At Least They Tried: Why the Dutch Failed to Save

At Least They Tried:
Why the Dutch Failed to Save Their Jews During World
War II
Toviya M. Slager
Senior Division
Research Paper
Paper Contains 2,446 Words
1
Synopsis
A single telegram ended the peace. This small piece of paper meant the death of
thousands of people. It was the Nazis’ declaration of war on the Netherlands. One of the most
anti-Semitic regimes in history now occupied a country home to Jews for the last three and a half
centuries. Critics have blamed the large number of Jewish deaths on the lack of Dutch resistance
to the Nazis. However, it was not a lack of moral responsibility amongst the non-Jews, but
insufficient finances in the wake of the Great Depression, and an inability to get food supplies
that caused the decimation of a horrific proportion of Dutch Jews during World War II. The
gentiles attempted to save the Jews, but the cost of hiding them was too high, leaving no other
choice than letting the Jews be deported.
Introduction
The Dutch are famous for resisting the German occupation during World War II. Yad
Vashem has honored more “righteous gentiles” from the Netherlands than any other country in
Europe.1 However, of the approximately 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands, 107,000 were
deported, including those found in hiding. Only 5,000 of those Jews returned from the camps,
and of the Jews in hiding, only 30,000 survived. This meant that 75% of the Dutch Jewish
population was eradicated, the second largest number after Poland (Woolf).
Many question why so few Jews survived while so many people tried to save them. This
paper argues that the limited amount of food and money made hiding Jews too difficult and
expensive for most Dutch citizens, giving them virtually no choice but to let the Jews be
deported.
1
Yad Vashem is an organization that was founded in 1953 in order to honor the gentiles that helped save
the Jews and commemorate the six million Jews that died during the Holocaust (Zborowski).
2
The Buildup
Initially The Netherlands attempted to stay neutral during World War II, as it had been
during the World War I. However, the Nazis still attacked. Their hope for independence was
dashed after Hitler invaded on May 10, 1940. Heavy fighting continued for the next five days.
Only after the Nazis had bombed Rotterdam, and massacred hundreds of soldiers, did the Dutch
surrender. Meanwhile Queen Wilhelmina, the Dutch Royal family, and the cabinet had fled to
England, leaving the government vacant.2 This allowed the Nazis to install a civilian government
of their own choosing, in contrast to the military governments that they installed in other
countries such as Serbia and Poland (Woolf).
At first, the Nazi government was very lenient towards the Dutch population. They saw
them as perfect Aryans and wanted the Netherlands to join Nazi Germany (Woolf). After just
months, however, the Nazis started to pass legislation stripping Jews of their rights. Beginning in
October 1940, every government official was required to sign a document stating that neither he
nor any of his close family members was Jewish. This rule forced almost all Jews out of
government positions (“Jewish Situation under the German occupation of the Netherlands”).
Four months later, in January 1941, the Nazis demanded that all Jews register with the German
authorities. They used this data to map out where all the Jews lived (“Verspreiding Van De
Joden Over De Gemeente (Mei 1941)”).3 The following month, the Nazis sectioned off and
converted part of Amsterdam into a Jewish ghetto. On February 22 and 23, 600 Schutzstaffel
2
This is one of the major differences between the Netherlands, where the second least number of Jews
survived, and Denmark, where the most Jews survived. In Denmark, the Nazis initially allowed King
Christian X and his government to stay in control of their domestic affairs, while Germany would control
Denmark’s foreign policy. The king and the people were openly against the anti-Semitic policies of the
Nazis. They organized boats to take the Jews over to Sweden, placing them out of Nazi reach. This was
one of the reason that only about 120 Jews died of the original 7,500 Jews in Denmark, while in the
Netherlands about 105,000 Jews of the original 140,000 were killed (United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum).
