"Good" as Seen Through the Eyes of the Beholder
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
bAs a young student reading The Diary of Anne Frank, I was led to believe that Amsterdam, and many other European countries had aided in the support and hiding of the Jews during the Nazi invasions. Geert Mak, however, illustrates how this is true only for short, isolated people and times, but overall is not the case. As one survivor states, “‘The Netherlands has carried out the biggest public relations exercise to follow the Second World War by using the diary of Anne Frank to give the impression that the Jews were all in hiding there, and that the entire Dutch population was in the Resistance’” (267). Behind the hidden past that Amsterdam has worked so hard to conceal is a story of submissiveness and deception.
bDespite Amsterdam’s peaceful past, one might feel that it is hard to comprehend their lack of preparation and inability to respond to such a large-scale attack on some of their own citizens. However, while I at first held this opinion, Mak opened my eyes to the cunning ability of the German forces to essentially trick the Dutch into complying with and carrying out the raids and deportations of Dutch Jews. By using words such as “labor camps” and “work deployment,” some felt that they were doing these Jews a favor by helping with their unemployment. Similarly, by instituting a series of steps by which the deportation would be carried out, people believed that each step was the worst of what was to come, and thus did not understand the true destruction that was to follow. On the one hand, Dutch non-Jewish service sector workers who operated the trains, buses, stations, buildings and other utilities were utilized by the Germans in carrying out their raids and transportation, complying with little or no resistance. One man, as the key individual in the system of transportation of the Jews to the internment camps, believed himself to “simply [be] an office worker,” wanting to know nothing of the effects of his duty (265). Furthermore, with only 60 German officers in the city at any one time, it is clear just how much of a role the Dutch police and other individuals played in this deportation. Even more sadly, though, Germans also utilized Jewish Amsterdammers in the deportation of other Jews, with the formation of the Jewish Council. One must question how, while 75,000 Jews were being deported from Amsterdam, the Dutch sat back and, for the most part, passively accepted what was to come for these Jews. As is too often the case, it was only when the Germans began to interfere with the Dutch’s daily life that they started to unite and maintain a strong resistance against the Germans. Their effort, however, came far too late.
bMy questions, then, to you are: Why do you feel that so many Jewish people live in Amsterdam today, despite the lack of resistance by the Dutch during the deportation? Do you feel angered by those Jews who were picked to be a part of the “Jewish Council” who used their position as an exemption for deportation, or do you feel sad for them because they were put in a position of extreme anguish and difficulty? Finally, how do you feel about the Netherlands hiding of this history regarding their lack of unity and resistance throughout the Nazi invasion?
bDespite Amsterdam’s peaceful past, one might feel that it is hard to comprehend their lack of preparation and inability to respond to such a large-scale attack on some of their own citizens. However, while I at first held this opinion, Mak opened my eyes to the cunning ability of the German forces to essentially trick the Dutch into complying with and carrying out the raids and deportations of Dutch Jews. By using words such as “labor camps” and “work deployment,” some felt that they were doing these Jews a favor by helping with their unemployment. Similarly, by instituting a series of steps by which the deportation would be carried out, people believed that each step was the worst of what was to come, and thus did not understand the true destruction that was to follow. On the one hand, Dutch non-Jewish service sector workers who operated the trains, buses, stations, buildings and other utilities were utilized by the Germans in carrying out their raids and transportation, complying with little or no resistance. One man, as the key individual in the system of transportation of the Jews to the internment camps, believed himself to “simply [be] an office worker,” wanting to know nothing of the effects of his duty (265). Furthermore, with only 60 German officers in the city at any one time, it is clear just how much of a role the Dutch police and other individuals played in this deportation. Even more sadly, though, Germans also utilized Jewish Amsterdammers in the deportation of other Jews, with the formation of the Jewish Council. One must question how, while 75,000 Jews were being deported from Amsterdam, the Dutch sat back and, for the most part, passively accepted what was to come for these Jews. As is too often the case, it was only when the Germans began to interfere with the Dutch’s daily life that they started to unite and maintain a strong resistance against the Germans. Their effort, however, came far too late.
bMy questions, then, to you are: Why do you feel that so many Jewish people live in Amsterdam today, despite the lack of resistance by the Dutch during the deportation? Do you feel angered by those Jews who were picked to be a part of the “Jewish Council” who used their position as an exemption for deportation, or do you feel sad for them because they were put in a position of extreme anguish and difficulty? Finally, how do you feel about the Netherlands hiding of this history regarding their lack of unity and resistance throughout the Nazi invasion?
posted by Erika at 2:26 PM
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