During Open Jewish Homes/Huizen of Resistance on Thursday, May 2, stories are told in houses and buildings where Jews or resistance members lived and worked before, during and just after the Second World War. The Maliebaan station, the location of the Railway Museum, also has a turbulent war history. From this place a large part of the Jewish Utrecht residents were deported to Westerbork. This charged history is the starting point for the stories that curator Evelien Pieterse and journalist Bas Dekkers tell in the 3rd class waiting room of the Maliebaan station.
Curator Evelien Pieterse
On September 17, 1944, the Dutch government in London called on more than 30,000 railway employees via Oranje radio to immediately stop work. The railway strike was intended to support the Allied operation ‘Market Garden’ to accelerate the liberation of the Netherlands. Evelien Pieterse, curator of the Railway Museum, talks about the role of NS during the Second World War and about the railway strike in particular.
Journalist Bas Dekkers
Flora Snatager worked as a shorthand typist in the freight transport department of the NS. Because she was Jewish, she was fired in 1940. After going into hiding, Flora ended up in Westerbork in 1943. She was murdered in Auschwitz on August 27 of that year. Journalist Bas Dekkers tells her story, and the history of Jewish NS employees.
Times
Evelien Pieterse’s lectures are on May 2 at 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM in the 3rd class waiting room of the Maliebaan station. Bas Dekkers will tell his story on the same date and location at 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Both lectures are free, reservations are not necessary.
Fixed presentation
The Railway Museum tells more about the railways in wartime in the permanent presentation. In Loaded Trains, survivors tell moving stories about the train journey that took them to the death camps. Children Van Versteeg tells the story of NS in the Second World War. A valid entrance ticket to the Railway Museum is required to visit Loaded Trains and Children of Versteeg.
