Stolpersteine laid in Amsterdam in memory of the family of Holocaust survivor and classmate of Anne Frank, Nanette Blitz König

In Amsterdam on 21 April 2026 at an Anne Frank House-hosted event, Stolpersteine were laid in memory of the family of Holocaust survivor and classmate of Anne Frank, Nanette Blitz-König (aged 97). The stones were installed in front of Van Baerlestraat 58, the last place the family freely lived before they fell victim to Nazi terror. On 29 September 1943, they were arrested by the Nazis and later deported to concentration camps via the transit camp, Westerbork. Nanette was then taken to Bergen-Belsen from where she was liberated by the British Army on 15th April 1945.

Four stones were laid:

• Martijn Willem Blitz (father)
  
  
• Helene Victoria Blitz-David (mother)

• Bernard Martijn Blitz (brother)
  
  
• Nanette Blitz König

Judith holds up a picture of Nanette and her brother Bernard, and Martin holds up a picture of Nanette.

A large crowd had gathered to witness the laying of the stones and to hear speeches from family members who had travelled from across the world to be present. Others attending included: Melissa Müller, biographer of Anne Frank; Holocaust educator and Generation2Generation speaker John Wood whose father Lt-Col Leonard Berney was among those who liberated Nanette from Bergen-Belsen; Ronald Leopold, executive director of Anne Frank House, Amsterdam; representatives of Anne Frank House UK and Anne Frank House Brazil; representatives of the Stolpersteine organisation in Amsterdam; Anne Geerse from the ABN AMRO Art and Heritage Foundation; and Liesbeth Heenk, publisher of Nanette's memoir, 'Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen survivor. Classmate of Anne Frank (2018)' as well as other members of Nanette's family.

Judith Arato, John Wood, Martin Konig

The event was also being live broadcast, and watching online were several other members of Nanette's family including Nanette's eldest daughter Elizabeth Helene Kahn who collaborated on a book with Melissa Müller entitled, “Mit dir steht die Welt nicht still' ('With You, the World Keeps Turning - A Story of Love After the Holocaust') that tells her parents' love story from which one learns so much more about the Blitz family. Elizabeth is also the creator of www.foreverafterproject.org, the educational non-profit organization that amplifies voices and stories of survivors and descendants of Holocaust survivors around the world. 

Van Baerlestraat 58, Amsterdam

Sadly, Nanette who lives in São Paulo, Brazil was not able to attend.

Speakers at the ceremony were Martin Joseph Konig (son) who led the event, Judith Marion Arato (daughter) and Judith's son, Thomas Arato (grandson) who spoke for his aunt, Elizabeth Kahn.

Martin Konig said: “Today, we return my mother and her family to the street where their lives were once lived openly and without fear. These stones ensure that their names are not lost to history, but remain part of the city’s living memory. My mother survived to tell her story; her parents and brother did not. We lay these Stolpersteine not only in remembrance of them, but as a quiet, enduring call to conscience for future generations.”

Ronald Leopold, Martin Konig, Levien Rouw, Josephine de Man, Judith Arato

Attendees then visited the Anne Frank House where Levien Rouw, General Coordinator of International Activities in the Department of Education, delivered a talk about Anne in the garden behind the building, followed by a tour of the museum.

For more information, please contact:

John Wood
johnalexwood@gmail.com
+44 7771 52000