ABSTRACT
Fleeing pogroms in the Russian Empire, tens of thousands of Jews from eastern Europe arrived in the Netherlands from 1881 onwards. Most were on their way to other destinations, whether the United States, Britain or South America. ‘1 he port cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam received most of this migrant influx. Reports in the mainstream press as well as the Jewish press alarmed the Jewish community: eastern European co-religionists must be helped. Existing Jewish aid organizations, such as the Dutch branch of the French Jewish Alliance Israélite Universelle, organized collections of money and clothing. New aid committees were set up too, like the Montefiore Society in Rotterdam, which offered practical help to asylum seekers in transit. A small proportion of the eastern European arrivals decided to stay in the Netherlands. They tended to settle in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, often in the same districts. In Amsterdam the Blasiusstraat became known as a Russian Jewish ‘island’ in the city. The mostly pious migrants founded their own synagogues, with services that adhered to eastern European customs.
