Adriana Valkenburg was a Dutch prostitute and brothel owner who became one of the most notorious collaborators in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. After initially presenting herself as someone willing to help persecuted Jews find hiding places and escape deportation, she began working with the German-controlled Jewish Affairs Office in 1943.
Using the trust she had gained, Valkenburg lured desperate Jewish families into so-called “Jew traps” — fictitious hiding places and addresses where German authorities could arrest them. In return, she received financial rewards and profited from property confiscated from those she betrayed. By the end of the Second World War, Valkenburg had betrayed around 50 Jews, at least 33 of whom perished during the Holocaust.
After the war, she was arrested and brought before the Special Court of Justice in Amsterdam, where she faced judgment for her wartime crimes.