National Holocaust Museum — Attraction in Amsterdam

I strongly recommend a visit here if you place a great value on learning from history, and preventing it from repeating itself. The videos and artifacts from Dutch Jewish people who were murdered during the war were incredibly poignant and moving - even my usually composed husband found it quite upsetting. The worst part was seeing the belongings of young Jewish children who had given their most treasured possessions (including a violin and a pair of tiny leather gloves) to friends and neighbours to take care of in the belief that they would retrieve them once the war ended. Sadly, none of these children were alive by the end of the war. I'm not entirely sure whether my husband and I gleaned the wrong impression here, but we both very much came away with the view that the non-Jewish Dutch people had issues with the Jewish population before the war and put up very little resistance to the mass deportation of the Dutch Jewish population - almost as though they were secretly relieved that the Nazi's dealt with the issue for them? If that IS the case, it definitely alters my long held views of the Dutch people as frightened bystanders and, is both upsetting and very deflating. An extremely compelling and...

The pictures you expect. And sad stories. Impressive is the chronologic report at the wall of the steps taken against the Jews. Little new for my generation with parents who lived during the war. But an important museum for the next generations and not to forget. What is missing, in my opinion, is some reflection on the politics of such a huge operation and why so many kept silent. What were the early signs, and what were the triggers. The anti-immigrants mood is becoming stronger. Could they become the Jews of the next century? How do we recognize that we are making the same mistakes as what triggered...

As with all museums related to the Holocaust, it is a very emotional experience. Learning the stories of some on the 80,000 Jews in Amsterdam. Their survival, or their murder. It boggles the mind how the Nazis were able to convince people to turn on their neighbor. The museum staff are very helpful. There are lockers and toilets downstairs which were very handy in the winter with coats. The complementary audio tour gizmos are very handy. They give a more detailed explanation. You also get to hear what is said in some of the videos. You will spend over an hour on your tour....