Open Jewish Houses Nijmegen

Photo: Philip Menco with a photo of Sallie, brother of Philip's father Nathan, during a commemoration of Open Jewish Homes, May 2022. Sallie was murdered in Auschwitz.
Photo: Joachim van der Kwast

Open Jewish Homes | Houses of Resistance is an annual program of speaking commemorations. The program consists of small-scale gatherings in homes where Jews lived, hid or worked before and during World War II.

This form of commemoration is an initiative of the Jewish Cultural Quarter (JCK) in Amsterdam and is organized in more than 20 municipalities. Since 2021, the local working group Open Jewish Houses - Nijmegen has been organizing the commemorations in our city. During Open Jewish Houses | Houses of Resistance, the experiences of today's residents and visitors come together with the history of the Jewish residents of the past. These interactions lead to eloquent commemorations.

On May 3, 2022, meetings were held in five houses in Nijmegen. There, the history of the residents was told by relatives or by people who knew the families. The stories revealed different aspects of daily experiences before and during the war and of persecution, hiding, resistance, deportation and return. The Minco, Vrengel, Maas-Eichenwald, Salomons, Tauber, de Wijze and Salomon Spier families, who fled from Germany to Nijmegen, were commemorated in this way. Recordings were made of the commemoration of Rabbi Salomons and his family in the former synagogue (Gerard Noodtstraat 121) and the commemoration of Salomon Spier in the Sint Maartens Clinic. You can view the footage here

Video: Commemoration of Rabbi Alexander Salomons and his family, Gerard Noodtstraat 121

Video: Commemoration of Salomon (Piet) Spier, St. Maartens Clinic

In 2023, the working group will again organize commemorations in Nijmegen in early May. When choosing locations, the houses where Stolpersteine have been laid will be considered. For more information, please visit the website of Open Jewish Homes or contact Ruti Vardi, coordinator working group OJH-Nijmegen at ojhnijmegen@gmail.com.