Detention Centre III

We are now standing before the former Lloyd Hotel, which served as the third Detention Centre in Amsterdam, also known as Detention Centre III. Originally built as a boarding hotel for Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe, it was taken over by the Germans during the war and transformed into a prison.

During the war years, it was used for short-term detentions, particularly following the February Strike of 1941, when hundreds of participants were arrested. The building had no actual cells; detainees were held in barred halls or shared spaces. The cold, degrading interrogations and the oppressive environment turned it into a place of suffering. After 1941, it continued as a detention centre, later holding young offenders and collaborators.

Refugees who had once sought shelter here found themselves behind bars. The tragic contrast between the pre-war refuge function and the wartime detention centre shows a stark reversal in purpose. It remained a prison until 1989, serving as a juvenile prison from 1964. Afterwards, artists temporarily occupied the space.

Today the restored building is once again in use — since 2004 as a hotel, now The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam.