Holocaust museum now open

In March 2024, the Holocaust museum in Amsterdam opened its doors. It is the only Holocaust museum in the world on a site where the deportation of Jews took place.

The museum tells the visitor all about the Nazi persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands. Amsterdam needed this museum. The Netherlands suffered the largest number as a result of the persecution of the Jews, of the countries in Western Europe occupied by the Nazis, both in terms of percentages and in absolute numbers.

The museum is located in a former schoolbuilding in the district where many Jewish Amsterdammers lived before the Holocaust. The school was the neighbouring building of the Jewish Nursery School, which was transformed by the Nazis into an assembly point for Jewish children awaiting transportation. The director of the school was a member of the Dutch resistance and through the school they managed to prevent the deportation of more than 600 Jewish children. One of these children became mayor of Amsterdam in 1983. Accross the street is the former Jewish theatre, where the Nazi’s locked up the adults. Now these two buildings together form the Holocaust museum.

buildings with people and bicycles in front and a bike path — The Holocaust museum is located in a former schoolbuilding in the district where many Jewish Amsterdammers lived before the second world war.

Striped vases in a glass display case — Annette Rosen-Apotheker made a striped vase for each of her 200 murdered relatives

Glas display cases in a Holocaust museum — One of the first steps in the Holocaust was the administration of Jewish people in the Netherlands.

A glass display case with clothes with the yellow Jewish star — Nazi edicts limited the rights of Jews. From May 1942, Jews were required to wear a yellow star, so they were always identifiable.

a monument in a garden of the Holocaust museum in Amsterdam — This artwork in the garden of the Holocaust museum in Amsterdam, is an expression of gratitude to those who helped by offering a hiding place