THE NETHERLANDS - Best of Europe 2014 - page 1331

Cost and Hours: Covered by €12 Jewish Historical Museum ticket, daily 11:00-16:00,
Plantage Middenlaan 24, tel. [phone], www.hollandscheschouwburg.nl .
▲▲▲ Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum)
This is an impressive look at how the Dutch resisted (or collaborated with) their Nazi occu-
piers from 1940 to 1945. You'll see propaganda movie clips, study forged ID cards under a
magnifying glass, and read about ingenious and courageous efforts—big and small—to hide
local Jews from the Germans and undermine the Nazi regime.
The museum does a good job of presenting the Dutch people's struggle with a timeless
moral dilemma: Is it better to collaborate with a wicked system to effect small-scale
change—or to resist outright, even if yourefforts are doomed to fail? You'll learn whysome
parts of Dutch society opted for the former, and others for the latter. While proudly describ-
ing acts of extraordinary courage, it doesn't shy away from the less heroic side of the story
(for example, the fact that most of the population, though troubled by the persecution of
their Jewish countrymen, only became actively anti-Nazi after gentile Dutch men were de-
portedtoforced-laborcamps).Theexhibitisinterspersedwithrivetingfirst-personaccounts
of what it was like to go underground, strike, starve, or return from the camps—with every
tragic detail translated into English.
Cost and Hours: €8 includes audioguide; Tue-Fri 10:00-17:00, Sat-Mon 11:00-17:00,
Englishdescriptions,noflashphotos,mandatoryandfreebagcheck,tram#9fromstationor
#14 from Dam Square, Plantage Kerklaan 61. Tel. [phone], www.verzetsmuseum.org .
Nearby: Tworecommendedeateries—Restaurant PlanciusandCaféKoosje—areonthe
sameblockasthemuseum(seelistingson here ) ,andAmsterdam'sfamouszooisjustacross
the street.
▲ Tropical Museum (Tropenmuseum)
As close to the Third World as you'll get without lots of vaccinations, this imaginative mu-
seumofferswonderfulre-creationsoftropicallifeandexplanationsofThirdWorldproblems
(largely created by Dutch colonialism and the slave trade). Ride the elevator to the top floor,
andcircleyourwaydownthroughthisimmensecollection,openedin1926togivetheDutch
people a peek at their vast colonial holdings. Don't miss the display case where you can see
and hear the world's most exotic musical instruments. The Ekeko cafeteria serves tropical
food.
Cost and Hours: €10, Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon, tram #9 to Linnaeusstraat 2,
tel. [phone], www.tropenmuseum.nl .