3
See Appendix I
3
(SS) soldiers brutally rounded up 400 young Jewish men and deported them to Buchenwald
concentration camp.4 The Dutch Communist Party, Communistische Partij Nederland, was
dumbfounded by this action and organized a national strike that became known as the February
Strike (Evers-Emden; Musynske).5
The Resistance
The February Strike was by far one of the largest protests against the Nazis in occupied
Europe. It was clear sign of how the Dutch people felt morally obligated to help the Jews in their
country. After the Communist Party announced the strike on February 25, 1941, hundreds of
people stopped working.6 Public transportation quit operating, factories stopped production, and
people left their offices. They collected on the streets as groups to rally against the Germans.7 Of
the 800,000 people living in Amsterdam, 300,000 took part in the February Strike. The protests
spread all over the country and lasted for two days. Then hundreds of SS troops violently
dispersed the protests. They received orders to shoot without warning at anyone who resisted
(Musynske). Although the February Strike accomplished little, it was still the first and only
national demonstration against German occupation and its policies against Jews, and it showed
the willingness of the Dutch citizens to save them (“The 1941 General Strike in the Netherlands:
A protest against Anti-Jewish Round-Ups”).
After the February Strike, the Dutch continued to protest against the Nazis. For example,
teachers throughout the country refused to submit their names for German approval. Artists did
4
The SS troops were a group of elite soldiers whom Hitler used as a type of police force. Very often, they
were sent to round up troops or to break up fights and protests. Later in the war, Hitler also used them as a
battle unit. (“SS”).
5
See appendix II.
6
The first to start the strike were the dockworkers, followed by many other groups of people, including
the doctors who were notably resistant in the war. However, since the Dockworkers were the first to join,
the main monument to remember the February Strike is the Dokwerker, or the Dockworker (L.
Velleman). (See appendix III for image.)
7
See appendix IV.
4
not join the German culture guild even though it meant not being paid for their work. Many men
did not take part in the obligatory Reicharbeitdienst, the German National Work Service.8 The
Dutch police refused to help capture and deport the Jews (Musynske). In 1943, all college
students were required to sign a declaration of loyalty to the Nazis. Eighty five percent refused to
sign and subsequently went underground to avoid deportation (Woolf).
Of all the Dutch, the doctors showed notable resistance to the Nazi rule. The Nazis had
ordered the Dutch doctors to join the German doctors guild. Many doctors refused, because this
meant that they needed to follow their protocols, which included items such as racial screening,
preventing them from treating Jews. They wrote and signed letters asking if the Nazis would give
them the option of not joining the guild. The Nazis refused and a significant number of Dutch
doctors abandoned their practices. Some, however, continued to operate in secret (Musynske).
Resistance became part of everyday Dutch life. People began using the greeting “hallo”
to stand for “hang alle landverraders op,” which means, “hang all traitors,” referring to people
who helped the Nazis (Musynske). They wore Dutch coins on necklaces or as a brooch since
they showed a picture of Queen Wilhelmina. On Prince Bernard’s birthday, many people wore
orange, the color of the Dutch royal family. People would attend German movies in order to boo
at them. The Nazis banned this behavior, and subsequently movie attendance dropped
significantly (Woolf).
Both the Dutch Reformed and Catholic churches supported and even encouraged popular
resistance to the Nazis. They considered it a religious responsibility to save their homeland and
8
Germany created the Reicharbeitdienst, or the German National Work Service, in February 1934, as a
way to lower unemployment in Germany. However, this work force remained a method for people to
serve the Third Reich during the war. These people did practically any job that would benefit the Nazis,
including building roads, draining marshlands, building dykes, harvesting crops, and digging trenches
(Pipes).
5
their fellow neighbors, including the Jews. Pastors sent out letters to members of their church
and held sermons in which they spoke in support of the Resistance (Musynske).
