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1938 Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

Refugees and immigrants

Zeeburg
East docklands
Zeeburg
East docklands [+] Enlarge map [-] Reduce map
© Stadsarchief Amsterdam / Jacobus van Eck

Anne Frank - Uncle Walter in the Zeeburg refugee camp

In December 1938 Walter Holländer, one of Edith Frank’s two brothers is interned in the Zeeburg internment camp in Amsterdam-Oost (East). He arrives here after being released from the Sachsenhausen camp near Berlin. He said:

‘We were locked up in this refugee camp, there were police guards and it was not possible to and we weren’t allowed to do anything to earn any money.’

A few weeks earlier, on 12 November 1938 he had been arrested with his brother Julius. Julius was set free because he is a First World War veteran and has a war wound, but Walter is sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. There he learns that he is to be set free but only on condition that he leaves Germany immediately.

Julius tries to arrange a Dutch visa for Walter as well but is unable to. Walter only receives permission to enter a camp in the Netherlands. This is to stimulate further emigration from the country. The camps are also meant to prevent the refugees getting jobs. Walter is freed from Sachsenhausen on 1 December and is sent to the Zeeburg refugee camp.

He is sometimes allowed to leave the camp but only with written permission and then only to visit ‘Huize Oosteinde’. Here refugees can read, study or take part in limited sport activities.

Julius stays with his mother in Aachen and tries to arrange a visa for the United States. He is granted one and boards a ship to America in April 1939. Walter follows in December. Their cousin Ernst acts as guarantor for them.

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Refugees and immigrants

After Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany in 1933, tens of thousands of Jews decide to leave their fatherland and to chance their luck elsewhere. A large number move to neighboring country the Netherlands. In 1941 the number of German Jewish refugees in the Netherlands totals 15,174.

Political and Jewish refugees are accepted, but the Dutch government also sends many back. The Jewish community is responsible for looking after the refugees.

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1938 Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

Many Jewish refugees flee to the Netherlands after Kristallnacht. Princess Juliana also feels connected to the Jewish community. But while more attention is drawn to the admittance of more Jews, NSB members threaten more intervention.

1938  Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

1940 Amsterdam occupied

Nothing changes too much for the Frank family in the beginning. Opekta moves to the Prinsengracht. During air raids bombs cause death and injury in Amsterdam.

1940  Amsterdam occupied

1941 Jews allowed to do and less

It starts with a cinema ban but rapidly Jews are banned from virtually all public places. Jewish children must attend separate schools. This also applies to Anne and Margot Frank.

1941  Jews allowed to do and less

1942 It becomes more dangerous for Jews

On her thirteenth birthday Anne Frank receives a diary. A few days later she writes about the situation in Amsterdam. The introduction of the Jewish star and the raids. In July the Frank family goes into hiding.

1942  It becomes more dangerous for Jews

1943 Deportations and attacks

While the Frank family is in hiding thousands of Jews are deported from Amsterdam. The resistance tries to hinder the deportations by attacks including one on the Public Registry. It doesn’t stop them.

1943  Deportations and attacks

1944 Discovered and arrested

On 4 August the people in hiding in the secret annex are discovered and arrested. From Westerbork they are taken to Auschwitz. When the Allies land in the south of the Netherlands there is hope that the country will be liberated. German soldiers and NSB members flee the country after Dolle Dinsdag (‘Mad Tuesday’).

1944  Discovered and arrested

1945 Joy and sadness

A celebration at the Dam on 7 May is ruined when people are killed after German soldiers shoot at the crowd. On 8 May Amsterdam is officially liberated. Otto Frank returns. He knows that Edith is dead. He only hears later that his two daughters have not survived.

1945  Joy and sadness

1946 Slowly the threads are picked up again

On 3 May 1946 the first official commemoration for those who died during the war is held. Anne Frank’s diary is published on 25 June 1947. Life in Amsterdam slowly gets back to normal. Of the 70,000 Jews who lived in the city in 1940 only 10,000 have survived the war.

1946  Slowly the threads are picked up again

1950 Lasting memory

Even five years after the liberation the reverberations from the war are still clearly noticeable. The Jewish community thanks Amsterdam for the help given to Jews with a monument.

1950  Lasting memory
  • 1950

  • To those who protected the Dutch Jews during the years of the occupation. Protected by your love. Encouraged by your resistance. Mourning with you.

    Part of the citation on the monument ‘Jewish Gratitude’
  • picture:Once a year, two minutes silence

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Bird’s eye view of Anne Frank’s Amsterdam

View the most important places with their story from Anne Frank’s Amsterdam. Click to the Timeline and see how Amsterdam changed from being a safe haven in 1933 to an occupied city. Zoom in by clicking on the plus sign on the left. This way you can click more easily on the places on the map