The Germans in Holland are determined to clear all the Jews from the country and have already succeeded in deporting the majority of them, Jan de Hartog, well known Dutch author and a leader of the underground in the Netherlands told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today.
De Hartog, who just reached Britain, stated that the deportations of the Jews were carried out without “any elementary human feelings.” Jewish patients were dragged from operating tables in hospitals to deportation centers although they were still under the effects of the anesthetic, he reported, and cases are known of women who were arrested while in the throes of childbirth. An old Dutch theatre in Amsterdam, which is used as a clearing house for the deportees, witnessed indescribable scenes, De Hartog said.
In an attempt to discredit the Jewish population in the eyes of their fellow citizens, the Nazis refrain from deporting some wealthy Jews, to whom they point as evidence that “the Jews can buy everything with their money,” he disclosed. These and other devices, however, fool no one, the underground leader added, and the Dutch do not miss a single opportunity to demonstrate their sympathy with the Jews. The few remaining Jews are invited to dinner at the homes of their non-Jewish friends and the latter visit the homes of the Jews.
The Nazis are dismantling entire houses in which deported Jews and other Hollanders lived and are sending them, together with all furnishings, to cities in Germany which have been bombed by the Allied air forces, De Hartog revealed. As a result Dutch patriots have added to the placards urging Dutchman to come to work in Germany the words: “Go to Germany and visit your homes.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
