Holland’s Hecatomb: The Holocaust

Mike Warren
History 375
March 24, 2008
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I hear the ever approaching thunder...

- Anne Frank

Holland has long been known as a peaceful and democratic nation, similar

to other countries in Europe. Holland was one of the many European countries

under Nazi occupation during the Second World War, and was subjected to the

Holocaust. However, while other neighbouring countries were struggling in the

same way Holland was, a strange phenomenon took place. During the Holocaust

no other Western European country had a higher deportation and murder rate of

Jews to total Jews in the country than Holland did. Of the approximately 140,000

Jews in Holland before Nazi occupation began, only 35,000 were still alive in 1945.

This paper will discuss this interesting phenomenon. While there are logical

explanations that begin to unravel this mystery, there are many countless

variables when trying to decipher why a higher percentage of Jews died in

Holland than anywhere else.

In this discussion the author assumes basic knowledge of the Holocaust, as

certain basic facts will not be discussed. The scope of this discussion will be

focused on Holland, and any comparisons made to the Holocaust outside of

Holland will be done so in regards to Western Europe only. For purposes of this

argument, the Holocaust in Eastern Europe will be ignored, with the exception of

discussing Auschwitz and the deportation of Western European Jews. Dutch

nationals as well as foreigners and refugees in Holland will be encapsulated in this

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paper. Finally, when discussing why the murder rate was the highest in Holland,

resistance, concentration, seizure, and deportation will be analyzed and

considered.

While the numbers of deported and murdered were higher and different

than the other Western European countries, there were a number of similarities in

the occupation of Holland. Anti-Jewish laws were passed, much like the

Nuremburg laws in Germany1. This was similar to laws passed in France shortly

after the surrender in June 1940. There were other familiar elements in Holland

under Nazi rule, like

“intelligence gathering, the creation of an illegal press, the

fomenting of strikes, the organization of escape routes, and help
for those evading forced labour and persecution2.”

In dissecting what was different about Holland during the occupation, it becomes

important to identify similarities. The idea is to determine subtle or obvious

differences that may help explain the reason behind the high rate of deportation

and murder.

At the time the occupation began, there were 140,000 Jews in Holland, of

which about 35,000 were foreign. Most of these stateless Jews were “undesirable”

1
Benjamin H. Cassutto, The Dutch Christians in the Netherlands and their effects on Jewish Identity,
Retrieved March 16, 2008 from www.yadvashem.com.
2
Dick van Galen Last, The Netherlands, in Bob Moore (ed.), Resistance In Western Europe (New York:
Oxford Press, 2000), p. 189.
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German Jews3. Unlike other countries in Western Europe, Holland was ruled

under civil administration. Government officials, including the royal family, had

fled the country when the occupation began, leaving the country to be run fully by

the Nazi’s. In other countries there was more reliance on government

collaboration, like in France for example. This is a definitive factor in why the rates

of murder and deportation were higher in Holland.

Holland had a physical geography that was very undesirable to resistance.

With less opportunity or availability for resistance or escape, Dutch Jews and

refugee Jews in Holland were at a greater risk of being rounded up than in other

countries. Unlike some of the other Western European countries under

occupation, Holland had no mountains and little to no forested areas. Nazi

officials could be anywhere in the country in a matter of hours4. Also, because of

the density of the population within the country, there were little places to hide or

attempt to organize any resistance.

While it could be argued that other countries under Nazi occupation like

Denmark or Belgium had similar geographical obstacles, Holland had more

problems and obstacles in many ways. Unlike some other western occupied

countries, Holland did not have a border with a neutral country. The topography

allowed for virtually no maquis or partisan movement like in other western

3
Hannah Arendt, Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report On The Banality Of Evil (New York: Viking Press,
1963), p. 167.
4
Louis de Jong, The Netherlands and Nazi Germany (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990), p. 31.
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countries5. The water areas around Holland also became a major barrier. The coast

along Holland was heavily fortified by the German Navy. Dutch Jews were unable

to escape by boat, unlike Denmark where thousands of people were able to travel

by sea reach Sweden, a neutral and safe place6. Other countries also had access to

certain air support of supplies and food during Nazi occupation. Because of

stringent fortifications, Holland was had little outside help. With escape routes

limited, and no suitable way for Jews to get out, or help to get in, it became very

difficult to avoid the Nazi war machine. It’s important to link these geographical

features of Holland with the rates of deportation in the country.

“The geographic situation of Holland and the nature of the

German administration installed there favored the destructive
work. Extraordinary efforts on the parts of the Jews and the
Dutch would have been required to change these odds, and the
Jews were incapable of concerted counteraction7.”

A factor that can also be attributed to Holland’s inability to organize or

escape was the surprise invasion of Holland. Part of the lightning war, the Nazi’s

did not even declare war before rolling in tanks in May 1940. The Dutch had no

Maginot line like in France, and were unable to organize or deploy any sort of

significant resistance8. The Dutch army that met the Nazi’s were obviously

outnumbered and outgunned. The argument is that if the Dutch people had more

5
Galen Last, The Netherlands, p. 189.
6
Galen Last, The Netherlands, p. 190.
7
Raul Hilberg, The Destruction Of European Jews, Third Edition, Volume II (London: Yale University
Press, 2003), p. 631.
8
M.R.D. Foot, European Resistance to Nazism 1940-45 (New York: McGraw Hill, 1977), p. 260.
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time to prepare for the invasion, numerous things could have taken place that may

have eventually saved numbers of Jews from being killed. With more time, Jews

and citizens in general could have planned escape or hiding options, or had more

time to organize some sort of guerrilla resistance9.

