Jewish Monument for the Maastrichtsestraat, 2008

Location: Maastrichtsestraat, The Hague

Debora Goedewaagen, Joost van Roon, Daan Koster and Sybke Wempe together form the Comité Joods monument Maastrichtsestraat. Stroom advised them in choosing an artist who might be able to come up with a suitable form for their wish: the realisation of a living monument commemorating a tragic event in their street. They chose the artist Jonas Staal.

In spring 2008, Debora Goedewaagen and Daan Koster contacted Stroom for the first time, with a request for advice as part of their initiative to realise a Jewish Monument in the Maastrichtsestraat. It does not happen very often, that citizens themselves come up with a plan for a monument, usually it is the government and sometimes a foundation or association of relatives who develop such plans. The request fitted well within a programme by Stroom entitled ‘nu monument’, which explores the question, whether contemporary art can have a function in creating and maintaining a collective consciousness.

The trigger for Goedewaagen and Koster's plan was, that they discovered in 2006, that during the Second World War, as many as 16 Jewish families from their street were deported to concentration camps. Of the 52 people, young and old, affected, 43 did not survive. On a street with a total of over 100 families, that is a profound event. As a result, the suffering from the war suddenly became something very tangible and near.

Staal presented his design to the residents of Maastricht Street on Friday evening, 4 September 2009, prior to the annual street party. Staal proposed that from now on, the postal address should be Deportation of Sixteen Jewish Families Street.

The street's official name will remain (although name change is part of a possible sequel in due course, but not a must) as it is. Adopting the new, unofficial street name over and over again keeps the memory of the fate of the 16 families alive, both among residents of the street and recipients of their mail.