The Jews of Holland During the Holocaust

This is a unique exhibition that allows its visitors to gain a sense of the complex story of the Holocaust of Jews in the Netherlands. Curator Dudi Gal created an exhibition space that invites the visitor to encounter the displays without being limited to following a preset route. At the entrance to the exhibition is the photograph of a young woman standing on the pavement with a rucksack at her feet. What or whom is she waiting for?

The exhibition hall is well-lighted and spacious; music in the background lends a relaxed, even pleasant atmosphere. The conquest of the Netherlands rather resembled an annexation, for the Germans were met with cooperation from the Dutch population, including its Jewish community. The deviously mild occupation policies, coupled with the Dutch people’s trusting belief in the rule of law, enabled the Nazis to essentially do as they liked with Dutch Jewry.

At the center of the exhibition hall we again meet the young woman waiting on the pavement, this time alongside pictures of her fellow Dutch Jews – conversing, socializing, drinking coffee, as they await deportation to the Westerbork transit camp. From there most will be sent on transports to extermination camps. Some 80 percent of Dutch Jewry was slaughtered in the Holocaust.

This exhibition presents a large display of documents and artifacts from the Holland Section of the Archives of the Ghetto Fighters’ House (GFH), including the world’s largest archive of the WWII Dutch Resistance. Many of the items have been digitized and uploaded for viewing, with explanations in Hebrew and English, on the GFH website.