Museo Judío de Ámsterdam (Joods Museum & Joods Museum Junior)

The Jewish community in Amsterdam has a long and illustrious history dating back at least to the late 1400s when Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain sought refuge from the Inquisition. This handsome museum is dedicated to making information about the community accessible to residents of The Netherlands as well as visitors to the country. The museum is on the site of 4 former synagogues and highlight collections based on 4 themes: Traditions and customs, religious holidays, daily life and history of the local Jewish people. The scope of information and material will certainly open your eyes and probably your heart. My group of 3 tourists from California joined several other people from the US for a tour led by local guide extraordinaire, Naomi Koopmans. We spent an hour at the neighboring Portuguese Synagogue followed by 2+ hours at the museum. You can literally spend a day at the museum. One of the highlights was a walk through the Holocaust Memorial outside the building. There’s plenty of room to sit and contemplate the lives of local residents lost to the madness of the Nazis. Every city should be as fortunate as Amsterdam to have an institution as worthwhile as this Jewish Museum.

So well done and the audio companion is amazing. Leave yourself 3-4 hours for both museum and synagogue

A beautiful arranged Museum with many of Van Gogh paintings were not available to us! The flow and the care for this unique artist was incredible in the museum. A memorable experience for life time!

they have worked hard so that the buildings are wheelchair accessible, but most of the exhibits are NOT!. They have benches in front of cases or computer screens which totally blocked off access for me in my wheels. If you are a wheelchair user, skip this! Just too frustrating.

Very interesting and informative visit on customs and history of the Jews in Amsterdam. We enjoyed seeing the various sections of the museum and all the displays.

It was interesting here the history of Jews in Amsterdam and how they lived there. I would definitely recommend friends to go .

Very interesting and education, but at the same time very sad. Well laid out exhibition with audio on a couple of levels. Staff very helpful and friendly. Well worth a visit

The depth and breadth of the Jewish experience in Amsterdam and beyond is creatively presented in 3 floors, including the synagogue that became a safe place to learn more of this history. It really helped that the museum wasn’t so busy during our visit on Monday, so we were able to go deeper into the many offerings… it’s set up for an intimate exploration which we were fortunate to have on this day. The live interviews (returning from the camps and present day thoughts on being Jewish), stories, photos and artifacts from this rich complex history are impactful especially after walking around this fascinating city. We spent five hours here. Learned so much and appreciate all that was put into this interwoven experiential journey. You could come for a lot less time. … it was a lot to assimilate. The ticket is good for a week and includes entrance to the Portugese Synagogue/museum across the street.

The museum building is actually the old Ashkenazi synagogue. This gives an authentic experience as you move through the different eras of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. There are moving real life stories from survivors of WWII but the museum doesn't just focus on the Holocaust, there are some fascinating facts about the Jewish way of life in general. Tickets to this museum will also get you into the Portuguese synagogue just across the road. The Jewish museum is next to the Holocaust memorial where you can find Anne (Anneliese) Frank's stone alongside her sister and mother.

Whether you are Jewish or not this is worth a visit. Take time to read the personal stories and learn about the Jewish culture in Amsterdam and throughout the Netherlands. The holocaust museum and name monument are also within a 15 minute walk.