Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum)

Today we visited the Verzetsmuseum. The museum chronicles the Dutch resistance to the Nazi regime during World War II. It was a very solemn experience.

We learned about pre-war Amsterdam and then moved on to news announcements about German occupation of other countries.

We learned about the Germans entering the Netherlands, the complete destruction of the city of Rotterdam, and the Dutch surrender.


The walls were filled with stories of Dutch citizens who disagreed with the surrender, groups and unions that formed to resist the Germans, and Dutch citizens who risked their lives in order to help their Jewish friends.

Church tower in Amsterdam that was partially destroyed by bombing.


German propaganda. The NSB Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland at first promoted neutrality for the Netherlands, but later openly collaborated with the occupation forces.

We learned about many Dutch youths who joined to together to protest the removal of their university professors, and many young men who attempted to join Great Britian's military.

This was a very moving display. It contained actual hand-written letters to loved ones, thrown from the trains heading toward concentration camps.




Actual belongings from a young Jewish man who was doing his "duty". He reported for registration and then agreed to join a work camp. He was told that he would work in the camp for 3 months and then return to his position in a printing office. He never returned.




The Het Parool was founded as a resistance paper during World War II (the name means "the password"). The newspaper editor and part-founder was eventually sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. The Het Parool is still being published; as a daily newspaper in Amsterdam.


Some of the equiptment used to print Nazi propaganda during the day was used at night to help print materials to update people on resistance efforts.



ID card and concentration camp records for a Jewish Dutch citizen.




Fake maternity corset used by female Dutch courries to carry ration books and fake ID cards to Jews in hiding.


Baby carriage with a fake bottom used to transport weapons, food, and documents.



This display allowed us to examine ID cards and ration coupons and explained how to tell the difference between real ones and fake ones; or ones that had been altered (original names removed).

A fake book used to conceal weapons and documents.




Concentration camp records and other documents belonging to a Dutch national who played a major role in the resistance. He was eventually executed by the Germans - in the middle of the street in Amsterdam - while many people were walking through the streets.


This is not a good picture but the display was very moving. It showed the hiding place of a Dutch woman and her small child - beneath the floorboards of a home - underneath a child's bedroom. The woman was wanted for helping Jews and she and her small child took refuge in this house. The space that she and her child lived in for many months was barely big enough for a grown woman to lay down.

After World War II ended, many of the German symbols were vandalized or destroyed. This bust of Hitler is one of the only original ones in the Netherlands that remained intact.

A festival skirt. After the war ended, many of these quilted skirts were made from remnants of fabric owned by Jewish women. Many had names and dates embroidered or painted on them. The women wore them in the streets as a memorial to those who passed.

More info on the skirts and their history:
http://www.historyofquilts.com/feestrok.html
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nationale-feestrok?lang=en

--Overall, visiting this museum was an unbelievable experience. I could have spent countless hours there, reading each and every moving story. But after awhile the children grew tired and we had to move on. Our next stop was the Hollandsche Schnouwburg. Read more about it in my next blog entry.