Holocaust Memorial of Names unveiled in Amsterdam

King Willem-Alexander will unveil the Holocaust Memorial of Names in Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon. At the site, the names, dates of birth and ages at death of more than 102 thousand Dutch Holocaust victims, including Jews, as well as, Sinti and Roma are listed.

“It is incredibly important that all these names have not been erased from history with the arrival of this monument,” chair of the Auschwitz Committee and initiator of the project Jacques Grishaver told NOS.

In 1940, 140 thousand Jews lived in the Netherlands; 102 thousand of them were murdered by the Nazis in the course of the Second World War.  

A long legal battle preceded the construction of the monument designed by the Polish/Jewish/American architect Daniel Libeskind on the Weesperstraat. Libeskind is the son of the Holocaust survivors. He also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the master plan for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York.

Some local residents objected to the arrival stating that it was too large, would attract too many crowds and were against cutting trees to accommodate the project.

Ultimately, the Council of State decided at the end of 2019 that the monument, an initiative by the Dutch Auschwitz  Committee could be built.

The financing of the monument, which cost 15 million euros, was made possible in part by allowing people to adopt a name on the stone for 50 euros. So far, between 70 to 80 thousand stones have been adopted and requests are still incoming.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema will hold a speech during the opening ceremony.