Högre seminariet, historia + Forum för judiska studier: Professor Karin Hofmeester talar över ämnet  “The City, its Jews and their Diamonds”. The role of Jewish merchants, workers and trade union organisers in the Amsterdam diamond trade, 1600-1940

Jews played an important role in Amsterdam’s long history as ‘diamond city’: first as merchants, later as lapidaries and founders of a highly influential trade union. In the public eye ‘Jews and Diamonds’ are connected tout court, but Jews actually played different roles and these changed over time. While analysing how and why these changes occurred, my presentation will also highlight how these changes affected interaction, exchange and cooperation between Jews and non-Jews and influenced the position, prestige and identities of all Jewish men and women working in the trade.