Saving the Jews: A Moral Responsibility
Just as the Dutch tried to resist the Nazis, they tried to save the Jews. Soon after the Nazis
commenced rounding up the Jews, many small, covert groups and organizations materialized
with the goal of saving them. From the many stories and diaries of these people, it is clear that
many of them acted out of a feeling of moral responsibility (Allyson).9
Hiding Jews during the war was very dangerous due to the chance of being caught. The
“onderduik familie,” or hiding family, was responsible for bringing food and needed to go to
multiple stores each day in order to avoid creating any suspicions (Gies). The people in hiding
always needed to stay quiet, lest they reveal their whereabouts (L. Velleman). They took all of
these precautions since people who hid Jews risked being sent to the concentration camps.
Nevertheless, these risks did not prevent many non-Jews from hiding Jews, since they felt
morally obligated to save them (Allyson).
Many examples demonstrate the moral responsibility the Dutch citizens felt towards the
Jews. One unknown hero of World War II was Henry Hulstein. Mr. Hulstein joined the
Committee of Jewish Rescue, a secret organization from his church, and performed many
perilous tasks to help save Jewish families. He held up the Central Distribution Center for ration
cards and the City Hall and the Bureau of Vital Statistics for blank passports. Both feats were
extremely dangerous, but he said that he did them because they were morally right. However, he
did not stop there. He ended up housing between six and nine Jews at his house simultaneously.
Towards the end of the war, he even hid two Allied pilots. He did all of this until the Gestapo
9
Although some saved the Jews for reasons such as money or adventure, most saved the Jews out of a
sense of moral responsibility (L. Velleman, Allyson).
6
caught him and deported him to the concentration camp in Amersfoort. He survived the war, as
did many Jews, because of him.
Another, more famous example is Miep Gies. She and her husband hid Anne Frank, her
family, and a few other Jews. After the war, when people asked her why she hid the Frank
family, she responded: “My decision to help…was because I saw no alternative. I could foresee
many sleepless nights and an unhappy life if I refused. And that was not the kind of failure I
wanted for myself. Permanent remorse about failing to do your human duty, in my opinion, can
be worse than losing your life.” Because she was so afraid of what would happen if she did not
act according to her morals, her only viable option was to save the Franks. She felt responsible
for them to the extent that when the Franks were being deported she even offered to buy them
back. She was a heroine, but there were many others like her.
Historians estimate that more than 50,000 Dutch citizens were active in the Resistance,
while hundreds of thousands more gave smaller forms of assistance, such as providing extra food
or lending a car or wagon for moving Jews from one house to the next. If they were doctors, they
would secretly provide for the medical needs of Jews in hiding. This is an extraordinary number,
considering that only about 100,000 people joined the Nazi party. More than 10,000 Dutch
citizens died for their efforts in saving their Jewish countrymen (Woolf). All these people put
their lives in danger to save the Jews from the Nazis.
Why the Resistance Failed
The problems involved in saving the Jews start with Netherlands’ geography: it is about
16,000 square miles of flat low-lying land with very few forests and no mountains. Escaping the
country was impossible, since to the north, south, and east were Nazi-occupied countries, and to
7
the west was the Nazi-controlled North Sea.10 Additionally, about half of all the Dutch Jews
lived in Amsterdam and had previously registered their religion at the city hall, making it easier
for the Nazis to locate them (“Verspreiding Van De Joden Over De Gemeente (Mei 1941)”;
“Jewish Situation under the German occupation of the Netherlands”).
Initially many Jews did not want to believe things would turn bad that fast. However,
once the Nazis entered Amsterdam, quartered the Jews into the newly made ghetto, and started
the deportations, many Jews did not have time to go into hiding. The Jews that lived outside of
Amsterdam, or managed to escape, ran into another series of problems.
The key issue determining whether Jews in hiding would survive was the availability of a
food supply. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, they instituted a system of food
rationing. At first, non-Jews received a normal number of ration cards, whereas the Jews only
received half. Later, the Jews did not receive any at all (Hulstein). People such as Henry Hulstein
would loot distribution centers to obtain more ration cards in order to feed hidden Jews. Miep
Gies also recalled her husband coming home with illegally obtained ration cards. This was a
particularly difficult and risky way of gaining food. Many people did not have connections to get
them extra ration cards. They looked to a more popular, but far more expensive way of gaining
food: the black market.
