Amsterdam Zuid during wartime

This walk was created by and is an initiative of the Kindermonument Foundation www.kindermonument.nl

Directions
45 minutes of remarkable history
The walk through the Rivierenbuurt begins at the Kindermonument on Gaaspstraat and takes you in about a quarter of an hour to eleven special and historical places in Amsterdam's Rivierenbuurt.

The directions are also available as Een-wandeling-om-bij-stil-te-staan.pdf (145 Kb)

We begin at the Kindermonument at the entrance of the playground at Gaaspstraat 8.
Kindermonument
Gaaspstraat 8, at the entrance of the playground
The memorial recalls the ban on Jewish children being members of the playground, and the time when the playground was confiscated as a market for Jews.

Standing with your back to the monument, turn left.
Then turn right.
Immediately in front of you, you will see the entrance to the Remise Lekstraat.
Remise Lekstraat
Here, on the morning of February 25, 1941, the February strike began.
From the Remise, you walk back.
Keep the playground to your left and continue until you reach Rijnstraat.
Turn right and go to number 71-73.
Ice cream parlor Koco
Rijnstraat 71-73 (now a car wash)
The owners Kohn and Cahn - Jewish refugees - also owned the ice cream parlor at Van Woustraat 149. Before and during the war, this ice cream parlor was the target of anti-Jewish actions.

Continue across Rijnstraat.
At the traffic lights at Victorieplein, cross towards the high-rise building (commonly referred to as 'The Skyscraper').
Keep the statue of Berlage on your right side.
Walk into the alley between 'The Skyscraper' and the houses (Deltastraat).
Walk until you reach Merwedeplein.
Residential building Anne Frank
Merwedeplein 37
The Frank family lived here from 1933 until July 1942. Refugee authors now live in the house. A statue of Jet Schepp stands in the square.

From Merwedeplein, go straight (with your back to 'The Skyscraper') towards Waalstraat.
Cross this street and then enter Roerstraat.
At the end of Roerstraat, slightly to the right is Maasplein.
Cross over, and at the corner with Geleenstraat, you will find the snack bar Oase.
Snack bar Oase
Geleenstraat 1
Anne Frank writes in her diary - Lieve Kitty - that she liked to go eat ice cream at this shop.

Follow Geleenstraat and after a few meters turn left into Molenbeekstraat.
Follow this street until you reach Niersstraat.
Directly ahead, you will see Anne Frank school.
Anne Frank School (6th Montessori school)
Niersstraat 41
Anne Frank attended school here from 1934 to 1941; the school was named after Anne Frank in 1954. Harry Visser designed the text - from the diary - on the façade.

In front of Anne Frank school, the Dintelstraat is on your left.
Enter this street (turning right) and cross the wide Rooseveltlaan.
You now follow Rooseveltlaan towards 'The Skyscraper'.
Go until you reach Waalstraat.
Turn right and shortly after, turn left into Lekstraat.
On your right at the corner of Lekstraat and Kinderdijkstraat, you will see the synagogue.
Synagogue
Lekstraat 63
In this synagogue - in use from 1937 to 1943 - Jews had to buy yellow David stars. The annex is still used as a synagogue.

Enter Kinderdijkstraat.
On your left, you will pass a sports field.
At the corner of Uiterwaardenstraat stands the Freedom Tree.
Freedom Tree
Corner of Uiterwaardenstraat and Kinderdijkstraat
This linden tree was planted by the residents on May 5, 1945.

Continue and turn left into Zomerdijkstraat.
At number 22, you will find the house of Gerrit van der Veen.
Plaque Gerrit van der Veen
In his residence at Zomerdijkstraat 22
In this house lived and worked the resistance fighter Gerrit van der Veen. He is buried in the honorary cemetery in Overveen.
Continue and turn left into Hunzestraat.
Follow this street until you reach Lekstraat and then turn right.
Cross Rijnstraat.
On your right, you will then see the playground Amsterdam Zuid again.
Playground Amsterdam Zuid
At Gaaspstraat
The area of this playground was confiscated from November 3, 1941, to August 14, 1943, as a market for Jews.

As a bonus, you can take the beautiful walk along the Amstel to Rozenoord (over 2 km).
To do this, leave the playground at the Kindermonument
Turn right onto Gaaspstraat.
At the end, turn left onto Trompenburgstraat until you reach the Amstel.
Turn right and follow the Amstel to the memorial at the execution site Rozenoord.
Execution site Rozenoord
At Dokter Ittmannpad near Zorgvlied cemetery
The monument commemorates the more than one hundred resistance fighters who were executed here shortly before the end of the war.

Follow the same way back to end up back at the Kindermonument.

www.kindermonument.nl