08 January 2013

Apollo First

During the second world war the main quarter of the Sicherheitsdienst was installed in the Meisjes HBS in the Euterpestraat (now Gerrit van der Veenstraat). A long time ago I posted some photo's of this building on my blog. 

On the other side of the street there was another school located were the Zentrastelle für Jüdische Auswanderung was housed. The Zentralstelle was responsible for the deportation of the jews in Holland. The arrested people were gathered in the gym of the school before they went on transport to camp Westerbork. Later the nazi's used the Hollandsche Schouwburg in the Plantage Middenlaan for this purpose.

On sunday the 26th of november 1944, all these buildings were bombed by the Allied Forces. The Zentralstelle was half destroyed and the SD mainquarter was seriously damaged. The Sicherheitsdienst moved their quarters to the Apollo First Hotel in the Apollolaan where they stayed untill the liberation. Unfortunately most of the jewish people in Amsterdam were already deported by than.