Resistance hero passed away

The Dutch resistance fighter Sieny Cohen Kattenburg passed away February 8, at the age of 94. During World War II, she was working in Amsterdam as a nurse in the crèche, across the Jewish Theater, where the Jews were collected before they were deported. Children were separated from their parents and stayed in the crèche until they were put on the train together with their parents. With her colleagues, Sieny smuggled away children from this creche in garbage bags, laundry-baskets, empty milk-cans or by walking out the front door with a baby in their backpack, greeting the Nazi soldiers guarding the Theatre. The stories of these nurses are amazing. It is estimated that more than 600 Jewish children were saved by this resistance group. Decades later, one of these children became the major of Amsterdam. Nowadays the Theatre and the crèche can be visited as part of the Holocaust museum.

 

An old woman and man looking into the camera
Sieny and her husband, who were both in the resistance and saved many Jewish children from deportation.

 

Hollandsche Schouwburg building façade with bikes parked in front.
The theatre in the Jewish district in Amsterdam, was used as a deportation center for Jews to the Nazi concentration camps. The crèche was on the other side of the road and can be visited.

 

A suitcase in a glass box with a name and date written on it
Jewish people wrote their name and date of birth on their suitcase before boarding the deportation train.
Resistance hero passed away