From 15 December 2022 through 31 December 2023, Amsterdamse School Museum De Dageraad presents an exhibition about underground publishing house 'De Telg'.
One of De Dageraad's storefront spaces used to house Uitgeverij De Telg. This publishing house originated during World War II and played an important role in the Dutch resistance. This involved Jewish residents in particular, including former alderman Wim Polak and his wife Bea Biet, photographer Sem Presser and artist Leo Schatz.
Between 1920 and 1940, the shops in De Dageraad housed many businesses such as a drugstore, a butchery, a homeopathic pharmacy and a tobacco shop. In 1942, a Reading Library settled in the shop on Burgemeester Tellegenstraat, next to the current Museum De Dageraad. Two residents of De Dageraad, Henk Harkink and Wim Polak, took the initiative. In the library, mainly Jewish residents came to borrow books that were no longer allowed elsewhere. The Reading Library was named after Burgemeester Tellegenstraat and called De Telg. One of the two partners, Wim Polak, however, soon had to go into hiding. In The Hague, he started a clandestine publishing house with other Amsterdam Jews. With the income from the sale of booklets, primarily children's books, they were able to support a large group of people in hiding. After the war, the publishing house became legal under the name De Telg and the Reading Library became the publisher's office.
The exhibition covers resistance activities, such as the distribution of illegal and clandestine publications, including the newspaper Het Parool. Publications from publisher De Telg are also on display. The exhibition will be on display until 31 December 2023 at Museum De Dageraad.
Museum De Dageraad
Burgemeester Tellegenstraat 128
1073 KG Amsterdam
