She Betrayed 50 People to Nazis—Then Her Own Sister Betrayed Her

The German occupation of the Netherlands began in May 1940. Within days, the Dutch army had surrendered, and the country entered five years of occupation. Anti-Jewish restrictions followed, and from 1942, deportations carried thousands of Dutch Jews through Westerbork to camps including Auschwitz and Sobibor. While members of the Dutch resistance helped families find hiding places and escape routes, others chose collaboration. Among them was Adriana “Jeanne” Valkenburg, an Amsterdam brothel owner already well known to the police before the war. Her story, however, was complicated. Her Jewish partner, Jacob Acohen, was arrested before they could marry and sent to Mauthausen, where he died. Valkenburg subsequently began helping persecuted Jews find hiding places and escape routes, while demanding substantial payments for her assistance. By the spring of 1943, Valkenburg had come to the attention of the German Sicherheitsdienst. Faced with arrest, she agreed to cooperate with the German-controlled Jewish Affairs Office. Using the trust she had established, she directed people towards false hiding places where they could be arrested. These addresses became known as “Jew traps”. Valkenburg received payments for successful arrests and benefited from property confiscated from those she betrayed. She also worked with collaborators including Pieter Schaap and maintained contacts within the German security apparatus. By the end of the war, Valkenburg was estimated to have betrayed around 50 Jews; at least 33 did not survive the Holocaust. Arrested in March 1945, she faced a Special Court of Justice after liberation. Her original sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and subsequently reduced. She was released in January 1960 after spending nearly fifteen years in prison. This documentary examines Adriana Valkenburg’s path from Amsterdam’s criminal underworld to collaboration, while exploring resistance, persecution and betrayal in the occupied Netherlands. Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of the World History channel. We do not accept promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as: race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation. World History has the right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate. #AdrianaValkenburg #worldwar2videos #ww2history #holocaustdocumentary #historydocumentary #dutchresistance #holocausteducation #holocaustdocumentary #luftwaffe #mauthausen #auschwitzbirkenau #sobibor #ww2resistance #warcriminals #warcrimes #netherlandshistory #concentrationcamps #ww2stories #thirdreich Adriana Valkenburg biography, Adriana Valkenburg and Peter Schaap, Dutch resistance, German bombing of Rotterdam, Dutch resistance WW2, Battle of Netherlands, Dutch resistance movie, Dutch underground, Dutch resistance members, Dutch resistance to Nazism, Dutch resistance to Hitler, Dutch Jews Auschwitz, Dutch Jews Sobibor, Westerbork transit camp, Westerbork concentration camp, Netherlands World War 2, Netherlands WW2, Holland WW2, Dutch WW2, Amsterdam WW2, Amsterdam World War 2, When did Germany invade Netherlands, When did Germany invade Holland, German occupation of the Netherlands, German occupation of Holland, Amsterdam during WWII, Amsterdam during WW2, Amsterdam during World War 2, World War 2 in the Netherlands, Holocaust collaborators, Dutch collaborators explained, Dutch WW2 war criminals, Netherlands concentration camps, Concentration camps in the Netherlands, Concentration camps in holland, Dutch Jewry, Deportation Holocaust, Nazi women, Women in the Third Reich, Women in Nazi Germany, Buchenwald concentration camp, February strike 1941 Netherlands, Holocaust in the Netherlands, Concentration camps in Netherlands, German SD, Dolle Dinsdag Mad Tuesday,