City of Amsterdam contributes five million to National Holocaust Museum

Today, the City of Amsterdam decided to make a contribution of five million Euros to the establishment of the National Holocaust Museum at Plantage Middenlaan in Amsterdam. This contribution from the City of Amsterdam marks a decisive step for the Jewish Cultural Quarter towards the completion of funding for the National Holocaust Museum.

From early 2024, the National Holocaust Museum will be the first place in the Netherlands to show the history of Jewish persecution in the Netherlands in its entirety. A history of exclusion, persecution and murder; as well as, at times, of salvation, survival and solidarity.

The National Holocaust Museum is housed in two historic buildings on Plantage Middenlaan in Amsterdam: the Hollandsche Schouwburg former theatre and the former Hervormde Kweekschool (teacher training college). During World War II, the Hollandsche Schouwburg was used by the occupying Germans as a deportation centre for Jews from the Netherlands. Tens of thousands of women, men and children had to wait here before being deported to concentration and extermination camps. With the help of the resistance, hundreds of children were smuggled to relative safety through the Hervormde Kweekschool.

Emile Schrijver, General Director of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, expressed his delight with the contribution: “We see it as a big vote of confidence that the City of Amsterdam has chosen to provide such generous support, especially in times like these. By far the majority of murdered Jews from the Netherlands were from Amsterdam, and many of the Jews from outside the capital were sent to the extermination camps via Amsterdam. For the Jewish Cultural Quarter, this support underlines the conviction we share with the Dutch capital that a National Holocaust Museum is an essential addition to the museums and memorials of the Netherlands.”

Touria Meliani, Deputy Mayor for Arts and Culture, City of Amsterdam:
“For the City of Amsterdam, this contribution represents an important step towards a fully-fledged National Holocaust Museum with a prominent place within the Jewish Cultural Quarter. A place for education, for information, for commemoration of a drastic period for Amsterdam as a city, and one which must not be forgotten.”

Decisive step
Thanks to this contribution from the City of Amsterdam, the National Holocaust Museum is able to take a decisive step forward in its fundraising campaign. The resources received will go towards renovation work on both buildings, the creation of a permanent exhibition, the production of educational programmes, elaboration of the programming and day-to-day running costs over a number of years.