I am Dutch, and I always will be proud to be Dutch, but there are some things in my country’s history that really trouble me, even to the extent that it nearly sickens me.
The Dutch bureaucracy is well known to be very efficient, which can be very beneficial, but it can also be destructive and dangerous. The Nazi regime was a great fan of the Dutch civil service and its bureaucracy. It was the efficiency of the system that enabled the Nazis to identify so many of the Dutch Jews, with the result that more than 100,000 Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
The final insult was that the few survivors had to fight to get death certificates issued for their loved ones by going to court. Many of these certificates only came years after the war. The document at the top of the blog is the death certificate of Ernst Otto Lichtenstein, the brother-in-law of Max Baum, a man I have written about before. I passed by his house many times before realizing its historical significance.
Below is another version of the certificate. What is so disturbing about both documents is the lack of information.
All it says is that the district court in Assen is requesting the municipality of Westerbork to register that Ernst Otto Lichtenstein died on a train on transport between Teckoceniwitz (Czechoslovakia) and Oranienburg (Germany) on 5 January 1945. Occupation Butcher. Birthplace Jülich (Germany) born 6 December 1913
The last place of residence was Westerbork.
It fails to mention that he was imprisoned in Westerbork, where he was mistreated, malnourished and who knows what other torments. The forms make it look like he lived in Westerbork as a regular citizen who died on a train journey.
It was Sophie Lichtenstein Baum, the widow of Max Baum, who had to get the certificate issued via the district court for her brother Ernst Otto Lichtenstein.
The certificate was issued on 6 January 1948, three years after the murder of Ernst Otto Lichtenstein.
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Sources
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/358285/max-baum-max-baum
History of Sorts 
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