Quito (Amsterdam)

 restaurant, Second World War 1939-1945

Restaurant with Ecuador cuisine.
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Previously:
Alanya, Turkish restaurant
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Previously ice-cream salon Koco was located here. The owners, Ernst Cahn and Alfred Kohn, defended themselves against German police storming into the salon on February 19, 1941. Several policemen got injured in the fight. The Germans took revenge by arresting 425 Jewish men and sending them to concentration camps. This sparked a protest strike known as the "Februari Strike" of 1941. It was a large-scale protest against the deportations and forced labour in Germany. The strike lasted from February 24 until February 27. A memorial sign on the restaurant translates as follows:

"WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 1941
THIS WAS THE LOCATION OF ICE-CREAM SALON KOCO
OWNERS WERE THE GERMAN-JEWISH FUGITIVES E. CAHN AND A. KOHN
TOGETHER WITH REGULAR CUSTOMERS THEY FORMED A FIGHT-SQUAD THAT OFFERED AN ACT OF REAL RESISTANCE AGAINST THE GERMAN OCCUPATION ON FEBRUARY 19, 1941. FOLLOWING THIS, CAHN WAS ARRESTED AND WAS THE FIRST ONE TO BE CONVICTED IN THE NETHERLANDS. THE EVENT WAS FOLLOWED BY LARGE RAZZIAS ON JEWISH INHABITANTS OF AMSTERDAM ON FEBRUARY 22 AND 23. THE RAZZIA WAS ONE OF THE CAUSES FOR THE FEBRUARY STRIKE THAT STARTED ON FEBRUARY 25, 1941, AS A MASSIVE PROTEST AGAINST DEPORTATION OF JEWISH PEOPLE. REMEMBER THE BATTLE AGAINST NAZISM AND FASCISM!"