"Those people were too attached to their homes": Amsterdam’s post-war Jewish district as a liminal space

Open Access
Authors
Publication date July 2026
Journal Journal of modern Jewish studies
Volume | Issue number 25 | 3
Pages (from-to) 526-546
Number of pages 21
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw) - Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR) - Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH)
Abstract This article argues that for the first approximately fifteen years after World War II, the so-called Jewish district of Amsterdam in the eastern part of the city centre should be interpreted both as a site of trauma and a site of transition. Approaching the neighbourhood as a liminal space demonstrates how next to the rupture of the Holocaust and relentless urban renewal planned and implemented by the municipality, Jews lived and gave meaning to this urban landscape between 1945 and the 1960s.
Document type Article
Note In special issue: Renegotiating Jewish Sites and Quarters: Jewish Urban Landscapes in Post-War Europe.
Language English
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