In 2005, the first version of the monument went online. Throughout the years, the monument has been supplemented with tens of thousands of contributions, from the editors and the public. This information ensures that the men, women, and children who were murdered in ’40-’45 will not be forgotten.
Objective
The Digital Jewish Monument's main objective is to keep alive the memory of Dutch Jews who were killed or perished during the Holocaust. It aims to provide a picture of the Jewish community on the eve of the deportations and to enable relatives and other interested parties to learn more about the victims of the Holocaust.
In addition, the Digital Jewish Monument is committed to providing educational materials for various educational settings, promoting scholarly research on the Jewish community in the Netherlands on the eve of the deportations, and digitizing and thus preserving historical sources.
Who are listed on the Digital Jewish Monument.
Dutch Jews and Jews, Roma and Sinti who fled to the Netherlands and were persecuted because of their background and did not survive the Holocaust are listed on the Digital Jewish Monument. This includes everyone listed in In Memoriam and those who were persecuted, killed, or perished as Jews, Roma, or Sinti within the borders of the Netherlands between May 10, 1940 (the beginning of the German invasion) and May 8, 1945 (the day of the German capitulation), insofar as information about them could be found. This also includes those who died of natural causes during the war, committed suicide, or died in hiding (or were murdered). Furthermore, all Jews of Dutch nationality who were deported from other countries and did not survive the war are included.
The names and other details of those who survived the war are not initially listed on the Monument. When it is certain that someone has died, their name and other details are added. Family relationships are noted for the victims. Surviving family members are initially identified anonymously as "child," "spouse," "wife," or "relative." When it is certain that someone is deceased, or with the express permission of the survivor, the name and possibly other known information are added.
Survivors who lived in institutions (such as a Jewish orphanage) are not included. Foundlings who died and were not identified could not be included in the Monument.
Commemorative pages.
The website contains a separate commemorative page for each victim: a dark coloured page with their basic data, age at time of death, and a portrait photo if present. For nearly all victims, there is information to be found about their address and its other residents, and about close relatives. Moreover, for a large number of victims, additional information is available: short biographical notes and fragments from various sources, photos, and documents, information about post-war damage claims, inventory lists, and links to other websites that mention the person in question.
The addresses shown are mostly from Municipal Lists from 1941 (sometimes from 1942). For most people, this was their last official address before deportation.
This way, the victims are placed in the context of their family and the wider Jewish community, making it painfully visible how devastating the Holocaust has truly been.
A monument in motion
The Digital Jewish Monument is never finished. Visitors, historians, and survivors continuously supply the website with new material. During the first years (from 2005 to 2010) this happened via email, phone, or letter. These reactions were anonymized and published as contribution by a visitor of the website. Since 2010 users add information directly. Numerous contributions have been made, making the digital Jewish Monument a rich source of information about the Shoah and the pre-war Jewish community in the Netherlands. Information that is regularly used for education and research. Above all, the Jewish Monument is a place of commemoration.
You too can supply victims’ pages with text, photos, addresses, family connections, information about Stolpersteine or references to other websites.
Click here to read more about how to register to the website and which contributions you can make yourself.
Here you will find more information about the background and development of the Digital Jewish Monument and the sources used.