Legoelom Band

Almelo, The Netherlands, 1934-1935

Mimi de Leeuw was active in Jewish social life in her hometown Almelo which had quite a few Jewish associations in the 1930s. Her parents were butcher Arnold de Leeuw and his wife Louisa Weijl. In the first picture she is seventeen and bathing with a Jewish youth group. Mimi is in the middle at the back. The second picture shows her in the front row, second from right in the “Legoelom Band” (Legoelom transcribes as Legulom in English).

In the early 1930s three local Jewish youth associations merged into the Jewish Youth Association “Legulom” of Almelo. On the basis of reports in the national  Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad (New Jewish Weekly) during 1932-1940, Legulom organised evenings with lectures, plays, shows and balls. The association kept friendly ties with other such associations in the eastern Netherlands. In the spring of 1934 members of the Deventer association “Tikwas Jisruil” visited Legulom, and a friendly football match ended in a 2-1 score for those from Deventer. In March 1935 the Legulom theatre performed at the annual gala night of the “Ladies’ association ‘Dowor Touf'” in Hoogeveen. And at the occasion of Purim 1940 Legulom theatre played “Nathan has mazz’l” for its local members.

As this picture shows, Legulom had its own band. But how to translate the Hebrew word ‘Legulom’? It turns out to be the Ashkenasic pronouciation of ‘For everybody’.

updated <20130202> and <20130825> with thanks to Ms. Liesbeth Molenberg

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