"The emphasis is on how ordinary citizens endured the Occupation, especially since so many men had been taken away into forced labour for Germany."

Are there any exhibits about the Dutch men who volunteered to fight along Germany in the Waffen SS?

https://dutchmilitaria.com/product/d...orm-nederland/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23rd_S...sion_Nederland

A bit. But the fact that the Dutch SS volunteer contingent was one of the largest in Europe, proportionally, still touches an open nerve. As does the fact that NL is the country with the highest percentage of deported and murdered jews. That, like the colonial war starting in 1946 (in which many of the SS volunteers were offered a lighter sentence or even suspension of their sentence if they "volunteered" for KNIL, is usually swept under the carpet.

On that subject, it has recently come to light that those former SS volunteers from the Netherlands and also Belgium have been receiving a regular pension from Germany; those still alive are still receiving that war pension today.

You can say a lot of bad things about Germany, but they didn't let down the soldiers fighting for them.

When they realised in the 60's that their former colonial soldiers(Askaris) from German East Africa(today Tanzania) didn't recieve their pensions for decades due to WWII and harsh years which followed they decided to find the soldiers still alive and pay what Germany owed them."The Weimar Republic and pre-war Nazi Germany provided pension payments to the German askaris. Due to interruptions during the worldwide depression and World War II, the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) voted in 1964 to fund the back pay of the askaris still alive. The West German embassy at Dar es Salaam identified approximately 350 ex-askaris and set up a temporary cashiers office at Mwanza on Lake Victoria.Only a few claimants could produce the certificates given to them in 1918; others provided pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service. The banker who had brought the money came up with an idea: as each claimant stepped forward he was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform the manual of arms. Not one of them failed the test."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askari#German_colonies

I found this video so moving where an old Tanzanian soldier(50 years after Germans left East Africa) says in German proudly : 'We German soldiers fear only God, nothing else in the world."
Sorry, for getting a bit off-topic, but I think this is a remarkable and moving story, that's not that well known.

How diffferent from what the Dutch government did to ex-KNIL soldiers, especially those of Moluccan descent.

The last 2 times I was in Amsterdam we stayed at the Hilton by the Central Station so we were within walking distance of most of the interesting sites/areas we panned to visit. We went to the Amsterdam Museum just off the Dam Square and the nearby Our Lord in the Attic (a hidden canal side Catholic church). After visiting the Anne Frank House we ventured down the canal a block or two to visit the Houseboat Museum (I could live in one I think). We spent the rest of the morning scouring the adjacent 'nine streets' district (an interesting area of varied shopping opportunities). We also explored three other churches: Oude Kerk (in the red light district), Westerkerk (next door to the Anne Frank House) and the Nieuwekerk a short distance away.

do visit the gardens around the Rijksmuseum, odd little pieces of art amongst newly restored gardens and all for free.

depending on where your hotel is get the multi day tram/boat/metro ticket

Reading along avidly as I'm going to Amsterdam the first weekend in October, and I've never been before.

Menachem's day as a tourist has been a great help so far, as have the other trip reports!

For my first time, and for first timers, I used Let's Go Amsterdam. I don't usually take a guidebook but this one is pocket-sized and I hadn't done much research (for me it was a last minute choice between London and Amsterdam at the beginning of a Europe trip). I found it extremely helpful for maps, highlights, and the "only in Amsterdam" chapter.

Glad it's helpful. It was an interesting experience making it. BTW, there's one place in De Pijp that I've come to like very much during those two weeks: Venster 33. Very nice place during the day, quite acceptable dinner menu and a good place for drinks at night.
Mamouche, a "nouveau"- Moroccan restaurant just around the corner was also pretty good.
https://restaurantmamouche.nl/

Thanks Menachem - I've also been checking out the menus of all your recent restaurant recommendations, will take a look at this one too. This is a really quick trip, only 3 full days on the ground, so I'm trying to be smart with my planning.

3 days is the ideal length I think. Plenty to do in the city and some time to loiter and hang out.