Obj. ID: 53328
Memorials Holocaust Memorial to Deported Jewish Children in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, After 2003
Name of Monument
Transvaalbuurt Monument deportatie Joodse kinderen
Translation: Monument to Deported Jewish Children
Who/What is Commemorated?
Jewish residents and children deported from this neighborhood to concentration and death camps
Description
The monument was originally located at the edge of the playground between Joubertstraat and President Brandstraat in the Transvaalbuurt in Amsterdam but was moved to its current location at the playground center. The simple monument is a short black base with a beveled top on which is attached an inscribed stone plaque. It is set at the center of a paved area which extends the memorial space in a way that is more likely to appeal to children. Six concentric squares of pavers radiate out from the monument. Three of these are made of square concrete pavers, and three consist of smaller tiles with simple symbolic icons of boys and girls with outstretched arms so its seem these children are linking hands to ring the memorial.
Inscriptions
Ter Gedachtenis 3
Aan het bestuur, leden
en kinderen dezer speel
tuinafdeling die in de
jaren 1940-1945 werden
gedeporteerd en niet
terugkeerden
Translation: Marker Number 3. In remembrance of the leaders, residents and children of the ward surrounding this playground that were deported in the years 1940-1945 and never returned. [Translation to be corrected]
Commissioned by
To be determined
6 image(s) Items per page
sub-set tree: 
concrete
The German occupiers set up separate markets in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods to isolate Jews from the general population. One of these was established on the square by Joubertraat next to the playground. A modest monument was established at the edge of the playground in between 2003 and 2006, when on April 27, 2006, a colorful mosaic was installed around the existing memorial stone, to make it more appealing to children. Three drawings were selected from eighty drawings submitted from two primary schools and the mosaic was made from these drawings.
In 2007, the monument was moved from near the perimeter fence to the center of the playground. The colorful mosaic – which had been added to the monument (in 2006?) was not included in the move. Instead, three concentric squares of tiles with the images of children were laid in a new pavement.
Significantly, the inscription on the monument does not mention the German establishment of this place as a segregated Jewish market, or the reason that people were deported – that they were Jews.
Post, Gerben, Lotty's Bench: The Persecution of the Jews of Amsterdam Remembered, (Volendam: LM Publishers, 2018)
Stoutenbeek, Jan and Paul Vigeveno. Jewish Amsterdam, trans. By Wendie Shaffer. (Amsterdam-Ghent: Ludion, 2003), p. 207.
"Transvaalbuurt Monument deportatie Joodse kinderen / Monument to Deported Jewish Children,"
The Historical Marker Database, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=214797., https://www.hmdb.org/ (accessed March 5, 2024)
“Amsterdam, oorlogsmonument in de Transvaalbuurt,”
Het Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei (The National Committee for 4 and 5 May), https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten/zoeken/2802/amsterdam-oorlogsmonument-in-de-transvaalbuurt., https://www.4en5mei.nl/ (accessed March 5, 2024)