The black market was a major but very expensive outlet for gaining extra food to feed
people in hiding. Sam Velleman, a Jew in hiding, recorded the prices of items on the black
10
This is also another stark contrast with Denmark (see footnote 2). Denmark was able to send its Jews
safely across Kattegat since the Nazis did not control it and because the Swedish government accepted the
Jewish refugees. The Dutch, on the other hand, could not send the Jews to England since the Nazis
controlled the North Sea and because the British government did not accept Jewish refugees.
8
market in his diary.11 On March 4, 1945, he wrote the following: “The craziest prices are of
course being asked on the black market, from which you can see that the Gulden has become
worthless. For example, one needs to pay for tobacco ƒ100 per 100 grams, butter ƒ30, fat ƒ40,
meat ƒ7 per metric pound,12 and a box of cigarettes ƒ30.” These prices were extremely high. To
put this into context, the average wage in The Netherlands was ƒ3.71 per day in 1940, the year
before the war (“Europe General Level of Wages”). In other words, 100 grams of tobacco cost
slightly more than a month’s salary.13 Additionally, the general population had not yet fully
recovered from the Great Depression. People would sell many personal treasures, such as family
heirlooms and jewelry, in order to buy food. Those who could not afford the cost, would
occasionally be forced out of hiding. Since only a few wealthy people could survive this way,
many people looked to a last source of food and shelter: the farms.
Numerous Jews fled from Amsterdam to rural farm areas such as Friesland, in the
northern part of The Netherlands. In these areas, many farmers were willing to help the Dutch
resistance. They secretly supplied many families who were hiding Jews with extra food
(Hulstein). Not only was more food available in the rural areas, but hiding was easier. Since
people lived very remotely from each other in the farm areas, Jews did not need to stay as quiet
while hiding. However, the number of hiding places in these areas was limited, so many were
forced to remain in the cities (L.Velleman). In the end, the Resistance was not able to provide
adequate means for many of the Jews to survive the Nazi occupation.
11
Sam Velleman is my great-grandfather. Before the war, he was a well-to-do dealer in old rags and scrap
metals. His wealth is what let him survive in hiding. After the war, Sam was very poor, but immediately
restarted his business.
12
One metric pound is equal to 500g.
13
This was calculated by multiplying the average wage by five days and then by four weeks. The
calculations concluded that the average monthly wage was ƒ74.2.
9
Conclusion
Looking back at the situation the Jews were forced to hide quickly. Those who did not go
into hiding or were unable to find a place were the first to be deported. Once in hiding, they
needed to acquire food. They either had to try to find a way to get more ration cards, buy food on
the black market, or find a hiding place in the countryside. Most of the Jews who hid in the
countryside survived the war. However, most of the Jews who hid in the cities were deported,
not because of a lack of moral responsibility on the part of the non-Jews, but because there was
not enough money for food to keep themselves hidden.
On the other hand, as the Nazis started to take away rights from the Jews, the non-Jews
realized they had a moral responsibility to help them. They did everything within their power to
save them. They were the only country to hold a national strike against the Nazi occupation.
They also showed much resistance on a day-to-day basis in the way they dressed and greeted
each other. As the Nazis started to round up Jews, the non-Jews quickly tried to hide them, only
to realize that many could not afford to keep them hidden. In the end, the country that showed so
much resistance would lose 75 percent of its Jews in the five years following that single telegram
sent on May 10, 1940.
10
Appendix I
The Bureau of Statistics of Amsterdam made this map in order to keep track
of where the Jews lived. Each black dot represents 10 Jews. ("Verspreiding Van De
Joden Over De Gemeente (Mei 1941).")
