They had a choice- They chose evil.

In this blog I will be addressing the issue of some of the so called Jewhunters, in the Netherlands. The main reason why they did what they did, wasn’t really because of some political ideology, their motive was much more simpler then that, it was greed.

Johannes Hendrik Feldmeijer was a Dutch Nazi politician, a member of the NSB. He was tasked with establishing and commanding the Nederlandsche SS.

The picture above is of a meeting of the Germanic SS in the Netherlands ,aka the Nederlandsche SS. Feldmeijer, sitting at the far left on the front row, and some of the members are listening to a speech by Rauter,the highest SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands,.To his right: Jan jansonius, Peter Kooymans, Jan van Efferen and Leo Broersen. In the second row, next to Wim Heubel, a number of notorious Jew hunters, namely Kees Kaptein, an unknown individual , Johan Meijer and Abraham Kaper, Head of the Jewish Affairs Bureau in Amsterdam.

This man may have a comedic appearance (ironically he has a similar hairstyle as a current Dutch politician), but make no mistake about it. This man was pure evil only driven by greed.

Wim Henneicke was part of the group of bounty hunters called Colonne Henneicke. He betrayed and robbed Jews; between 8,000 and 9,000 Jews were betrayed by the group in 1943. Towards the end of the war, he began to pass the names of other collaborators and infiltrators within the resistance to members of the resistance, probably in the hope of building friendly contacts with the resistance. Henneicke, however, did not live to see the end of the war. On December 8, 1944, he left his home in Amsterdam in the morning and was shot dead by an unknown member of the Amsterdam resistance .

He and his team would received a reward of 7.5 Dutch guilder, which translates into €42 or $50in today’s currency. The receipt below is for the reward of betraying 5 Dutch Jews.

I came across this film which was made by Harry Swaab. The film is about the daily life of fourteen Jewish people in hiding (the Swaab, Robinski and Hess families) on the third floor above nightclub Alcazar at 5 Thorbeckeplein in Amsterdam. They received help from Dirk Vreeswijk, owner of Alcazar, and his family. The movie was made in 1942-1943. Harry Swaab, one of the people in hiding and initiator for making the film, later said that the people in hiding made the film to combat boredom. The film shows the daily life of the people in hiding. That daily life included hiding oneself in case of danger. The hiding period lasted from mid-1942 to April 1943. They were betrayed and the Nazis raided the building with the help of Dutch Jew hunters from the Kolonne Henneicke at the end of April 1943. All those in hiding were arrested except for Leo Hess and Harry Swaab. It is fascinating to see how they dealt with daily life, even how to deal with intimacies.

Just after the war, Harry Swaab made a version with intertitles that explain the film. A “prologue” was also made with exterior shots of Rembrandtplein. These films are in the possession of the Jewish Historical Museum.

The following people appear in the film:
Greenheart, Bep (1922)
Gunther, Klara (1912-2005)
Hess, ..
Hess, Gerda
Hess, Leo
Robinski, Henric
Robinski, Jacob (1881-1943)
Robinski, Katjac
Robinski-Joseph, Ida Hedwig (1884-1943)
Swaab, Harry (1914-2005)
Swaab, Milly (1912-1994)
Swaab, Sophia (1908-1974)
Swaab, Truus (1912-1971)
Vreeswijk, Dirk (1891-1965)
Vreeswijk-van Schaik, Marie (1898-1979)
Period
mid 1942 – April 1943