History
In 1492 Spain expelled its Jewish population.
Many who fled to Portugal were nevertheless forcibly baptized after
1496. More than 100 years later, their descendants - victims of the
Inquisition who wished to live as Jews - began to arrive in
Amsterdam. At that time the Dutch Republic was at war with Spain,
so to avoid being identified with the Spanish enemy these refugees
from the Iberian peninsula called themselves 'Portuguese' Jews.
During the seventeenth century large numbers of Ashkenazi Jews
arrived from Central and Eastern Europe. They soon formed the
largest Jewish community in Amsterdam and Holland.
