In Alkmaar, the Kristallnacht and the subsequent children’s transports by Truus Wijsmuller were commemorated for the first time. This was done by students who laid flowers at the statue of the resistance heroine in the center of Alkmaar. The students did not know the story of Truus yet. “So she saved a lot of children from the war,” says one of them now. “But it could have turned out very differently,” another analyzes.
After the night of horrors of 9 to 10 November 1938, it was clear that Jews were no longer safe in occupied Europe. For those born in Alkmaar Truus Wijsmuller the terrible events with Jews and the destruction of their synagogues, shops and other possessions were reason to take action.
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Today, Kristallnacht is commemorated by the Jewish community worldwide. The Truus Wijsmuller foundation organized such a commemoration for the first time in Alkmaar. Prior to today, the foundation preferred not to pay too much attention in the media, in order to avoid ‘commotion at the door of the synanogue’.
“Now I have to do something”, Feyko Alkema of the foundation tells her story to the students, who listen breathlessly. “She went to Adolf Eichmann in Vienna and negotiated that she could take 10,000 Jewish children to England.”
These children’s transports save the lives of thousands of children. “I think it’s great with all those children, in trains and boats. That she arranged all that.” According to the students of group 8 of OBS De Kennemerpoort, what Truus has done is very special.
Check out what else the kids have to say about Truus here:
This commemoration of the Kristallnacht and the deeds of Truus was a first, but certainly worth repeating, according to the chairman of the synagogue.