Addition

Sunday 20 June 1943, "Grossaktion" (Raid)

When 5550 Jews were rounded up, arrested and deported.

Sunday 20 June 1943: in the southern and eastern part of Amsterdam a big raid has taken place on the last remaining Jews in the city. Germans as well as the Amsterdam police blocked all streets, went into houses to bring the Jews to the gathering places.

At this raid, a large part of the remaining Jews of Amsterdam-East and South were made “ready to march” (marschfertig). The Germans boasted about “the perfect way” how the preparation for this raid was kept secret, resulting in a complete but unpleasant surprise for those who were arrested. Only two days earlier, the Jewish Council had announced – under the authority of Lages – that for the time being nothing would be done against the  ±17.000 Jews who would be still in the Netherlands.

From the gathering places, people were transported by tram to Muiderpoort railway station and by train transferred to camp Westerbork. Most of them were put on transport to the extermination camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen and Sobibor.

The River district in the southern part of Amsterdam was blocked by the Berlage bridge, along the Ceintuurbaan and along the Rivierenlaan. One of the gatheringplaces was the Daniel Willink square, at the small geen before the Skyscraper. Other gathering places were Olympiaplein, Sarphatipark and Polderweg. That day, 5550 Jews were caught, arrested and deported.

Source: website the memory of plansouth (unfortunately only available in the Dutch language) and page 379 of "De Ondergang volume 1" by Dr. J. Presser and other websites about that 20 June 1943.

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