The beating heart of the global economy and a magnet for migrants: that was Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. For the first time in its history, it became a Jewish city, a ‘Mother in Israel’ for Jews scattered far and wide. All these developments converged in the life of Portuguese merchant
In his latest book, historian and language journalist Ewoud Sanders provides an overview of all Dutch expressions and compound words in which the word ‘Jew’ appears. He seeks to reveal how deeply rooted many expressions of antisemitism are in our language.
After the publication of her diary, Anne Frank became more than just a symbol of Jewish suffering during World War II; she transcended the 1940s to become a universal and timeless representation of innocence and victimhood. However, that second dimension is now under scrutiny.
Knowledge about the Holocaust and the role played by the Dutch in it is declining - especially among young people. High time, then, for the new National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. But what can this museum say that has not been said before by dozens of other Dutch museums and memorial sites conce
Meet Simon Gronowski, a 92-year-old jazz pianist and lawyer from Brussels, and, above all, a Holocaust survivor who escaped from a deportation train to Auschwitz.
Graphic artists have rarely received much attention in the Low Countries. The exhibition about Fré Cohen (1903-1943) in Amsterdam’s Het Schip Museum and the accompanying publications are a welcome addition to well-known art history. Cohen's life story in turbulent times and her free play with sty
On the eve of the First World War, three Dutch friends believed they could make the world a better place by walking around the globe and propagating socialism in Esperanto. Naïve? Perhaps, but appealing, to say the least.
These days The Netherlands is one of the most tolerant and liberal places for Jews in the world. Unlike in the 1300s, when Jews often were blamed for the Black Death and subsequently burned at the stake as punishment.
During his speech on National Remembrance Day, Dutch author Arnon Grunberg warned attendees for the dangers of re-emerging racism. But he also caused quite a stir when he said: 'This Remembrance Day is always a warning as well. When they are talking about Moroccans, they are talking about me.' Altho
In 1981, nearly forty years after she was killed in Auschwitz, Dutch Jewish Etty Hillesum found fame overnight after her diary entries were published in Het verstoorde leven (An Interrupted Life). Her diary notes, which she jotted down in occupied Amsterdam, are a testament to strong personal develo
The Jewish Community of Antwerp – numbering some 20,000 – is one of the largest in Europe. Derek Blyth invites you to discover their synagogues, bookstores, restaurants, Kosher bakeries and diamond stores.
On 31 March 2020, we celebrated Marga Minco’s (pseudonym for Sara Menco) 100th birthday. Her oeuvre is an incessant attempt to come to terms with the war past by constantly creating new literary variants of it.
