Verdwenen Stad

"The Germans only had to make a phone call and they got as many trams as they needed: they were ready every night," observed Jacques Presser, the famous historian who described the persecution and destruction of Dutch Jewry. Amsterdam's Municipal Transport Company (GVB) proved an efficient partner in transporting the city's Jewish residents to train stations, from where they were further transported to their final destination: the concentration and extermination camps. Between 48,000 and 70,000 Jews made that journey by tram, including Anne Frank and her family. The GVB did not repent - on the contrary: after the liberation, the company hired a collection agency to collect unpaid bills from the municipality.

Filmmaker Willy Lindwer and writer Guus Luijters worked for four years to chart this history. That work led to a book and to this film, in which they ride in the same blue tram of the time along all the 'guilty places' in the city.