Photo: Synagogue in Zwolle (1997) - Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed - Gerard Dekker
The Jewish population of Zwolle: disenfranchisement and redress
On 1 July 2021, a NIOD doctoral research project was launched on the Jewish population of Zwolle’s experiences of disenfranchisement and redress around the time of the German occupation. The research was commissioned by the Municipality of Zwolle. The Jewish community in the provincial capital of Overijssel was severely hit by the measures and interventions of the German occupying forces and the Dutch authorities involved. In this project (2021-2025), doctoral student Meta Huijsmans MA will study the systematic disenfranchisement during the occupation, and the post-war handling – often experienced as cold and inadequate – of the persecution and disenfranchisement, which has recently received greater attention.
In addition to analysing the formal administrative and legal processes of disenfranchisement and redress and the municipality’s role in these, this project will focus on the experiences and reactions of surviving inhabitants of Zwolle who tried to build a new life after the war. Studying how Jewish inhabitants of Zwolle were confronted with this and took action themselves, and the interaction that subsequently took shape at the local, national and international levels, will provide insight into how local society accounted for this history of occupation. The research, which is supervised by Professor Kees Ribbens and Dr Hinke Piersma, will result in a thesis and an interim research report.
