Metamorfoze, the national programme for the preservation of Dutch paper heritage, will completely subsidize the digitization of the archives of the Dutch Diamond Workers Union (ANDB). This will make a part of the Dutch trade union history widely accessible, but the history of the ANDB is also an important episode in the narrative of Jewish Amsterdam, as the rank and file of the Diamond Workers Union consisted largely of Jewish socialists.
Besides the usual administrative documents and minutes of meetings, this archive contains many striking 'documents humains’ such as membership cards with biographical information and passport photos from the beginning of the Second World War, or joyful postcards from vacationing members sent to Chairman Henri Polak.
In 1894 the ANDB was the first modern trade union and the initiator of the foundation of the federation of trade unions NVV, now FNV. The archive also contains many documents from the period before the establishment of the ANDB.
The project, applied for and executed by the IISH, will start in January 2016 and has a term of 51 months.
https://socialhistory.org/en/news/archive-dutch-diamond-workers-goes-di…