No Scruples—Dutch Public Transport and the Holocaust

Something I had not been aware of, but of course, it makes sense that the Nazis also used trams to transport the Dutch Jews to the concentration camps in the Netherlands.

The GVB is the company that runs the trams in Amsterdam and has had that name since 1943. A new film and book titled Verdwenen Stad (Lost City) by filmmaker Willy Lindwer and writer Guus Luijters uncovered a painful truth.

Invoices show that there were approximately 900 tram journeys for the deportation of the Amsterdam Jews, for which the GVB declared and received more than 9,000 guilders (converted to now more than 61,000 euros). The Central Jewish Consultation (CJO) would meet with the GVB and the municipality to request the money back. According to the researchers, the GVB never acknowledged guilt, expressed remorse or offered financial compensation to the deported Jews or their relatives.

An estimated 48,000 Amsterdam Jews were transported by trams to Central Station and Muiderpoort Station between mid-July 1942 and the end of August 1944. From there, trains went to the concentration and extermination camps via the Westerbork and Vught Transit Camps.

Every month, the transport company sent invoices to the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung (Central Office for Jewish Emigration), the agency that coordinated the persecution of Jews in Amsterdam. The Nazis paid the GVB bills with the money that the Jews had to hand in from 1941, as can be read in the book.

The painful truth does not stop there. The most astonishing aspect of Luijters’ discovery is the GVB’s persistent efforts to collect outstanding payments after the war had ended. A note on the final invoice highlighted that the payment was overdue at the time of liberation, and it revealed a hired debt collection agency enlisted in 1947 to recover the 80 guilders owed. This attempted collection, years after the atrocities, has been met with shock and condemnation, underscoring the moral complexities surrounding businesses involved in the Holocaust.

The last two bills, from July and August 1944, were never paid. Anne Frank was transported to Camp Westerbork on August 8, 1944, on one of those trams, as was Etty Hillesum.

On August 8, 1944, the eight people in hiding from the Secret Annex were transported by tram from the House of Detention at the Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen to CS to be taken by train to Westerbork Camp with 65 other Jews.

I am not sure what is worse—the use of the trams or the fact they made a profit from death transports and still tried to make money after the war. The GVB never showed any scruples.

Sources:

https://bnnbreaking.com/world/amsterdams-gvb-sought-nazi-payments-for-holocaust-transports-including-anne-franks-final-journey

https://www.parool.nl/amsterdam/het-gvb-verdiende-aan-de-tramritten-waarmee-joden-werden-gedeporteerd-door-de-duitsers-het-waren-praktisch-rijdende-gevangenissen~bdd4acf4/?utm_source=parool&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20240305%7Cdaily&utm_content=Het%20GVB%20verdiende%20aan%20de%20tramritten%20waarmee%20Joden%20werden%20gedeporteerd%20door%20de%20Duitsers%20%E2%80%93%20%E2%80%98Het%20waren%20praktisch%20rijdende%20gevangenissen%E2%80%99&utm_term=306311&utm_userid=&ctm_ctid=2317e5bc05c8c884e7b6eb681398151a