A- A+

ROUND-UPS IN 1942–1943 AND THE SPERRE SYSTEM

PERSECUTION AND DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS IN THE NETHERLAND 1940-1945

ROUND-UPS IN 1942–1943 AND THE SPERRE SYSTEM

In August 1942, two major round-ups took place in Amsterdam; these were followed by numerous round-ups, on different scales, throughout the Netherlands. Some Jews were exempt from deportation for the time being. They had a stamp in their identity card known as a Sperre, which promised temporary postponement of deportation. At first only a small number of these provisional exemptions were issued, and only in Amsterdam, but from September 1942 onwards there were thousands of them. Jews desperately hunted down Sperre stamps. Sperren were granted to those who worked directly or indirectly for the German war effort – for example, Jews who made uniforms for the Wehrmacht (German military forces) – Jewish Council staff, Jews baptized as Protestants, those with non-Jewish spouses and some Sephardi Jews. But a Sperre was no guarantee. It could expire and become worthless at any moment.

There were many changes to the deportation procedure in this period. Jews without a Sperre stamp no longer received summons to report for deportation but were picked up at home in the evening, during curfew hours. At the same time, the round-ups continued.

Station. On the left there is a freight wagon with people getting in. They have Stars of David sewn on their coats. On the right there are SS men in uniforms. The station buildings in the background.

Source: Image Bank WW2/Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam; photograph by Duitse Stapf Bilderdienst.

Dutch Railways marshalling yard, Panamakade, Amsterdam, 1943.

Many Jews were deported to Westerbork from this marshalling yard in early 1943. The Dutch police helped the Nazis to maintain order there. The photograph shows Jewish Council (Joodsche Raad) staff with white armbands bearing the organization's initials, JR.

A street in the Netherlands. A group of people standing on a high, concrete bank, being herded towards the SS men. In the background there are several stories high tenement houses. There is a river flowing below, moored barges.

Source: Property of H.J. Wijnne.

Round-up on the Geldersekade, 26 May 1943.

This photograph was taken by the pharmacist H.J. Wijnne. It is one of the few images of a round-up in Amsterdam. Mr Wijnne secretly took this photograph over his wife's shoulder through the window of the first floor of their house, where he also had his pharmacy.

The people in the photograph include Max and Sonja Souget; Sonja is the woman with the handbag by the lamppost. They were arrested that day but both escaped, went into hiding and survived the war.

On 20 June 1923, a round-up took place in Amsterdam-Zuid and part of Amsterdam-Oost. The Grüne Polizei (German police force) worked together with the Amsterdam police to close off streets so that they could capture Jews. That day, thirteen-year-old Netty Prins was at home with her mother, her sister and her two brothers.

The doorbell rang, and there we stood with our mother, all packed and ready to go. But no one came upstairs. You're about to be picked up, and then nobody comes. We decided to wait in the corridor a while, but at some point we said, "Then we'll go downstairs ourselves." We saw our neighbour in the entranceway, and he saw us coming down the stairs. He waved to us to go back up. I still remember how we stole quietly back up those stairs, trembling with fear. They did not take us away that day. That was a huge miracle, because everyone was taken away then. I very discreetly peeked out the window and saw the whole procession going down the street. It included my uncle and aunt with their three children, and my grandfather.

Source: Interview with Netty Knorringa-Prins, collection of the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, © Visual History Archive, USC Shoah Foundation Institute.

The people were taken to Olympiaplein, a large square in Amsterdam, and deported from there. The members of the Prins household went into hiding, each in a different place, and survived the war.

Jewish men, women and children in the sports complex in Olympiaplein, a square in Amsterdam, awaiting deportation to Westerbork transit camp, 20 June 1943.

A group of people – men, women and small children –sitting on wooden benches. Next to them, rolled up blankets and a wooden toy - a horse on wheels. A crowd of people in the background.

Source: Image Bank WW2/NIOD; photograph by Bart de Kok.