Johnny and Jones

Amsterdam History Museum is probably one of my favorite place in the whole town - been there many,many times and always loved showing it to my friends and visitors. Besides excellent displays of artifacts collected and discovered through the centuries,it also has very interesting part about WW2 where several "windows" tell the stories about ordinary people caught up in the horrors of war - these were people who lived and breathed in Amsterdam,walked these same streets and died because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. For many years I remember being fascinated with a window where two young musicians Johnny and Jones pictures were displayed,together with recordings of their music.

I am sure what sets Johnny and Jones apart from all the other portraits and history is the fact that we can see their photographs and hear their happy swing music - as opposite to some wealthy 16.century merchant who looks stoney-faced from his portrait,these two guys were real people who actually worked in the famous Bijenkorf department store that still stands on the main square Dam. For many years I always visited their "window" and greeted them like old friends,until recently I made a little research and found out more about them. They were very popular just before the outbreak of the war, were billed as "two guys with a guitar", like many others ended up in concentration together with their wives and perished in the camp.

What makes their story unusual and very interesting is that during the war they actually got documents permitting them to leave the camp and record some music in Amsterdam - they could easily hide somewhere in town but both had returned,probably fearing for their wives. Unfortunately they didn't survive the war and both were killed later at the age of 28,what a tragedy - I found all these informations on the net and was truly touched to the point that one morning I woke up with decision I need to find their recorded music, as I am sure there must be some compilation. Surely enough,I found CD very easily but along the way I discovered two more museums that otherwise I never thought about visiting.I love Johnny and Jones very much and besides very interesting story, they left truly happy swinging music along the lines of Django Reinhardt - you hear these two happy young voices singing along with their sweet accented english and they were truly adorable. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. There is one particular bitter-sweet ballad recorded in Amsterdam 1944 as they walked to recording studio with David's star displayed on their chests,called "Westerbork Serenade" (Westerbork was the name of their concentration camp) and its really melancholic - most of their recorded material is uplifting but this is truly mellow,reflective ballad and with all the guy's clowning the feeling of sadness is audible. I wish somebody makes a movie about them,they should never be forgotten.