History of Sorts

All the children in the above photograph could easily still be alive. They would be in their 80s and 90s now. They were seen as an enemy of the state. I can’t say this for certain but given the fact that 75% of all Dutch Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, it is safe to assume that at least 75% of these children were murdered.

They were looked after by the the Out-of-School Youth Care, set up by the Jewish council in the Netherlands.

An enemy of the state. Whose state?

They were no threat to the Netherlands.

These are some definitions of the enemy:
“A person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.
“the traditional enemies of his tribe”

“A hostile nation or its armed forces, especially in time of war.”

“A thing that harms or weakens something else.”

None of these definitions apply to any of these children, or any child for that matter, nor did they apply to their teachers.

It was the actual enemy of the state who declared these children enemies. What burdens and sickens me, at times, is that so many of my Dutch fellow men and women, maybe even some of my family, did nothing or very little to save these children. They weren’t enemies—they were children of neighbours and friends.

Enemy of the State. How? Why?

I know the answer is because the Nazis had this assumption that one day these children would take revenge and make the regime accountable. This means one thing and one thing only—The Nazis knew what they were doing was criminal. Otherwise, they would have had nothing to fear.

You are not my enemy. You are my conscience. You are my drive to tell the stories of those who no longer can.

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