Haasdal has housed a number of High German Jews since 1720. The growing boys left for Beek, Valkenburg and other nearby places. This idyllically situated Jewish cemetery was founded around 1822 as a private cemetery in Groot Haasdal, on the edge of the church village of Schimmert and the Ravensbos, now the municipality of Beekdaelen. The last grave was dug in 1914. During the 19th century, the number of Jews in the then municipality of Schimmert grew to approximately 25. Between 1907 and 1911, the Benedik family left for Valkenburg. Other Jewish residents also left the village at the beginning of the 20th century, some of whom went to Germany.
David Hijman Trompetter and his wife Auguste Wilhelmina Hermenan lived in a caravan in the gravel pit on the other side of the Kleverbergweg during the Second World War. She died in 1941, and he was the last Jewish resident to leave Schimmert after the war, with his cattle.
There are four grave monuments in the cemetery. However, an unproven story is circulating that there may have been more gravestones. It is unknown where exactly several Jewish residents, including many children who died at a young age, are buried.
Due to overgrowth, the cemetery was increasingly forgotten. When high-voltage cables were laid in 1950, this Ashkenazi cemetery was "rediscovered". Of the public cemetery on the other side, only the remains of the mortuary from 1921 have been preserved as funerary heritage.
The cemetery is not entered on Shabbat (Friday evening and Saturday) and Jewish holidays. Boys and gentlemen are requested to wear a head covering when entering the cemetery. Eternal grave rest applies to a Jewish cemetery.
Translated by Google •
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