The Netherlands opened its first national Holocaust museum in Amsterdam on Sunday, eight decades after the Second World War, with a ceremony attended by King Willem-Alexander and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The museum, located on the site of a former creche and teaching college where 600 Jewish children were smuggled to safety, aims to give the Holocaust a permanent place in Dutch collective memory.
King Willem-Alexander, wearing a kippah, stated: 'There is no excuse for not knowing, no room for perspective. ... Knowing about the Holocaust is not optional.' President Herzog, whose presence sparked protests over Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, said the museum sent 'a clear and powerful statement: remember, remember the horrors born of hatred, antisemitism and racism and never again allow them to flourish.' He added, 'Unfortunately never again is now, right now.'
Outside the museum, protesters waving Palestinian flags and banners chanted 'ceasefire now,' voicing anger at Herzog’s visit. Amnesty International put up detour signs directing Herzog to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The museum’s general director, Emile Schrijver, said the venue reflects 'a very long history of processing and the invisibility of this subject in Dutch public space.'
The Netherlands had the highest proportion of Jewish deaths in western Europe during the Holocaust, with 102,000 people murdered. Despite this, no national museum existed until now. Historians note a delayed reckoning, with many Dutch viewing themselves as a nation of resistance rather than collaboration. Evidence recently emerged of tram bills sent to the Nazis for transporting Jews, which Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema called 'shameful.'
