On our last day in Amsterdam we took the kids to the Rijksmuseum and also the Verzetsmuseum, or Resistance Museum. The Verzetsmuseum's exhibits tell the story of the Dutch people during World War II, with a special focus on the ways in which average citizens from all walks of life fought back against the Nazi occupation. One of the most moving exhibits was a collection of farewell letters, written on scraps of paper and cardboard, and thrown from trains by Dutch Jews on their way to concentration camps. For lack of pens and ink, a few of these notes were written in the prisoners' own blood with some type of sharp object. I didn't get a photo of these, but found a picture (above) of the farewell letter of Arie Addicks, a Dutch citizen who was imprisoned and executed in 1941 for his work with the resistance.
forcibly taken
from home and country, a man
writes his name in blood
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