Many Amsterdam residents witnessed the first major raids on Jews on 22 and 23 February 1941. It made a huge impression. Dock workers and local authority employees decided to show their outrage by going on strike. They distributed posters calling on all Amsterdam residents to join the strike. The response was huge. On 25 February, there were no trams in the streets and numerous companies remained closed. The strikers marched through the streets of the city.
On the second day of the strike, the Germans took harsh action. Nine strikers were killed, many local authority employees were sacked, Mayor De Vlugt was replaced with the pro-German mayor Voûte and the city was fined 15 million guilders.
The Dokwerker (dock worker) statue commemorates the February strike of 1941. It was the only mass protest against the persecution of Jews in Europe. However, the strike did not prevent the deportation of 60,000 Amsterdam Jews in 1942 and 1943. The tram workers who had joined the strike lost their courage and drove the Jews to the station.
Illustration 1: The annual commemoration of the February strike
Illustration 2: Razzia on Jonas Daniël Meijerplein