There is some evidence show that Nazi techniques in rounding up and

deporting Jews was more effective in Holland than in other countries in Western

Europe. In Holland the Nazi’s had a ruthless administration that became a

“catastrophic factor in the situation for the Jews10.” Many members of the

administration were Austrian, and the Propaganda Minister Goebbels had

expressed admiration of their abilities in the treatment of subject peoples. This was

unlike Norway, where there was a puppet regime in place11. In France the Nazi’s

had a similar political plan in place, employing fewer Nazi’s and depending more

on domestic regimes. In Denmark the Nazi presence could not have been the same

extent as in Holland as thousands of people, including Jews, were able to escape.

Confiscation of property and deportations of Jews were uncommonly thorough

against the Jews in Holland12. The pressure of the Nazi collection of Jews is almost

certainly linked to the rates of deportation.

9
M.R.D. Foot, European Resistance, p. 261.
10
Hilberg, European Jews, p. 601.
11
Hilberg, European Jews, p. 601.
12
Pieter Lagrou, The Legacy Of Nazi Occupation In Western Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999), p. 76.
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Along with the pressure exerted by the Nazi’s, there were many other

factors that made the uprooting and deportation process easier in Holland than in

other countries in the west. It was easier for Jews to be identified in Holland as

there were concentrations or pockets in urban places. 80,000 Jews, more than half

the total of 140,000 Jews, lived in Amsterdam alone13. With an urban area so

concentrated with Jews, the Nazi’s obviously had an easier time with collecting

and deporting than in other rural places. Hilberg reported that “it was as though

the Dutch Jews were already living in a trap14.” One could argue that once again

the geography of Holland doomed them. With such a small area, and being so

close to Germany, Nazi administrators could easily infiltrate and comb every area

in Holland. Northern parts of Denmark or Norway, and western parts of France

were further out of the way, which may help describe why more Jews in those

countries escaped deportation15.

The factors that have been used to argue why Holland suffered the highest

proportion of deported Jews are only part of the puzzle. There are probably

numerous factors that lie in the untold stories of the Nazi administrators, or

Jewish residents that may or may not have survived. The fact is that with an

unprecedented event such as the Holocaust, the historian has a limited scope in

trying to understand such a weird phenomenon. The fact is that while many
13
Jacob Presser, The Destruction Of Dutch Jews (New York, 1969), p. 23.
14
Hilberg, European Jews, p. 601.
15
Presser, The Destruction Of Dutch Jews, p. 27.
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things were different in Holland, many things were also the same or quite similar

to routines or technique used in other countries. The role of everyday citizens is an

important facet of this issue. The Nazi’s are well known for placing importance on

local citizens and officials throughout the war. The question of ‘why?’ comes up

when describing the extent of local involvement, like the Dutch police battalion

that was “highly efficient in seizing Jews” in August and September of 194216.

Schogt also describes how the Dutch state police were incredibly firm and as harsh

as Nazi’s in the methods of identifying and seizing Jews17. Much of the research on

the topic of ‘why?’ in regards to the issue in Holland states that it is an under

researched area.

When discussing the idea of Dutch people in regards to helping the Nazi’s

in the rounding up of Jews, whether through direct aid or through passivity on

different levels, there is an element of mystery involved. Half the population of

Holland were Calvinists and knew the bible well. To these people, anti-Semitism

was going beyond abnormal or inhumane behavior: it was sacrilegious18. Some of

these same people would later help the Nazi’s identify and seize the Jews. This

causes some confusion and complexity over what happened at the lowest levels of

the Holocaust. Mazower discusses this issue. With the wartime phenomena and

16
Hilberg, European Jews, p. 618.
17
Henry G. Schogt, The Curtain: Witness and Memory in Wartime Holland (Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier
Press, 2003), p. 115.
18
M.R.D. Foot, European Resistance, p. 260.
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constant flux and ideological uncertainty that the war produced, mysteries of this

sort happened, and require further investigation19.

In conclusion, there are many identifiable factors in arguing why Holland

had such high rates of deportation and ultimately murder, as well as some

unidentified factors. Resistance was severely restricted in Holland on many levels,

beyond the realities that other Western European countries faced. The

concentration of Jews in Holland was different than the makeup of Jews in other

countries: in Holland they were saturated in urban areas. The seizure of Jews in

Holland was a process that saw uncommon techniques used by both Nazi’s and

local officials and citizens. All of these points create more questions which

ultimately require more study; however one cannot deny that these all helped

create a society where Jews were easily rounded up and deported at

proportionally astonishing rates.

19
Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s 20th Century (London: Penguin, 1998), p. 192.
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Bibliography

Arendt, H. Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report On The Banality Of Evil (New York:

Viking Press, 1963).

Cassutto, B.H. The Dutch Christians in the Netherlands and their effects on Jewish
Identity. Retrieved March 16, 2008 from www.yadvashem.com.

Foot, M.R.D. European Resistance to Nazism 1940-45 (New York: McGraw Hill, 1977).

Galen Last, D. van. The Netherlands. In Bob Moore (ed.)Resistance In Western

Europe (New York: Oxford Press, 2000).

Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction Of European Jews. Third Edition, Volume II (London:
Yale University Press, 2003)

Jong, L. de. The Netherlands and Nazi Germany (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1990).

Lagrou, Pieter. The Legacy Of Nazi Occupation In Western Europe (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Mazower, Mark. Dark Continent: Europe’s 20th Century (London: Penguin, 1998).

Presser, Jacob. The Destruction Of Dutch Jews (New York, 1969).

Schogt, Henry G. The Curtain: Witness and Memory in Wartime Holland (Waterloo:
Wilfred Laurier Press, 2003).