A Ticket of Re-Admission into Dutch Society The Controversy on Amsterdam’s Monument of Jewish Gratitude (1950)

In 1950 the mayor of Amsterdam accepted from the hands of a Jewish committee a “Monument of Jewish Gratitude”, intended to express the appreciation of Dutch Jews for the help of their fellow citizens during the Second World War. In our chapter, we analyse the initiative and realization of the monument, arguing that it was from the outset a specimen of “conflictive heritage”. The monument fitted the prevailing myth of collective Dutch resistance, but met with severe criticism from within the Jewish community. Through studying the prosopography of the committee members and analysing the various positions taken in the dispute, we argue that for some Jews who saw their future in the Netherlands the monument was their “ticket of re-admission into Dutch society”, whereas others – mostly Zionists – objected to the monument as a symbol of traditional Jewish Diaspora attitudes of servility and assimilation, and juxtaposed it with the memorial “Joop Westerweel Forest” in Palestine/Israel – a living monument in the country of Jewish future. We also address the present status of the monument and plead for its continued existence as a stumbling stone documenting postwar attitude towards Jews in Dutch society.