The title of this blog is a question I have often asked myself. Why did the Dutch not stop the Nazis from persecuting and murdering the Jews? It is also a question I will attempt to answer—at least to an extent.
The Dutch are often known for their pragmatism, directness, and openness. They value honesty and tend to communicate in a non-bs but straightforward manner. The Dutch culture also places a strong emphasis on individuality and self-reliance. Additionally, the Dutch are known for their tolerance and liberal attitudes, particularly concerning social issues. So why did they tolerate the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews?
A part of the answer lies within a single event—this is not a scientific fact, but to me, it makes sense.
Two major raids took place in the Amsterdam Jewish Quarter on February 22 and 23, 1941. In broad daylight, four hundred Jewish men were arrested and taken to the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, where public abuse and humiliation followed. The Nazis deported 389 of them via the Schoorl Transit Camp to Buchenwald and Mauthausen Concentration Camps.
The raids caused a wave of outrage in Amsterdam. The underground Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN), banned by the Nazis in 1940, saw no other option than organizing a mass strike. During a meeting with four hundred Amsterdam leading resistance officials, the plan took shape: a jointly formulated strike pamphlet had to persuade as many workers as possible to stop work for two days.
The strike began on February 25, 1941, in Amsterdam and spread a day later to the Zaanstreek, Haarlem, Velsen, Hilversum, and the city of Utrecht and the immediate surroundings. It was the first large-scale resistance action against the Nazis in Europe—in fact, it would be the largest.
It would also be the last public mass act of resistance because the Nazis put down the February strike so mercilessly. From then on, the resistance organizations continued their fight against the occupier, mainly underground. Ultimately, the Nazis killed nine strikers, 24 were seriously injured, and many captured.
The participating cities were imposed sky-high fines by the Germans, Amsterdam as much as fifteen million guilders. Its mayor Willem de Vlugt was also dismissed and replaced by the Dutch Nazi Edward Voûte. The Nazis actively hunted CPN members for organizing the strike and other resistance leaders. Several of them were shot or murdered in a concentration camp.
It must have instilled so much fear into the general population that they would make a decision to turn a blind eye. They did not realize that doing that made them complacent in the murder of 75% of Jews living in the Netherlands. I am not accusing anyone because, in all honesty, I do not know what I would have done.
The people did turn a blind eye. However, that didn’t mean they didn’t see. Some people took photographs of raids and arrests, which easily could have led to severe punishments.
Sources
History of Sorts 
Leave a comment