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The Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam

“That was pretty interesting” is high praise indeed, when it comes from my 17-year-old son after a visit to a museum.

The Verzetsmuseum – the Dutch Resistance Museum – in Amsterdam is one of very few that have earned a “pretty interesting” from him. Documenting not just the resistance movement during World War II, but also the whole history of the Netherlands before, during and immediately after the war, it’s a balanced, well-presented museum.

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The building is quite grand: three stories, with the ground floor having arched doorways. The top is a triangle with the word "Plancius" and a small star of David.
The exterior of the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam

The story of the Dutch resistance

The Netherlands began to feel pressure from the Nazis far before the invasion, and that’s where the story begins. Displays are a mix of posters, photos, videos, and objects illustrating aspects of pre-war Dutch society and attitudes toward the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in neighboring Germany, their reaction to the German invasion and Nazi rule during the war, and Holland’s post-war actions in the former colonies in Asia.

A large section follows Dutch Jews from their pre-war assimilated lives through to two possible outcomes. Some escaped the country or went into hiding and survived, often helped by the resistance. Most, though, were deported to die in concentration camps, often with collaboration by Dutch citizens.

The display is tall and narrow. At the top is the slogan translated in the caption. Under that, photos of Nazi youth lined up in a field on the left and a group of young men in informal uniforms looking out of a tent and smiling on the right. Below that, some publication open to a page of photos of Nazi youth doing activities. On the floor of the display stand several books.
A case showing Nazi propaganda material. The banner at the top reads “National Socialism is caring for the people and their future.” The book at the bottom is called “Mother, tell me about Adolf Hitler!”

The Dutch see their history of resistance, rightly, as a point of pride, but this museum doesn’t sugar-coat anything. It shows the bad as well as the good responses to German rule. The resistance movement was persistent and brave, but many Dutch people either collaborated or just focused on getting along and surviving. The museum extends that objectivity past the war into Holland’s abominable treatment of the people of the Dutch East Indies in the years after the war.

Verzetsmuseum Junior

The Verzetsmuseum Junior, the Dutch Resistance Museum’s children’s section, is particularly effective. It is structured around four children as representatives of society in the Netherlands during the war:

  • Eva is a Jewish refugee from Austria living in Amsterdam. When the Germans invade, she and her family go into hiding in attic shelters until they are betrayed and sent to the camps. Only she and her mother survive.
  • Jan’s father works for the resistance and he and his family help many resistance fighters. When the Germans capture his father, Jan and his family spend the rest of the war in hiding.
  • Nelly’s parents are admirers of Hitler and active members of the NSB, the Dutch Nazi party, while Nelly is a member of Hitler Youth. Their neighbors see them as traitors, and her father becomes mayor under Nazi rule. After the war, the new Dutch government imprisons them.
  • The story of Henk and his family illustrates the Dutch people who were caught in the middle: they didn’t collaborate and they didn’t resist. His best friend, a Jew, has to leave. Their radio is confiscated to stop them listening to Radio Orange (Dutch radio broadcasting from the UK) or the BBC. As the war nears its end, food supplies are low, and Henk goes hungry.

All of these four representative children survive the war. I assume this was a conscious decision on the part of the designers of the exhibit: the parents can decide for themselves how much they want to deal with the topic of death.

Two coats hang on a coatrack. The left-hand one is brightly checked in red, green and white. The right-hand one is a trenchcoat in beige. Both have a yellow star of David on the sleeve with the word "Jood" inside it, which means "Jew."
Coats hang on the coat rack in Eva’s house.

By personalizing their stories, the Verzetsmuseum Junior avoids a simple black and white, good guys vs. bad guys approach. Instead, it introduces children to the ethical judgments citizens of the Netherlands had to make about collaboration, resistance and survival. Everyday items illustrate what each child’s life was like through reconstructions of their homes that children can explore.

The whole Dutch Resistance Museum is interesting and definitely worth a visit. What touched me most, though, and my son as well – and what we both remember best – is the children’s section. While objectivity is generally good in a museum, the adult section of the museum was somehow too objective. Children, as the innocent victims of adult decisions, present a more moving point of view.

