GORINCHEM – The municipality of Gorinchem will have an archaeological investigation carried out next month in the Nursery Street in the hope of finding something tangible of the Jewish past. Under the parking lot lie the foundations of the synagogue that was built in 1843 and that was closed in the fifties by order of the mayor From Rappard was demolished.
Back of synagogue (1957)
After World War II, the Jewish community was decimated to just a few. Dozens of Jews from Gorcum had been murdered in Hitler's concentration camps, and those who did return could no longer afford the synagogue.
""Van Rappard had little feeling for the Jewish role in society," says city archivist and member of the archaeological working group R. van Dijk. "He wanted to demolish a lot. He didn't like all those small houses in the city center. Van Rappard wanted to build big and have wide avenues through the city. Fortunately, many of his plans were not carried out, otherwise Gorcum as it is now would no longer exist."
With the demolition of the synagogue, the history of the Jews in Gorinchem was also destroyed. "We hope to find something tangible with the excavation. Because there is hardly anything in the museum and in the archives", says Van Dijk. Even good photos of the synagogue are missing. "We have a photo of the interior, probably destroyed by NSB members". An attitude like Van Rappard displayed in the fifties would be unthinkable now. "Look at the attempts to restore the dike synagogue in Sliedrecht. There is now attention for the feelings that live there".
The mayor and aldermen of Gorinchem have set aside 20.000 guilders for the research. Archaeologist P. Floore, who leads almost every excavation in the city, will also be in charge of the excavation in the Nursery Street .
The twenty grand is enough to dig for two weeks. The parking lot will then be built by the ING Bank.
Rivierenland Daily Newspaper
January 26, 2000