De Dokwerker (Dockworker Monument), Amsterdam

Positioned prominently on a small square just outside the Portuguese Synagogue, the Dockworker statue, crafted by Dutch sculptor Mari Andriessen, pays tribute to the laborers of Amsterdam, not limited to dockworkers alone. This poignant monument commemorates the courageous actions of the city's workers during February 1941, when they staged a strike in protest of the Nazi treatment of Amsterdam's Jewish population. The catalyst for this historic strike was a series of arrests and violent pogroms instigated by the Germans in the old Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, in retaliation for the injury of several Dutch police officers during a street skirmish.

Regarded as the first public protest against the Nazi regime in occupied Europe, this subsequent strike was orchestrated by the outlawed Communist Party and led by the city's transportation employees and dockworkers. It endured for a remarkable two days, drawing a staggering 300,000 participants to the streets on February 26. On the third day, the German occupiers brutally suppressed the strike, but its memory lives on through an annual observance on February 25. This somber event includes the laying of wreaths and a procession past the Dockworker statue. Notably, representatives from all political parties, along with the city's public transportation authorities and organizations representing Holocaust survivors, partake in this solemn commemoration.