11
Appendix II
This is a monument in memory of
the February Strike of 1941. The
plaque describes how the
Communist Party of the Netherlands
organized a strike against the
deportation of Dutch Jews. It is
located on the Noorderkerk in
Amsterdam. Photo taken by Anneke
Moerenhout.
Here is my translation of the sign:
Monday February 24, 1941,
At 6 o’clock at night,
Members of the then forbidden
Communist Party of the Netherlands
Spoke to 250 fellow citizens.
They called out for a protest
Against the deportation of 400 Amsterdam Jews
By the occupying Germans.
The next morning
The February Strike broke out.
12
Appendix III
The Dokwerker, or Dockworker, is the most famous monument in memory
of the February Strike. It represents a dockworker since they were the first to start
the protest. It stands in the heart of the old Jewish neighborhood in Amsterdam,
next to the Spanish Portuguese synagogue. Picture taken by Maurice Mol.
13
Appendix IV
This is an image of the February Strike of 1941. It shows people standing in
the street after they have stopped work in order to protest against the Nazis. This
strike continued for three days until the Nazis brutally ended it on the third day.
This was the only national strike against the Nazis during World War II. Picture is
in the possession of NIOD.
14
Works Cited
Primary
"Europe General Level of Wages." Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1935-1954. International
Labour Office, N.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. Www.hab3045.nl/wages.htm This is a table with
the average wage of people living in different European countries between the years 1927
and 1946. When compared to the prices of the black market, these statistics show how
disproportionally high the prices truly were. I quote the statistics about the average wage
in the Netherlands during 1940.
Gies, Miep. "Hiding the Franks." Interview. Scholastics. Scholastic Inc, May 1997. Web. 31 Oct.
2013. <http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/tscripts/miep.htm>. This is an interview with
Miep Gies. She and her husband, who died in 1994, hid the Franks during World War II.
She describes her motives for hiding them and strategies that she used to prevent getting
caught. She was interviewed by students who were interested in her story. I quote her in
my paper.
Hulstein, Geesje, and Hendrikus Johannes. "True "Righteous Gentile" Story from World War II."
Amazing True Story of Righteous Gentiles Henry Hulstein and Grace Hulstein. Bible
Probe, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. This is the story of Henry Hulstein written by his
children. He was a non-Jew who saved many Jews during World War II. He was also
very active in the resistance committee of his church. This gave me insights into reasons
why people saved the Jews and the interaction between the Jews and non-Jews. This also
mentions other aspects of the war through the eyes of a Dutch citizen who was anti-Nazi.
I mention his story in my paper.
15
Moerenhout, Anneke. Februaristaking Monument. N.d. Photograph. Amsterdam.
TracesofWar.com. STIWOT. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
<http://nl.tracesofwar.com/artikel/157/>. I used this picture to verify my other sources. It
is a monument with a short description of how the February Strike started. The text on
the monument is written in Dutch, which I translated. I used this information in my paper
and included it in appendix II.
Mol, Maurice. The Dock Worker Monument. 2008. Photograph. Amsterdam. The Information
Portal to European Sites of Remembrance. 2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. This is a picture of
the Dokwerker in Amsterdam. It is the most famous memorial for the February Strike of
1941. I use it in appendix III.
Street Scene during the February Strike. 1941. Photograph. Image Bank WW2 – NIOD,
Amsterdam. The Information Portal to European Sites of Remembrance. Web. 31 Oct.
2013. This is a picture of what the streets looked like during the February Strike. I used
this source to help myself visualize what the February Strike looked like. I included it in
appendix IV.
Velleman, Lou. "Interview with Opa Lou." Personal Interview. 3 Nov. 2013. This was an
interview with my grandfather, Lou Velleman. He was born in 1935 and remembers
going through the war as a young boy. This was not a formal interview. He was helping
me find a topic for my History Day project while telling me personal accounts and
recollections. I use pieces of information that he told me throughout my paper.