Each postcard has an image of a child.
These postcards are free for visitors to the museum. Eva’s (top) says “Because of my frozen feet, I survived the camp.” Jan’s (top) says “We have a pilot hidden in the church.” Nelly’s says “When I walk by, they spit on the ground.” Henk’s reads “Pieces of grenades fall in our gutters.”

Visitor information

The Dutch Resistance Museum: Plantage Kerklaan 61, Amsterdam. From Amsterdam Central station, take tram 14 and get off at Plantage Kerklaan, Plantage Middenlaan/Kerklaan or Artis Zoo. Open daily Monday-Friday 10-17:00 and Saturday, Sunday and holidays 11-17:00.

Tickets for the Resistance Museum start at €14 (about $15.50) for adults and €7.50 ($8) for children 7-17 through this link.

If you are going to visit several museums and attractions on your trip to Amsterdam, it might be worth your while to buy the I AMsterdam City Card. It includes admission to a whole list of museums, sights and entertainment in and outside of Amsterdam, plus a canal boat trip and unlimited public transportation.

(Last edited July 4, 2023)

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Text: How did the Dutch react to the Nazis? The Dutch Resistance Museum Amsterdam (and the Rachel's Ruminations logo)
Image: the scattered postcards shown in the previous photo.

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about Rachel

Hi, I’m Rachel!

Rachel’s Ruminations is a travel blog focused on independent travel with an emphasis on cultural and historical sites/sights. I also occasionally write about life as an expatriate. I hope you enjoy what I post here; feel free to leave comments! Read more…
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Really interesting post and a museum I would definitely visit.

I’m going to the Netherlands soon and will maybe spend a day in Amsterdam. Thanks for sharing this Rachel – the Resistance Museum looks very interesting indeed. And it comes recommended by your 17 year old son!

Fascinating! This museum will be on our list when visiting Amsterdam and I can understand how a hard to impress 17-year old would find much to interest him as well as identify with in the exhibits. I think the profiles of the four children would be especially effective in illustrating how people react when caught up in certain situations. Only through education and discussion as well as embracing diversity can we hope to see an increase in the numbers who would join the resistance versus standing by passively or outright collaborating.

Wow, fascinating, it is different when you see it from the viewpoint of different children surviving through those difficult times. I would love to visit this museum some day

I would love to visit the Dutch Resistance Museum. It would be such a complement to the Anne Frank house, which I have always wanted to visit, too. Such a fascinating period in history, and I often find myself wondering what choices I might have made were I to have been living in that situation. I think we all know what we would like to think of ourselves, but as you say, we have the benefit of hindsight. It’s easy to see how National Socialism was seductive in a precarious economy. Lots of parallels with today, unfortunately.

I’m sure I would find a visit to the Dutch Resistance Museum “pretty interesting,” too.

You found so many great museums in Amsterdam. We thought we had done the town pretty well, but can see that there is much more to see.

The story of the four children in the Verzetsmuseum Junior sounds very effective. I can see how that had the most impact on you.

What is so scary is that history does seem to be repeating itself. . .someday families will likely be visiting similar museums looking at Iraq and Syrian families. . .great post!

Well, I’ll go further than your son and say this museum looks super interesting. Wish I known about it when I was in Amsterdam. Looks like they’ve done a great job in making the exhibits both education and meaningful.Good point of the objectivity of the adult section versus the more personally moving children’s section.

I love small museums and this seems like a wonderful one. The perfect companion to a visit to the Anne Frank House!

Will have to check out the Dutch Resistance Museum next time we’re in Amsterdam. Not sure how we missed it the first few times. It’s a dark subject but one we should all learn about and from.

I have stumbled upon your blog and wish I had known about this museum (my eldest uncle was a member of the Resistance, which put his family in great danger). If you ever get the opportunity to travel north-east, check out Camp Westerbork which was used as a transit station for the Jewish people being sent East. It is a sobering experience and one my cousin didn’t want to take me to, or experience herself.

Eek, I’ve just read you live in Groningen,(so lucky, I would love a summer house there!) so Camp Westerbork is only a short drive for you.