De Dokwerker (1952)

erected in memory of the February Strike of 1941

The February Strike (Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organized by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and against the anti-Jewish measures and activities of the Nazis in general.

The direct causes were a series of arrests and pogroms held by the Germans in the Jewish neighbourhood of Amsterdam. It started on 25 February 1941 and lasted for two days; on 26 February, 300,000 people joined the strike. The strike was harshly suppressed by the Germans after three days.

This February strike ('Februaristaking') is commemorated annually on February 25 at the statue 'The Dockworker' (De Dokwerker) at the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein in the heart of Amsterdam's old Jewish neighbourhood.

Each year at 11 o'clock in the morning all trams, buses, metros and ferries of Amsterdam's public transport company still observe a minute's silence to commemorate the February strike.

place Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, Amsterdam Centrum / Jodenbuurt