Amsterdam's Mayor Issues Apology for Holocaust Role

In a significant act of reckoning, Amsterdam's Mayor Femke Halsema has publicly apologized for the role the city played during the Holocaust, marking 80 years since the end of World War II.

The mayor's acknowledgment took place at a Holocaust remembrance event held at the Hollandsche Schouwburg, a theater notorious for its role as a deportation center. During the occupancy, more than 60,000 of Amsterdam's Jewish residents were systematically deported and murdered. "Amsterdam’s government was, when it mattered, not heroic, not determined and not merciful. And it horribly abandoned its Jewish residents,” stated Halsema.

Before the Holocaust, the city was home to approximately 80,000 Jewish individuals—a vibrant community that faced unimaginable devastation. The mayor condemned the city government’s actions during the Nazi occupation, detailing their cold cooperation with the Nazis: “Administrators and officials were not only cold and formalistic but even willing to cooperate with the occupier,” she emphasized. This collaboration played an integral role in the isolation and subsequent extermination of Amsterdam's Jewish citizens, highlighting a dark chapter in the city's history that continues to resonate profoundly today.