Velleman, Sam. Dairy Entry. Trans. Toviya Slager. 25 Dec. 1942. Private Collection. This is a
page from my great grandfather’s diary, which he wrote throughout the war. In this entry,
16
Sam Velleman describes the kindness of the people who were hiding him. They had
invited them to join their Christmas meal. He mentions how they drank wine and talked
late into the night. I used this entry to help me understand the type of kindness that the
non-Jews showed the Jews.
Velleman, Sam. Dairy Entry. Trans. Toviya Slager. 27 Dec. 1942. Private Collection. In this
entry Sam Velleman speaks about the extreme cost of hiding. This gave an insight into
how expensive it was to go into hiding.
Velleman, Sam. Dairy Entry. Trans. Toviya Slager. 4 March. 1945. Private Collection. In this
entry, Sam Velleman describes how expensive food has become and how he feels about
the current Dutch situation. I translated a quote from this day’s entry and used it in the
paper.
"Verspreiding Van De Joden Over De Gemeente (Mei 1941)." Map. Amsterdam: Bureau Van
Statisteik Der Gemeente Amsterdam, 1941. N. pag. Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam. Web. 22
Nov. 2013. <http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/nl/kinderen/over-deoorlog/digitale_expo/topstukken/topstukken,stippenkaart>. This is a map that the Nazis
drew depicting where all the Jews were living. I used this in appendix I.
Zborowski, Eli. "The History of the American Society for Yad Vashem." American Society for
Yad Vashem | THE HOLOCAUST MARTYRS' AND HEROES' REMEMBRANCE
AUTHORITY. American Society for Yad Vashem, N.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. This is a
short history of Yad Vashem. It is written by the founding chairman, Eli Zborowski. I use
this source for footnote 1.
17
Secondary
Allyson, Jane. "The Dutch Resistance Movement during World War Ii." Humanities 360. Helium
Inc., 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. This source is gave me another view on the
amount of resistance the Dutch showed. I used this to help support my idea that the Dutch
were very resistant and tried to save the Jews. The website this article came from,
“Humanities 360”, is aimed at providing articles and information about all aspects within
the field of Humanities.
Evers-Emden, Bloeme, Dr. "Hiding Jewish Children during World War II: The Psychological
Aftermath." Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs. Jewish Political Studies Review, 01
Mar. 2007. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. This source gave me insight into the physiological
aftermath of World War II on Jewish survivors. I used this source to help me understand
understand how the Jews thought during World War II and how difficult it was for them
to send ones children away into hiding. This source is credible since it was written by a
university professor who is well known in the field of physiological effects of World War
II.
"Jewish Situation under the German Occupation of The Netherlands." Humboldt State
University, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.humboldt.edu/rescuers/book/Strobos/Conditions.Holland.html>. This paper
gave me a detailed insight into why so many Dutch Jews died in the Holocaust. It lists
many examples of Dutch protest against the Nazis, and ways they attempted to save the
Jews. I use information from this source throughout the paper.
18
Junz, Helen B. Report on the Pre~War Wealth Position of the Jewish Population in NaziOccupied Countries, Germany, and Austria. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. William J Clinton
Library. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/storage/Research%20%20Digital%20Library/holocaust/Holocaust%20%20PCHA%20Secondary%20Sources/Box%20108%20(folders%201-14)/956078selections-from-books-and-other-publications-5.pdf>. This source gave me new insights
into the Jewish financial status before the second World War. This report helped me in
my conclusion that the financial status of Jews before the war was too dire for them to be
able to buy their way through the war. This source includes the financial status of many
other countries. However, I only used the sections that involved the Netherlands. I
included this as a secondary source since it uses primary sources to make its conclusions.
Musynske, Gavin. "Dutch Citizens Resist Nazi Occupation, 1940-1945." Ed. Max Rennebohm.
Global Nonviolent Action Database. Swarthmore College, 09 Nov. 2009. Web. 30 Oct.
