ABSTRACT
The old Jewish district in Amsterdam was where it had all started, far back in the sixteenth century. It was where the first ‘New Christians’ from Portugal settled, who later turned themselves into ‘New Jews’. They were soon joined by Ashkenazi Jews, from the German and eastern European territories. Until the early twentieth century, it was the beating heart of Dutch Jewry, where all the prominent synagogues, the rabbinical schools, the markets with Jewish stallholders and the Jewish shops were to be found. With the expansion of the city and urban regeneration in the first half of the twentieth century, the district began to empty.
