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1943 Deportations and attacks

Paula Bakker

© Privécollectie Paula Bakker

Paula Bakker – Curfew

I was playing in the Spuistraat when all of a sudden it was very quiet. Then a woman who lived there said: “You should go home now because it’s curfew.” It was 8 o’clock! I had no idea and hadn’t been told about it. I walked home and still remember that when I went over the big bridge that it was very quiet.

A very nice woman. She used to have Indonesian students lodging with her who stayed for all of the war. They were very poor because they weren’t sent any money from home anymore – all ties with Dutch Indonesia were cut. They looked really poor.

What you noticed about the war was that the Tommies who flew over, that’s what we called the English planes that flew over on their way to bomb Germany. We liked the noise of those planes it gave us hope that the war would end. We didn’t even think about what sort of terrible things those bombs meant.

Sometimes the siren went off just before school started. If that happened, my friend Loes and I pretended we weren’t there. We could have run in to school, but we didn’t do that. We stayed outside until later when the school said that we had to go in if the siren went off.

 

All the windows were blacked out. Outside there were no lights. Of course this was because they were afraid that the English would drop bombs. Sometimes in the winter when it was dark you would hear someone shouting: “Help, help”. That was usually a German soldier who had fallen in the water after curfew. It was a lonely sound. But …yes, we became hard. You thought: ok…they’re our enemies, they shouldn’t have been here in the first place. But then again they were only German boys who had been called up to do their duty.

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Paula Bakker

Paula Bakker is 10 years old when war breaks out. Her unmarried mother runs a boarding house on the Singel with Paula’s stepfather. 10 people live in the house: people who rent rooms and those who are boarding house guests. Most of them are unmarried or divorced and with some of them she has a lot of contact with others none. Paula experiences the occupation in many different ways.

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1938 Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

Many Jewish refugees flee to the Netherlands after Kristallnacht. Princess Juliana also feels connected to the Jewish community. But while more attention is drawn to the admittance of more Jews, NSB members threaten more intervention.

1938  Many Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht

1940 Amsterdam occupied

Nothing changes too much for the Frank family in the beginning. Opekta moves to the Prinsengracht. During air raids bombs cause death and injury in Amsterdam.

1940  Amsterdam occupied

1941 Jews allowed to do and less

It starts with a cinema ban but rapidly Jews are banned from virtually all public places. Jewish children must attend separate schools. This also applies to Anne and Margot Frank.

1941  Jews allowed to do and less

1942 It becomes more dangerous for Jews

On her thirteenth birthday Anne Frank receives a diary. A few days later she writes about the situation in Amsterdam. The introduction of the Jewish star and the raids. In July the Frank family goes into hiding.

1942  It becomes more dangerous for Jews

1943 Deportations and attacks

While the Frank family is in hiding thousands of Jews are deported from Amsterdam. The resistance tries to hinder the deportations by attacks including one on the Public Registry. It doesn’t stop them.

1943  Deportations and attacks

1944 Discovered and arrested

On 4 August the people in hiding in the secret annex are discovered and arrested. From Westerbork they are taken to Auschwitz. When the Allies land in the south of the Netherlands there is hope that the country will be liberated. German soldiers and NSB members flee the country after Dolle Dinsdag (‘Mad Tuesday’).

1944  Discovered and arrested

1945 Joy and sadness

A celebration at the Dam on 7 May is ruined when people are killed after German soldiers shoot at the crowd. On 8 May Amsterdam is officially liberated. Otto Frank returns. He knows that Edith is dead. He only hears later that his two daughters have not survived.

1945  Joy and sadness

1946 Slowly the threads are picked up again

On 3 May 1946 the first official commemoration for those who died during the war is held. Anne Frank’s diary is published on 25 June 1947. Life in Amsterdam slowly gets back to normal. Of the 70,000 Jews who lived in the city in 1940 only 10,000 have survived the war.

1946  Slowly the threads are picked up again

1950 Lasting memory

Even five years after the liberation the reverberations from the war are still clearly noticeable. The Jewish community thanks Amsterdam for the help given to Jews with a monument.

1950  Lasting memory
  • 1950

  • To those who protected the Dutch Jews during the years of the occupation. Protected by your love. Encouraged by your resistance. Mourning with you.

    Part of the citation on the monument ‘Jewish Gratitude’
  • picture:Once a year, two minutes silence

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