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1941 Jews allowed to do and less

Press and propaganda

© Het Parool

Three hundred Jews across the city arrested

On 11 June 300 Jews across the city are arrested. The most are picked up from their own homes by the Amsterdam police who are given the addresses by the Sicherheitsdienst.

The arrests are reprisals for a bomb attack on German army buildings on the Bernhard Zweerskade and the Schubertstraat, and also on the Luftwaffe (German air force) telephone exchange at Schiphol in which one soldier was badly wounded.

Those arrested are mostly young men. They are all deported to Mauthausen and none survive. When the notifications of their deaths arrive in Amsterdam the name Mauthausen becomes notorious. The Germans use the name Mauthausen as threat to anyone disobeying the law. Het Parool, the illegal newspaper, writes about this on 23 June.

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Press and propaganda

Film is an important method of propaganda. Different screenings cause protest from both right and left wing circles. Cinemas are also the first public places where Jews are forbidden. The German occupier decides what the papers may publish and what the radio may broadcast. Amsterdammers have to turn to foreign broadcasts to get a better idea of how the war is progressing, but these are forbidden. The illegal press spreads news from these radio stations as well as local news which the occupier doesn’t want to be known.

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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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