Amsterdam City Archive remembers murdered Jewish Children in Exhibition

When in Amsterdam.....remember Mokum. Amsterdam City Archives remember the Children of the Netherlands who were deported and murdered in the Second World War because they were Jewish, Roma and Sinti. The exhibition titled Memoriam is on display in the foyer and exhibition room of  the Bazel building, Amsterdam City Archive.

The exhibition has three parts and is an extention of the book In Memoriam, de gedeporteerde en vermoorde Joodse, Roma en Sinti kinderen, 1942-1945. One part is a glass panel. The panel lists the names of the 15 000 children who were deported by the Nazi occupying forces of the Netherlands between 1942-45.

Memoriam Exhibition Amsterdam City Archive

The centre piece of the exhibition is a 70 meter board. The board is broken in four and is covered in photos and details of the 2 900 Dutch Jewish children who were transported to Nazi run death camps. Photo, name, address, place of birth and place of death are simply displayed.

The third part of the exhibition is the story of 15 of the children who were deported and murdered under Nazi occupation in Amsterdam.

To bring you to them When In Amsterdam went to the address to see where Dolfje and Leo use to live in Amsterdam.

Prinsengracht 862 Dolfje's old home

Nieuwe Hoogstraat 27-29 - Leo's old home

The Memoriam exhibition is similar to an awareness campaign by Amsterdam's daily newspaper Het Parool for May 4 Remembrance Day activities in 2011. The newspaper sent posters to the addresses of former Jewish residences in Amsterdam. The campaign showed in pre-war Amsterdam it was normal to have a Jewish neighbor.

The exhibition's impact is its simplicity and subjects. History is not normally told by children and the marginalized. War is masculine and winners write the events. Children's stories are not normally central. Memoriam, like the Het Parool campaign, presents humanity front and center through innocent youngsters. Their story though short is important shape constructions of remembrance of human tragedy. The Memoriam exhibition  runs 10 February to 20 May 2012. Click link for more information.

Mokum is a slang word for central Amsterdam. The Yiddish word translates as 'place' or 'safe haven' and is derived from the Hebrew word 'makum' meaning 'place'.

Related post Remembrance Day May 4

When in Amsterdam....respect.