Video: 'The World at War: Occupation: Holland - 1940-1944 (18 of 26)' (February Strike at 14:20)

(Tuesday, February 25, 1941; during the era of The Holocaust, part of World War II) — The February Strike, a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands organized by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defense of persecuted Dutch Jews, began today following a series of arrests and pogroms held by the Germans in the Jewish neighborhood of Jodenbuurt in Amsterdam.

The strike lasted for two days; on Feb. 26, 300,000 people joined it. The strike was harshly suppressed by the Germans after three days.

The February Strike is considered to be the first public protest against the Nazis in occupied Europe, and the only mass protest against the deportation of Jews to be organized by non-Jews.