Holland Remembers Nazi Horrors: New Holocaust Museum

When I was in the Netherlands in March I visited the new National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. I missed the grand opening in 2024 by a day but made a point to visit this year. In a compact space, smack in the middle of where the Dutch Holocaust unfolded, it uses art, artifacts, video, and succinct labels to tell a tragic, pitiful story. There were about 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands, a neutral country, when the Germans arrived in 1940. Some were refugees. By 1945, it’s believed that 102,000 were killed, a far greater percentage than in France, Belgium, or Italy. Anne Frank’s story is the most famous, but there are tens of thousands more.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the denouement of the Nazi era and Japanese imperialism. So far, we’ve passed the milestones for the liberation of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Bergen-Belsen, the Dresden bombing, Yalta, Iwo Jima, the death of FDR, and the firebombing of Tokyo. Hitler died 80 years ago this past Wednesday. The Soviets captured the Reichstag on May 2, 1945. V-E Day is May 8. Liberating the Netherlands was a slog, mostly borne by Canadian troops. Westerbork, the notorious depot from which Dutch Jews were sent to death camps, wasn’t freed until April 12. It wasn’t until May 5, 1945, that the Germans in Holland surrendered.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

Featured Tags

When I was in the Netherlands in March I visited the new National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. I missed the grand opening in 2024 by a day but made a point to visit this year. In a compact space, smack in the middle of where the Dutch Holocaust unfolded, it uses art, artifacts, video, and succinct labels to tell a tragic, pitiful story. There were about 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands, a neutral country, when the Germans arrived in 1940. Some were refugees. By 1945, it’s believed that 102,000 were killed, a far greater percentage than in France, Belgium, or Italy. Anne Frank’s story is the most famous, but there are tens of thousands more.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the denouement of the Nazi era and Japanese imperialism. So far, we’ve passed the milestones for the liberation of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Bergen-Belsen, the Dresden bombing, Yalta, Iwo Jima, the death of FDR, and the firebombing of Tokyo. Hitler died 80 years ago this past Wednesday. The Soviets captured the Reichstag on May 2, 1945. V-E Day is May 8. Liberating the Netherlands was a slog, mostly borne by Canadian troops. Westerbork, the notorious depot from which Dutch Jews were sent to death camps, wasn’t freed until April 12. It wasn’t until May 5, 1945, that the Germans in Holland surrendered.