Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands and Prince Consort Claus were the guests of honor at a synagogue service here yesterday celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Amsterdam Ashkenazic Congregation. The former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam, Aaron Schuster, who has been living in Jerusalem since his retirement, returned to preside.
The service was held at the Sephardic Esnoga synagogue because none of the Ashkenazic synagogues is large enough to accommodate all of the invited guests. Part of the service was broadcast live on television. It was followed by a 70-minute documentary film on the Jews of pre-war Amsterdam. More than four-fifths of the Jews who lived in Amsterdam in 1940 perished during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
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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.