DK Travel : Amsterdam : Top 10 Jewish Historical Events

Amsterdam : Top 10 Jewish Historical Events

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1. 1592 onwards

Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain, fleeing the Inquisition, settle in Amsterdam, attracted by the city’s religious tolerance.
2. 1630s

Ashkenazi Jews start to arrive from eastern Europe (mainly Poland and Germany).
3. 1796

Jews are given equal civil rights during Napoleon’s Batavian Republic.
4. 1860

Drawn to Amsterdam by its new industries and housing, Jews emigrate from Antwerp.
5. 1932–7

These years see the rise of the Dutch Nazi Party under Anton Mussert; they also see waves of Jewish immigration from Hitler’s Germany.
6. 1941

In February, nine months into the German Occupation, the dockworkers strike in protest at the arrest and round-up of 450 Jews.
7. 1942

The deportation of the Jews to Nazi death camps begins. Many Jews, including Anne Frank’s family, go into hiding. Of the 80,000 living in pre-war Amsterdam, only 5,000 will survive the war.
8. 1945

Amsterdam is liberated by Canadian troops on 5 May.
9. 1947

Anne Frank’s diary is published (see Anne Frankhuis).
10. 1975

Violent protests break out against the destruction of the Jodenbuurt – the old Jewish Quarter – in the Nieuwmarkt.