Memorial to Jewish children: Over 100,000 Dutch Jews were murdered during the Second World War. In 1942, all Jewish men, women and children living in Rotterdam and the islands of Zuid-Holland were ordered to assemble in a warehouse known as Loods 24 on the Stieltjesplein in one of the dock areas in the southern part of the city. From there they were taken by train to Westerbork in the eastern Netherlands. Most were subsequently transported in cattle-waggons to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor where they met their deaths. Today, a small piece of the warehouse wall is the sole reminder of the terrible journeys that began in this place. Near this wall, the Jewish community of Rotterdam gathers each year to remember all the victims of the World War II deportations.
Nearly 7,000 of the 15,000 souls who were deported from Rotterdam were registered citizens of the city; they included approximately 700 children of between one month and 12 years old whose names are known to us. The initiative to erect a monument to the Jewish children of Rotterdam is designed to commemorate them, add extra weight to the act of remembrance and hence deepen public awareness and support for these past events. The JomhaSjoa Council, founded 30 years ago, organises an annual inter-faith commemoration of the wartime deportations in Rotterdams Laurenskerk. The Jewish Childrens Memorial foundation was established by the JomhaSjoa Council.
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http://www.kindermonument.net/english[/url]
