WWII and Jewish Amsterdam: history, memorials and how to visit

Jewish Amsterdam: four centuries of history before the war

To understand the Holocaust in Amsterdam, you first need to understand what was destroyed. Jewish communities had been central to Amsterdam’s commercial and intellectual life since the 17th century, when Portuguese-Jewish merchants fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions arrived in large numbers in the new Dutch republic, drawn by an unusual level of religious tolerance.

By 1650, Amsterdam had the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, concentrated in the neighbourhood east of the canal ring — the area still called the Jodenbuurt (Jewish Quarter). The great Portuguese Synagogue (Esnoga), completed in 1675, was the largest synagogue in the world at the time of its construction and remains standing today. The Rembrandt House Museum is in the street (Jodenbreestraat) where Rembrandt lived among his Jewish neighbours, whose faces appear throughout his work.

By the early 20th century, Amsterdam’s Jewish population of approximately 80,000 was fully integrated into Dutch society — doctors, teachers, diamond workers (the diamond industry was overwhelmingly Jewish), journalists, academics, musicians. The 1930s brought German Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism; Amsterdam absorbed them.

Then came the occupation.

---

The German occupation (May 1940 – May 1945)

Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The Dutch army surrendered after five days. The bombardment of Rotterdam on 14 May — which destroyed the city centre and killed 900 people — was the explicit threat used to force surrender.

The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands was initially managed to appear normal. Then, beginning in 1941, the systematic persecution of Jews began: registration requirements, the yellow star, restrictions on movement and employment, the “Aryanisation” of Jewish businesses.

The February Strike (25–26 February 1941): Amsterdam’s dock and transport workers called a general strike in protest at the first roundup of Jewish men for deportation to labour camps. It was the only public protest against the persecution of Jews in occupied Europe and was brutally suppressed. The February Strike is commemorated annually on 25 February with a ceremony at the Dokwerker (dockworker) monument on Jonas Daniel Meijerplein, near the Jewish Historical Museum.

Deportation: From July 1942 to September 1943, Amsterdam Jews were ordered to the Hollandsche Schouwburg (Holland Theatre) as a collection point, then transported by train to the transit camp of Westerbork in the northeast Netherlands, and from there east to the extermination camps of Sobibor, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Of approximately 80,000 Amsterdam Jews, approximately 60,000 were murdered.

Hiding: An estimated 25,000–30,000 Jews went into hiding in the Netherlands, sheltered by Dutch families. The survival rate for those in hiding was approximately 50% — many were eventually discovered and deported. The most famous hiding story is that of the Frank family.

---

The Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is the most-visited museum in the Netherlands. It occupies the actual building at Prinsengracht 263 where Anne Frank’s family and four others hid in the concealed back house (achterhuis) from July 1942 to August 1944, when they were discovered and arrested.

Anne Frank (1929–1945) kept a diary throughout the two years in hiding. Her diary was recovered after the war by Miep Gies (one of the helpers who supplied the hiding family with food and information) and given to Anne’s father Otto Frank, the only member of the family to survive the war. Otto Frank published the diary in 1947; it has since been translated into 70 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world.

Visiting: Tickets must be booked in advance (months in advance during peak season). Same-day entry is extremely rare. The visit is self-guided through the actual rooms of the hiding place; the emptiness of the rooms — furniture removed during the war — is profoundly affecting. Allow 1.5–2 hours.

The Anne Frank House is not included in the I amsterdam City Card.

An Anne Frank House area and Jewish Quarter tour provides historical context that significantly deepens the impact of the visit. An Anne Frank small-group tour is a popular alternative.

---

The Jewish Cultural Quarter

Four Jewish heritage institutions cluster in the traditional Jewish quarter east of Waterlooplein:

Jewish Historical Museum (Joods Historisch Museum): Housed in four 17th–18th century Ashkenazi synagogues on Jonas Daniel Meijerplein, the museum traces Jewish life in the Netherlands from the 17th century through the Second World War and its aftermath. Permanent collection plus changing exhibitions. Entry approximately €17.

National Holocaust Museum: A new museum opened in 2024 in the former teacher training college where Jewish children were held during deportations. The building is directly across from the Hollandsche Schouwburg. The museum addresses the Dutch Holocaust in the specific context of the Netherlands, including the role of the Dutch bureaucracy in facilitating deportations — a difficult but important dimension of the history.

Portuguese Synagogue (Esnoga): Built in 1675, this is one of the finest surviving 17th-century synagogues in the world. Still in use for religious services by the Sephardic Jewish community, it is also open to visitors. The interior — sand floor, massive brass chandeliers, unheated — has changed almost nothing since construction. Entry approximately €17.

Hollandsche Schouwburg: Now a memorial rather than a museum. The former theatre used as a deportation collection point is preserved as a ruin (the auditorium was demolished after the war) with a memorial hall containing the names of the 6,700 Amsterdam Jewish families deported and murdered.

The Jewish Cultural Quarter combination ticket covers multiple sites at a reduced combined price.

---

The Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum)

The Dutch Resistance Museum (Plantage Kerklaan 61, near Artis Zoo) is one of the finest WWII museums in Europe. It tells the story of Dutch responses to occupation across the full spectrum: collaboration, acquiescence, passive resistance, and active resistance by an estimated 5% of the population. The exhibition does not sanitise the Dutch role; the Netherlands had higher rates of Jewish deportation than France or Belgium, a fact the museum addresses directly.

The children’s section (“Anne Frank and the Neighbourhood Children”) reconstructs the wartime experiences of three Dutch children from the same street, making it accessible and appropriate for children from about age 10.

