Antwerp. The Israelites’ Temple. Rue des Architectes.
Antwerp’s Jewish population grew from roughly 1,200 in 1880 to some 20,000 on the eve of the First World War and approximately 35,000 on the eve of the Second World War. As Antwerp began to outdo Amsterdam as a centre of the diamond trade, there was also an influx of Dutch Jews to Antwerp. They were instrumental in establishing the orthodox Shomré (Sjomre) Hadas (“Guardians of the Religion”) synagogue which, consequently, is often referred to as the Hollandse Synagoge. It was badly damaged in the Second World War but renovated in 1958, and services are held there to this day.
Published by Romedenne, Brussels. Posted in 1906.
Postcard from the book: Jews in Old Postcards and Prints