ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the memoir of Ruud Beeldsnijder, born in Amsterdam in 1927 to an Afro-Surinamese father and a Jewish-Surinamese mother. It explores his sense of belonging growing up as a secondgeneration Surinamese child in Amsterdam between 1927 and 1950. The analysis uses Nira Yuval-Davis’s concept of belonging and Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson’s idea of emplacement. The chapter focuses on four key themes: the Beeldsnijder family’s social life, his nostalgia for his childhood in Amsterdam, his memories of WWII and Holocaust commemoration, and his political development leading to his involvement in the Dutch Communist Party. These themes illustrate Beeldsnijder’s coming of age and search for identity in both the city and the world.
