Her parents got married in the big Synagogue in the Wagenstraat, but that is about it. Both her grandfathers owned important businesses in The Hague, furniture store Loeb in the Jewish neighborhood and printing house Lankhout in a more residential area, the Noorderbeekstraat.

Mrs. Gelderblom has a very remarkable story. As a six year old girl, she went on a ‘trip’ with a woman her mother called ‘Aunt Zus’. This woman was Ru Pare, one of the people who were active in the resistance. She hid kids on many addresses, and kept moving them to ensure their safety. This is how Mrs. Gelderblom  and her brother (see picture) survived the war and were later reunited with their mother. Her father was killed when he tried to escape to England via France.
It took a long time before she got back in touch with Judaism. During her studies in Leiden, she became a part of a Zionist student association, but felt too restricted in this. She has never felt the strong connection with Israel that most Zionists experience, and felt judged for this. Liberation to her means that Jews can live anywhere in the world, not just in Israel. 

Years later, Mrs. Gelderblom was determined to stand up against discrimination and felt like this was what she needed to do. In Amsterdam, the ‘Anne Frank Foundation’  was formed, and she felt that The Hague needed a similar initiative. That is how the ‘Hague Initiative against Racism and Discrimination’ came into existence. In this process, she got in touch with Awraham Soetendorp, rabbi for the Liberal Jewish Community. She visited the synagogue sometimes and felt like she didn’t have to be part of a strict system here. This is how she became a member of this community in 1973 and is still a part of this today. 
Mrs. Gelderblom has been a part of the local government in The Hague for many years, and was involved in the planning for the Children’s Monument. She believes that it is a beautiful monument, but it should be made clearer what it is for. The ring around it has a relatively small text and could at least be three times bigger to function as a description of what the monument represents. However, she feels that the neighborhood might not agree with that. From our street interviews, people seem very appreciative of this particular monument, and we feel that some clarification would be welcomed by many residents. She further told us that the Rachel plaque - another monument that is placed on the wall that surrounds the New Church and is thus merely feet away from the Children’s monument – should be visually connected to the chairs, by means of markings in the pavement. Ideally, the Amalek monument should also be moved to this square to make a consistent whole and make people notice. 

Mrs. Gelderblom is very surprised with the fact that the Children’s monument is not a part of the list of monuments in The Hague. We feel that this is very strange and should definitely be changed. The Hague has so many monuments that it holds dear, then why is this not one of them? As we keep our research going, it seems more and more like The Hague doesn't recognize the importance of its Jewish history, since it does not proudly display its remains and memorials. As Mrs. Gelderblom beautifully phrased it: ‘The Hague has so many pearls, but it’s time to finally bring them together in a necklace.’

Further reading: 

http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/archief/article/detail/2736966/1994/03/08/Hanneke-Lankhout-Verzetswerk-van-Tante-Zus-was-uniek.dhtml (Dutch)

Model of the old neighborhood

After some research on the history of the neighborhood, we came across some recent newspaper articles that talked about a model of the old location. It was said to be in the Town Hall, somewhere hidden on the first floor. Recently, some local political parties have been trying to make the Jewish history a little more widely known, and thus wanted to move the model to a more prominent place on the ground floor. Ideally, this would be a part of a little 4^th of May (memorial day) and 5^th of May (liberation day) space along with pictures and more information panels. We thought this would be a great idea, but to our surprise we couldn’t find any news on it after May. It seems to be a topic that only comes back up around the aforementioned dates when the country is indeed thinking of the history.

I was determined to go see this model for myself, as the pictures of it on the internet are a little vague. I biked to the Town Hall with the knowledge that it was ‘somewhere on the first floor’, but I would just ask the people at the front desk, since it is a very big building. However, I was shocked to find out that the woman I asked had no idea such a model existed, let alone where it was. After forwarding the questions to a couple of her colleagues – who couldn't tell me either – I was told to just go up that stairs to the first floor and look for it. So I did.

I walked up the stairs and immediately saw the model, which was a lot bigger than I had expected it to be. It had outlines of the streets as they currently are, with models of the houses, shops and the New Church as they were around 1892. The model is very well constructed and would be informative for anyone who wanted to know more about the Jewish history, if only someone knew this object existed. Again, apart from a little sign with the designer and what it represents, there is no additional information on the Jewish history of The Hague. 

When even the employees who have to direct visitors to the right place in the building do not know about the existence of such a big model, then how is anyone else supposed to find it? On my way out I couldn't help but tell the lady where the model was, for any future reference. It seems like The Hague is in a way ashamed of its culture and monuments, otherwise it should be much clearer and at least stated on the website.
Further reading:
List of Monuments in The Hague: http://denhaag.nl/home/bewoners/to/Monumentenlijst.htm

Recommendations for The Hague

First of all, we feel that a city such as The Hague that is internationally known and has a prominent place in the Dutch culture, should have a clear history on their website. The Hague does have such a section, but it takes at least five different links to get there. Furthermore, the Jewish history is completely ignored. The history of the city center has exactly one line about it: ‘A lot of Jews lived in this part of the city.’ Now this does clearly no justice to the culturally diverse neighborhood.
Secondly, The Hague has established a list of monuments in which only street names and house numbers are listed. While the former Synagogue at Wagenstraat 103 has earned a place on the list, the Children’s monument has not. This list is updated every year and the monument is now six years old, so it is very strange that it is still not a part of the monuments. We feel that The Hague could at least put the link to the website of the Children’s monument on their website, because it also contains a lot of information on the history of the neighborhood.
Thirdly, local political parties such as D66, the PvdA and the VVD have been putting the location of the model of the old Jewish neighborhood in question. However, nothing has happened since it was all over the local newspapers in the beginning of this year. We think it is a very good initiative to move the model to a more prominent place in the City Hall, especially when it will be accompanied by signs and information panels. There has been no resistance so far by other parties, so it is a mystery why the attention has faded again. Moreover, the website of The Hague reports citizens asking questions about the model of the old Jewish neighborhood, so apparently there it still lives among the citizens. Hopefully, we can make this blog reach the right people and put some additional effort in getting the attention back to this issue, so that there will be some changes in the near future.
Lastly, instead of creating yet another committee to address this issue, we urge The Hague to look at the already existing initiatives. If the right people are brought together, a lot of the work could be saved and the remembering of the Jewish history may actually take a new and refreshing turn. If at least the Amalek monument could be moved to the Rabbijn Maarsenplein with the other two memorials, the square itself gets a clear character and people will sooner notice all three of the monuments.
If nobody knows what a memorial is trying to make people remember, there is no point in having one. Therefore, the task of the city of The Hague should now be to keep the history alive, and as the ring around the Children’s monument says: ‘Let us not forget them and make sure this never happens again.’ Since that, according to us, is the main purpose of any war memorial.