A draft bill was introduced in the Netherlands Parliament authorizing the Treasury to allocate 26,000,000 guilders for settlement of about 3,000 restitution claims made by Dutch Jews whose property was looted by the Nazis during the German occupation of Holland.
There are only about 23,000 Jews remaining in Holland of the 125,000-member community of 1940, it was revealed here in a report issued on the occasion of the centenary celebration of the Arnhem Synagogue, which was destroyed by the Nazis and has since been rebuilt.
The number of Jews in the Netherlands continues to decrease, the report stated, adding that immigration to Israel, Canada, Australia and the United States accounts for much of the decrease. The report also disclosed that there is an acute shortage of rabbis and teachers for the community, with only three students currently attending the once famous Amsterdam Rabbinical Seminary.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
