When reflecting on the persecution of Jews and others during the Holocaust, it’s tempting to judge those who stood by and did nothing, condemning their inaction and confidently asserting, “I would have acted differently.” However, the truth is, none of us can truly know how we would respond unless faced with the same horrifying circumstances. I aim to be brutally honest—I don’t know what I would have done.
If I had been single, I like to think I might have joined the resistance, risking everything to defy oppression. But if I had a family, the equation changes. Would I have dared to endanger my loved ones for the sake of others? These thoughts are, of course, mere speculation.
Context of the Photograph
In the early hours of Sunday, June 20, 1943, a chilling scene unfolded in Amsterdam. At 3:30 a.m., Willy Lages, the German chief of the Sicherheitsdienst in Amsterdam, ordered the hermetic sealing of Amsterdam South and the Transvaalbuurt district in East Amsterdam. Trucks with loudspeakers rolled through the streets, announcing that nearly all Jews were to report to designated assembly points. From there, they were transported to the station by tram.
This horrific operation was carried out by the Ordnungspolizei, who were assisted by Jewish auxiliary police from Westerbork camp. These men, distinguishable by white armbands, had been brought in specifically for this roundup.
In the photograph above, onlookers can be seen witnessing their Jewish neighbors being forcibly taken away. It’s easy to judge their apparent inaction, to wonder why they didn’t intervene. But pause and ask yourself: What would I have done in their place?
Taking a photograph during such a raid was itself an act of resistance. Anyone caught documenting these atrocities faced severe consequences. The image below, taken during the same roundup in the Uiterwaardenstraat neighborhood of Amsterdam, tells a similar story.
The photograph, taken on June 20, 1943, in Amsterdam, captures a haunting scene from the same neighborhood as the one depicted earlier. The photographer, risking severe punishment, discreetly snapped the image from a house on Uiterwaardenstraat. Two empty tea cups rest on the windowsill, a quiet testament to the tension of the moment. Below, Jewish families with their luggage gather near the corner of Lekstraat and Kinderdijkstraat, awaiting their grim fate. Across the street, two neighbors lean out of their windows, silently watching the unfolding tragedy.
I end this piece with the question I began with: What would I have done?
Sources
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