Amsterdam historical walking tour
 

A few weeks ago I took an engaging and somber walking tour of Amsterdam's WWII experience. Ben de Jong, a history professor who recently retired from Amsterdam University, regularly leads a 3-hour walk through the heart of the city. His tour focuses on the Jewish experience during the occupation.

See that park over there where the kids are playing on this fine Saturday morning? Yeah, that's where the Germans assembled their first group of Jews for deportation. See the cute B&B across the canal? Yeah, that's where infamous Dutch collaborators lived. See where you're standing? Yeah, that's where Amsterdam citizens were celebrating liberation when departing German snipers killed them. It was a haunting tour.

The tour costs 25 euro per person. You can arrange one with him through www.historywalks.eu.

How nice that Ben's doing that. I used to lead tours through Jewish Amsterdam for the JHM, but focused much more on the history before WW2. It's always a good thing to bring the city to life like that.

Thank you for this information - I will book a tour for me and my husband in November.

Thank you for sharing. I will definitely schedule this walking tour the next time I am in Amsterdam.

EDWARD 2005,

Thanks for the info. I am always interested in any tour focusing on WWI or WWII, no matter how somber.