10_2.25On this day in 1940, the Dutch armed forces surrendered to the Germans. The remaining 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands were terrified of the fate that awaited them, especially German Jews who had sought refuge after Germany became unsafe. By January 1941, Jews were required to be registered in order to be identified and separated from everyone else. However, that February, the Jewish population in Amsterdam sought to protect themselves. When the paramilitary arm — the Defense Division — attacked Jews in Amsterdam, young Jewish men began to fight back; in one incident, a Dutch Nazi was murdered. The Germans were enraged and ordered compliance with the occupation policy.On February 19, a German policeman entered an ice cream shop owned by a German Jewish refugee. He was mistaken for a Dutch Nazi and sprayed with ammonium gas. The owner of the ice cream shop was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to death in retaliation. The government then seized 425 Jews off the streets, and sent them to Buchenwald and then to Mauthausen, where very few survived.The Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) began organizing meetings calling for a general strike. They distributed leaflets that read “Shut down all of Amsterdam for a day!”. On February 25, tram drivers and sanitation crews began to strike, followed by stevedores and factory workers. Offices, shops, and restaurants remained empty all day as, in total, 300,000 people participated. Despite the success of the strike, members of the Jewish Council pleaded with the CPN to stop, fearing that the SS would retaliate with more deportations. The strike lasted for two more days, during which fighting in the streets occurred, killing nine participants. In retaliation, the Germans fired the entire city council, and the following year, Jews were ordered to wear the Star of David so they would be outwardly identifiable.