2013. This source puts the whole resistance into context. It gives a detailed description of
different ways the Dutch resisted the Nazis. It also gave many reasons why the Dutch
failed at saving the Jews in their country and helped me understand more clearly what
happened. I used this source throughout the my paper.
Pipes, Jason. "Reicharbeitdienst." Feldgrau. Feldgrau, 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. This article is
about the Reicharbeitdienst. It gives a detailed history of the labor force and describes the
types of tasks they did. The website is managed by a group of researchers who are
unaffiliated with any organization so that they can be as unbiased as possible. I used this
mainly for footnote 4.
19
“SS.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Inc., Web. 04 Dec. 2013. This is an article with a detailed description of the SS soldiers.
It was written and published by a credible source. I mainly used it for footnote 4.
"The 1941 General Strike in the Netherlands: A Protest against Anti-Jewish Round-Ups."
International Tracing Service. International Tracing Service, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
This source told the story of the February Strike. I used it to verify my other sources and
to gain other minor details of the strike that other sources left out. This source has many
useful statistics about both the Dutch resistance and the Dutch Jews. I use this source
throughout my paper.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Denmark." United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 10 June 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
This source gave me insight into how Denmark saved their Jews. I wanted to know how
they did this since they managed to save almost all of their Jews. This is a stark contrast
to the Netherlands who only managed to save a quarter of its Jewish population, although
both had a very strong resistance. I mention this comparison throughout the paper in
multiple footnotes.
Van Der Boom, Bart. "Hebben Wij Nederlanders Es Gewusst?" Universiteit Van Nederland.
Universiteit Leiden, Leiden. Universiteit Van Nederland. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. In this
lecture, Professor Bart van der Boom talks about how the Dutch population never truly
knew about the death camps. During his talk, he explains different motivations people
had for hiding. I used this source mainly to understand the reasons behind why the Jews
20
decided to hide. The information he brings is very reliable since he continuously cites
first-hand accounts and since he is a history professor at the University of Leiden.
Van Der Boom, Bart. "Waarom Werden Er Zoveel Joden Uit Nederland Gedeporteerd?"
Universiteit Van Nederland. Universiteit Leiden, Leiden. Universiteit Van Nederland.
Web. 27 Apr. 2014. In this lecture, Professor Bart van der Boom discusses different
reasons why so many Dutch Jews were deported during the war. I used this talk mainly to
understand the other opinions about why The Netherlands lost so many Jews. He does not
bring down my reason that the limited amount of food and money caused the large loss of
Dutch Jews, but he does bring other information that was relevant to the "Resistance"
part of my paper. He is a reliable source since throughout his lecture he quotes personal
diaries of many different types of people (Jews, non-Jews, religious, non-religious, etc.).
He is a history professor at the University of Leiden.
Van Der Boom, Bart. "Wat Vonden Gewone Nederlanders Van De Jodenvervolging?"
Universiteit Van Nederland. Universiteit Leiden, Leiden. Universiteit Van Nederland.
Web. 27 Apr. 2014. In this lecture, Professor Bart van der Boom speaks about the Dutch
response to the deportation of Jews. He brings down a few diaries of non-Jews who did
not understand why the Germans wanted to round up the Jews at all. He also brings down
a few diaries written by Dutch Jews that shows how the Dutch non-Jews were very kind
and supportive during the German occupation. This source gave me a detailed insight into
the minds of the Dutch at the time of the Nazi occupation. This source is reliable since it
is based almost completely on first-hand accounts. He is a history professor at the
University of Leiden.
21
Woolf, Linda M., Ph.D. "Survival and Resistance: The Netherlands Under Nazi Occupation."
Lecture. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C. 6 Apr. 1999.
Webster University. Webster University, 6 Apr. 1999. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. This is one of
the main sources I used to write this paper. It is full of useful, statistical facts about the
Jews in the Netherlands during World War II. It gives many examples of how they were
resistant and how they helped the Jews. This is a reliable source since she has a Ph. D. in
history. I use information from this source frequently throughout the paper.