Stichting Nationaal Monument Oranjehotel

About Stichting Nationaal Monument Oranjehotel

The Oranjehotel was the nickname for the Scheveningen prison during the Second World War. More than 25,000 people were imprisoned here between 1940 and 1945 for interrogation and trial. A diverse group, arrested for acts that the German occupier saw as offenses: resistance members, but also Jews, communists, Jehovah's Witnesses and black traders. Already during the war, the prison was called the 'Orange Hotel'. An ode to the resistance fighters who were imprisoned here.

Known and unknown prisoners
Among the prisoners were famous people, such as the 'Soldier of Orange' Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, Rudolph Cleveringa, Titus Brandsma, George Maduro, Pim Boellaard, Corrie ten Boom, Trix Terwindt, Anton de Kom, Simon Vestdijk, Henri Pieck and Heinz Polzer ( Drs. P.). Besides them countless others. For many of them, the Oranjehotel was the starting point of a long journey through German prisons and concentration camps. This was the end point for more than 250 prisoners. They were executed on the nearby Waalsdorpervlakte.

Impressive stories
Until 2009 the cell barracks were used as a prison and therefore not accessible. After years of restoration and refurbishment, the Oranjehotel was opened as a Memorial Center by King Willem-Alexander in September 2019. In the National Monument Oranjehotel you can now hear stories about fear, hope, faith and patriotism and you can see in the exhibition and films under what conditions the prisoners had to live here. We show how vulnerable freedom is and what choices people make when lawlessness, oppression and persecution take hold of society.