Jewish Council

We are standing on the Nieuwe Keizersgracht, and here at number 58 was the wartime headquarters of the Jewish Council for Amsterdam. This council was imposed by the Germans in February 1941 and tasked with governing the Jewish community, initially in Amsterdam, later throughout the Netherlands.

The council was led by Abraham Asscher and David Cohen. It functioned as the intermediary between the occupier and the Jewish population: measures such as the introduction of the Star of David and deportation notices were issued through this office. Thousands of Amsterdammers had to report here for stamps, travel permits, and food coupons. Desperate crowds frequently gathered outside, hoping for permission to remain.

The council was placed in an impossible position. Although some members tried to delay deportations or obtain exemptions, the council was also seen as complicit in the deportation policies. Internally, it developed a bureaucracy that managed millions of identity cards. At the same time, resistance figures like Walter Süskind worked from within this building to remove children’s names from the registry—allowing them to escape.

In September 1943, the council’s leadership, including Asscher and Cohen, was deported, bringing the council to an end. The building remains behind as a silent witness to an office shaped by coercion and moral dilemma, where lives were sealed by the very people who reported there.