Visit a canal house
Visit a canal house Exclusive offer during the Canal Ring Architecture Walk Book this tour You’re invited Historical Amsterdam Tours and cultural heritage foundation Hendrick de Keyser invite you! The
Menu
World War II History Tour
World War II tour
World War II History Tour
-
StartingpointWe start at Westermarkt, next to the Anne Frank Monument at the Westerchurch tower.
End is at the National Holocaust Museum (Plantage Middenlaan) -
Duration | Distance2 hours | -/+ 3 km (1.4 ml)
-
HighlightsAnne Frank house
Resistance movements on the canals
Royal Palace and royal family during WWII
Jewish Cultural Quarter
Portuguese Synagogue
National Holocaust Memorial -
PriceAvailable from €43,75 p.p.
-
StartingpointWe start at Westermarkt, next to the Anne Frank Monument at the Westerchurch tower.
We end at the National Holocaust Museum (Plantage Middenlaan) -
Duration | Distance2 hours | -/+ 3 km (1.4 ml)
-
HighlightsAnne Frank house
Resistance movements on the canals
Royal Palace and the royal family during WWII
Jewish Cultural Quarter
Portuguese Synagogue
National Holocaust Memorial -
PriceAvailable from €43,75 p.p.
World War II in Amsterdam
This two hours WWII tour will be all about the five years of Nazi occupation and the holocaust in Amsterdam. How did ordinary Amsterdammers deal with the Germans?
Get a deeper insight into how this tragic world history effected the city and how the scars are still visible today. Random family stories, courageous individuals and the loss of about 10% of the population paint the picture of WWII in Amsterdam.
Anne Frank
We start at the monument of Anne Frank at the Westermarkt, right around the corner of the Anne Frank House museum. Who was she and what exactly happened in the annex behind Prinsengracht 263? We shine a light on how – more than anything else – this young girl became the symbol of the holocaust in the Netherlands.
Historical corruption
Walking along the Amsterdam canals we will deal with some misconceptions about Amsterdam during World War II: Amsterdam was not bombed by the Germans, there was hardly any resistance, people didn’t know what happened with their rounded up neighbors… Over the years the history of WWII has been used and abused on many levels. We diligently researched the sources and the raw data for our version of the story.
WWII and royalty
At the Royal Palace on the Dam you learn more about the role of the Royal Family during WWII. How effective was queen Wilhelmina while hiding in London? Get the heroic story of the concierge of the Royal Palace, who single handedly kept the palace out of the hands of the Nazi’s. Which tragic event occurred on Dam Square on May 7th 1945, three days after the Germans surrendered? And how is WWII remembered in the Netherlands today?
Holocaust in Amsterdam
Walking towards the former Jewish district the tour zooms in on the Holocaust in Amsterdam. Learn how horribly efficiently the Nazi’s carried out the Holocaust in Amsterdam. How some people tried to control the damage while others saw opportunities to gain from this tragedy. What was the impact of the Jewish community on Amsterdam before WWII and what is left of it after the war?
Protest and resistance
Learn more about the largest public anti-Nazi protest in occupied Europe, the February Strike in 1941. What was the cause and what were the consequences, and how come the initiators of this protest were not welcome to the annual memorial of this event, in the first years after the war? We share several stories of the Amsterdam underground. The resistance movements that tried to throw sand into the Nazi machine.
Reflection on WWII
The former Theater of Holland, the Hollandsche Schouwburg, served as a deportation center for Jews awaiting transport to the camps. Today the remains of this theater serve as the National Holocaust Memorial. A sad, but essential place for reflection and introspection. This is where our tour ends.
Note: the National Holocaust Memorial and National Holocaust Museum are currently under construction and expect to reopen in 2023.
Tour reviews
-
We booked this tour for UCL economics students (18-21 years old) and everyone enjoyed it a lot! Our guides Tijs, Edgar, Maarten and Joyce were very knowledgeable and incredibly kind.... read more 
Vendela D
November 10, 2017
Blog posts