{{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2024}} The '''''Mediene''''' is the name given to all the Jewish ''[[Community|kehillot]]'' in the Netherlands outside of the capital Amsterdam, the historical center of [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch Judaism]]. From the 18th century onwards up until the [[Holocaust]], dozens of Jewish communities were created in towns large and small scattered throughout the Netherlands. At its height, some 180 ''kehillot'' existed throughout the country.<ref name="nik.nl">[http://www.nik.nl// History of the NIK (see History section)] NIK.nl. ''Accessed 21 April 2007'' {{in lang|nl}}</ref>
==Disappeared communities== At the eve of the [[Holocaust]], some 140 Jewish communities existed throughout the Netherlands, many of them located outside of Amsterdam and the [[Randstad]].<ref name="nik.nl"/> At the end of the war, with some 75% of Dutch Jews murdered in the [[Nazi]] concentration camps, many of these communities disappeared.
[[File:Voormalige synagoge in Deventer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The [[Great Synagogue of Deventer]]. Numbering 442 persons in 1930, this Jewish community in the ''mediene'' was largely destroyed during the Holocaust. It eventually merged with two other Jewish communities, those of [[Apeldoorn]] and [[Zutphen]], in 2000.]] Some prominent Jewish communities in the ''Mediene'' who were totally destroyed by the Nazis include:
* '''[[Apeldoorn]]''' (1,030 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish communities of [[Deventer]] and [[Zutphen]] in 2000) * '''[[Winschoten]]''' (493 Jewish inhabitants in 1940, community abolished in 1964) * '''[[Zandvoort]]''' (372 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Haarlem]] in 1947) * '''[[Dordrecht]]''' (322 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of Rotterdam in 1987) * '''[[Meppel]]''' (304 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Zwolle]] in 1964) * '''[[Veendam]]''' and '''[[Wildervank]]''' (283 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Stadskanaal]] in 1948) * '''[[Gouda, South Holland|Gouda]]''' (223 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of Rotterdam in 1964) * '''[[Hoogezand-Sappemeer]]''' (222 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1948) * '''[[Rijssen]]''' (207 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1948) * '''[[Stadskanaal]]''' (142 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Groningen]] in 1988) * '''[[Pekela]]''' (140 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Stadskanaal]] in 1948) * '''[[Borculo]]''' (139 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Winterswijk]] in 1980) * '''[[Beverwijk]]''' (135 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish community of [[Haarlem]] in 1947) * '''[[Delfzijl]]''' (134 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1947) * '''[[Lochem]]''' (125 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1947) * '''[[Sittard]]''' (125 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1947) * '''[[Heerlen]]''' (120 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community merged with the Jewish communities of [[Maastricht]] and [[Roermond]] in 1986) * '''[[Dieren]]''' (114 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1950) * '''[[Groenlo]]''' (105 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, community abolished in 1950)
Other Jewish communities in the ''Mediene'' greatly declined because of the Holocaust (note: Jewish inhabitants are counted on affiliation to the local Jewish community/communities): * '''The Hague''' (10,605 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 284 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''Rotterdam''' (10,515 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 246 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''[[Groningen]]''' (2,408 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 53 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''[[Arnhem]]''' (1,389 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 70 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''[[Leeuwarden]]''' (733 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 45 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''[[Assen]]''' (581 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 51 Jewish inhabitants in 1998) * '''[[Nijmegen]]''' (450 Jewish inhabitants in 1930, 30 Jewish inhabitants in 1998)
The tremendous decline and disappearance of dozens of Jewish communities throughout the Netherlands was not only due to the large numbers of Dutch Jews killed during the Holocaust, but also due to large-scale post-Holocaust emigration to countries like Israel and the United States, and migration within the Netherlands from the ''Mediene'' to Amsterdam.
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * [http://www.jhm.nl/english.aspx Jewish Historical Museum Amsterdam]
[[Category:Jewish Dutch history]] [[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Netherlands]]