Day 3 -Amsterdam....World War II walk, resistance Museum, Portugese Synagogue

Today iwas history day!  Met our tour guide, Ben de Jong, near the Anne Frank Haus ( do you see a pattern here ?) at 10 AM.  Finally had a good night sleep; cooler temp. today, another excellent breakfast buffet, then a  3 hour walking tour to get rid of the calories :).

 The Anne Frank Haus as it looked when Otto Frank returned from Aushwitz to find that his wife and children had not survived

                                                          

                                                                    Anne Frank statue

Ben, a father and teen son from Canada, a young woman from Austin and her visiting friend, and Art and I all arrived on time.  Ben, who is a faculty member in history  at the University of Amsterdam, came prepared with photos, anecdotes, historical facts and a keen mind.  

He toured us, from 10 til 1, from the Anne Frank Haus, through Dam Square to the University of Amsterdam, then the old Jewish area, and on to the many sites and memorials relevant to the German occupation of Holland, the Holocaust, and the experiences of the citizens of Amsterdam as they either adjusted, cooperated or resisted the Nazi occupation during WW II or, if Jewish, were constrained, harried, deported or murdered.  There were 107,00 Jews deported (most to Sobibor or Auschwitz)  with just 5200 surviving. 

                                      B

                

 Building on Dam Square which housed the Gestopo recruiting office on 2nd floor.

Royal Palace. Plaza in front where Nazi soldiers shot on civilians protesting occupation

                       Memorial to Dutch losses in all wars -Dam Square

    

We stopped for coffee once during our walk and enjoyed exchanging ideas with and getting to know the members of our group.  The weather cooperated .... The group was compatible....the walk was all that we had hoped it would be.  After it ended at the Auschwitz Memorial, we stayed on in the area to have lunch in a local cafe and to visit the Resistance Museum.  The museum  is a well structured, small museum with multi-  media exhibits, short films, audio boxes in English and helpful staff.  We were physically and emotionally tired and learned a lot.

 Auschwitz Memorial

Never Forget Auschwitz

We then took the long walk back to our hotel.  Art has honed his mapping skills and managed to get us back in a shorter route without retracing our steps!  

Relaxing evening with drinks and snacks at the club lounge, a local walk with dessert and early to bed. We are quite comfortable with finding our way around Amsterdam even with weekend crowds and loving the quiet neighborhoods around the canals.  Not so much the very crowded, noisy, littered center city :)