The Protestant Church in Holland has called for complete adherence to the decisions of Dutch courts in the case of Anneke Beekman, Jewish war orphan whose return to the Jewish community had been ordered by a court, but who was spirited away by her Catholic foster parent.
In a statement which has aroused wide interest in Christian circles in Holland, the Protestant Church said that only the government authorities were qualified to pass on the education and upbringing of Anneke, a teen-age girl. The statement added that nobody could require the Jewish Guardianship Association to give up its claim to safeguarding the girl’s welfare, but that matters should be handled in such fashion as to permit the girl to choose her own faith when she reaches a proper age.
The statement declared that it was the duty of every ecclesiastical authority involved in the case to cooperate with the police and Ministry of Justice. Those who refuse to do so take the law in their own hands, the Protestant statement warned, noting that such action was illegal.
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.