An Amsterdam Resistance Museum guided visit with a guide who contextualises the wartime decisions amplifies the exhibition significantly.

---

WWII walking tours in Amsterdam

A private Amsterdam WWII tour covers the deportation routes, hiding places, resistance activities and memorials in a narrative that connects the physical city to its history. These tours often reach sites not covered in standard historical walking tours: the courtyards where Jews were gathered, the railway lines used for transport, the streets of the former Jewish Quarter.

An Amsterdam Jewish Quarter walking tour focuses on the four centuries of Jewish history in the neighbourhood, connecting the pre-war community to the wartime destruction and postwar rebuilding. See also the Amsterdam history overview for broader historical context.

---

Diary of a young girl: Anne Frank’s writing legacy

Anne Frank’s diary is the most widely read personal account of the Holocaust and one of the most translated books in history (over 70 languages). Understanding what makes it significant puts the Anne Frank House visit in context:

The writing itself: Anne wrote with exceptional clarity and self-awareness for a 13–15 year old. Her observations of the tensions within the hiding group (eight people in cramped conditions for two years), her reflections on her own developing identity, and her processing of fear and hope are not the writing of a child — they are the writing of a thoughtful person under extraordinary pressure.

The editing: Anne had begun revising her diary herself before the hiding group was discovered, intending it for eventual publication. She had heard a Dutch government radio broadcast in 1944 calling for people to save documents, letters and diaries of the occupation. Her revised version (Diary B) is the basis for the published text; her original diary (Diary A) and the revised version are both preserved at the Anne Frank House and the Dutch War Documentation Centre (NIOD).

The preservation: Miep Gies, the office worker who regularly supplied the hiding group with food, news and supplies, rescued the diary from the hiding place after the arrest. She kept it without reading it, intending to return it to Anne. Otto Frank, the only survivor, received it from Miep after the war.

The first publication: “Het Achterhuis” (The Secret Annex) was first published in Dutch in 1947. Initial sales were modest; international breakthrough came after the American translation in 1952 and the Broadway play in 1955.

---

The postwar Jewish community in Amsterdam

The destruction of Amsterdam’s Jewish community in the Holocaust was so severe that the postwar recovery was slow and incomplete. Of approximately 80,000 pre-war Jewish residents, roughly 20,000 survived the war — some by hiding, some in camps, some as partners in mixed marriages exempted from deportation.

The postwar period was additionally painful because many survivors returned to find their homes occupied, their possessions gone, and — in some cases — neighbours unwilling to acknowledge what had happened. The Dutch government’s handling of property restitution was slow and inadequate. Legal processes dragging through the 1950s and 1960s further exhausted survivors.

Today Amsterdam’s Jewish community numbers approximately 25,000–30,000 (including people of Jewish heritage not active in religious life). The Portuguese Synagogue continues its Sephardic services; the Ashkenazi community uses the Great Synagogue buildings. The Jewish Historical Museum, the National Holocaust Museum, and numerous memorials represent a sustained effort to remember and to educate.

The postwar rebuilding of the Jewish Quarter itself was insensitive by contemporary standards: the Jodenbuurt was partially demolished in the 1970s to make way for the metro line and a highway (the latter was cancelled after protests). The neighbourhood lacks much of its pre-war built fabric, and the construction of the road through the former heart of the Jewish Quarter is still a source of urban regret.

---

Practical information

Anne Frank House: Book tickets at annefrank.org, typically 3–4 weeks ahead in summer. Timed entry only. Entry approximately €16 adults, €6 under-17.

Jewish Cultural Quarter: Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2–4. Jewish Historical Museum, National Holocaust Museum and Portuguese Synagogue are each individually ticketed or covered by combination ticket. Closed on Saturday (Shabbat).

Dutch Resistance Museum: Plantage Kerklaan 61. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–17:00. Entry ~€15.

Hollandsche Schouwburg: Plantage Middenlaan 24. Entry free. Memorial garden and exhibition.

---

Frequently asked questions about WWII Amsterdam

Do you need to book Anne Frank House tickets in advance?

Yes, absolutely. Same-day tickets are essentially unavailable. Book at least 3–4 weeks ahead in summer, a week ahead in winter. Tickets sell out completely during peak April–August.

What is the difference between the Jewish Historical Museum and the National Holocaust Museum?

The Jewish Historical Museum covers 400 years of Jewish life in the Netherlands, with the Holocaust as one chapter. The National Holocaust Museum, which opened in 2024, focuses specifically on the Shoah in the Dutch context, particularly how Dutch administrative systems facilitated deportations.

Is the Anne Frank House appropriate for children?

For children approximately 10 and older, yes — with preparation. The content is heavy; parents should discuss the historical context before visiting. The museum’s design is thoughtful and age-appropriate, but the subject matter requires maturity. The Dutch Resistance Museum has a dedicated children’s section.

Why did the Netherlands have such high rates of Jewish deportation compared to other occupied countries?

Several factors: the Netherlands’ flat geography offered fewer hiding places than France; the Dutch bureaucratic system was highly organised and was used by occupiers to identify and locate Jews; and the Netherlands had a shorter tradition of institutional resistance to authority than some other occupied countries. The National Holocaust Museum addresses this directly and honestly.

Where is the Hollandsche Schouwburg memorial?

The Hollandsche Schouwburg (National Holocaust Memorial) is at Plantage Middenlaan 24, approximately 10 minutes’ walk from the Jewish Historical Museum. The roofless former theatre is preserved as a memorial with a flame and a wall of family names from the deportations.