Obj. ID: 49852
Memorials  Jewish Gratitude Holocaust Memorial in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1947-1950

Memorial Name

Jewish Gratitude Monument (Monument van Joodse Erkentelijkheid)

Who is Commemorated?

The People of Amsterdam 

Description:

This monument consists of a five-bay white limestone wall, set on a low and wide stone of two steps. A third level of the base conforms more to the shape of the upright monument and only slightly protrudes.  The main structure of the monument includes five reliefs of white natural stone, one attached to each bay. The central bay is wider than the others and has a higher arched top. The two end bays are slightly lower than the others but are wider than the two inner bays. Each bay has a frame inserted into its surface that surrounds a low-relief figurative sculpture. The two end bays have rectangular frames, the smallest of the five. The two inner bays have taller rectangular frames with arched tops. The central arched bay has a rectangular frame, about 25% larger than those on the ends.

A classically inspired human figure is depicted on each relief, and in the last relief, a crouching mother embraces a small child.  The figures on the left appear to be athletes or dancers, and their appearance, and dress (or undress, in the case of the three male figures) have no direct relationship either to the people of Amsterdam or to Dutch Jews. Their theatrical gestures suggest grief, but it is unclear. The aesthetics of the monument seem to deny the nature of wartime suffering. A poetic dedicatory inscription is spread out with lines beneath each relief, and four lines above the central relief under the arch.

In the most recent re-installation of the monument, a short rectangular concrete post with a bilingual (Dutch and English) bronze explanatory plaque was installed in front of the monument.

Inscriptions

Below first relief (Dutch):

‘BERUSTEND IN GODS WIL.’

Translation: Accepting the will of God

Below second relief (Dutch):

‘VEREEND MET U IN AFWEER.’

Translation: United with you in resistance

Above the third (central) relief (Dutch):

‘1940 – 1945.
AAN DE BESCHERMERS
DER NEDERLANDSE JODEN
IN BEZETTINGSJAREN.

Translation: 1940-1945 / To the guardians / of the Dutch Jews / in years of occupation

Beneath the third (central) panel (Dutch):

BESCHERMD DOOR UW LIEFDE.’

Translation: Protected by your love

Below fourth relief (Dutch):

‘GESTERKT DOOR UW WEERSTAND.’

Translation: Strengthened by your defiance 

Below fifth relief (Dutch):

‘ROUWEND MET U’.

Translation: Mourning with you.

Plaque installed in 2020:

Dutch:

Op 23 februari 1950 werd op het Weesperplein dit Monument
van Joodse Erkentelijkheid onthuld. Het monument, dat uit
naam van “de Joden van Nederland aan hun beschermers in
de bezettingsjaren 1940-1945”, aan de stad Amsterdam werd
aangeboden, was een initiatief van een aantal Amsterdamse
joden onder leiding van gemeenteraadslid Maurits de Hartough
(1876-1952). Beeldhouwer Joh. G. (Jobs) Wertheim
(1898-1977) ontwierp het monument. 

Het Monument, het eerste oorlogsmonument dat na de
Tweede Wereldoorlog in Amsterdam werd opgericht, was
Vanaf zijn omstreden onthulling omstreden. Bij de onthulling aanvaardde
de burgemeester het met gemengde gevoelens: “Want hoewel
veel weerstand geboden is, zijn, zeer velen te kort geschoten.”
De beelden en teksten op het Monument benadrukken vooral
de saamhorigheid tussen Joodse en niet-Joodse
Nederlanders. Een groot deel van de Nederlandse Joden had
Echter meer behoefte aan de herdenking van de vele doden
dan aan de uitdrukking van dankbaarheid. Meer dan 75% van
de Nederlandse Joden had de Holocaust immers niet
overleefd. Bij de onthulling waren er ddarom geen joodse
organisaties vertegenwoordigd. Inmiddels laten het Monument
en zijn geschiedenis ook zien hoe complex de verweking van
de Tweede Wereldoorlog en de Holocaust in Nederland zijn
verlopen. 

In 1940 woonden in Nederland ongeveer 140.000 joden.
Tijdens de Holocaust zijn er 104.000 van hen omgekomen
of vermoord, waarvan ruim 102.000 in de concentratie- en
vernietigingskampen buiten Nederland. In geen enkel ander
West-Europees land werd een hoger percentage Joden
vermoord. 5000 joodse overlevenden keerden terug uit de
kampen en naar schatting 16.000 joden hebben de Holocaust
in de onderduik overleefd. De overigen wisten anderszins te
ontkomen, bijvoorbeeld door te vluchten. Uit Nederland werden
ook 246 Roma en Sinti gedeporteerd, waarvan er slechts 31
de oorlog hebben overleefd. 

English: 

On 23 February 1950, this Monument of Jewish recognition
was unveiled. The monument, offered to the city of Amsterdam
in the name of “the Jews of the Netherlands to their protectors
in the years of occupation 1940-1945”., was an initiative of a
member of Amsterdam Jews led by city Councilor Maurits de
Hartough (1876-1952).
Sculptor Joh. G. (Jobs) Wertheim (1898-1977) designed the
monument. 

The Monument, the first War Memorial to be erected in
Amsterdam after the Second World War, was controversial from
the moment it was revealed. The mayor accepted the Monument
with mixed feelings at its unveiling: “Because although a lot of
people offered resistance, many others fell short.” The images
and text on the Monument especially emphasize the solidarity
between Jewish and non-Jewish Dutch people. But a large part
of the Dutch Jews were more concerned with the commemorate-
on of the many deaths than with expressing
gratitude. More than 75% of the Dutch Jews did not survive the
Holocaust. That is why there were no representatives of Jewish
organizations at the unveiling of the Monument. After so many
years, the monument and its history show how complex it was
to come to terms with the Second World War and the Holocaust
in the Netherlands. 

In 1940, about 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands. During
the Holocaust, 104,000 perished or were killed, of whom
102 thousand died in concentration camps and extermination
camps outside the Netherlands. The Netherlands had the
highest percentage of Jews killed compared to any other
Western European country. 5000 Jewish survivors returned
from the camps, and approximately 16,000 Jews survived
the Holocaust by going into hiding. The others found different
ways of escape, by fleeing for example. 246 Roma and Sinti
were deported from the Netherlands as well, of whom only 31
survive the war.

Commissioned by                                               

Private Jews in Amsterdam