Collection of opinions by leading Dutch personalities expressing the sensible voice regarding the persecution of ...

Collection of opinions by leading Dutch personalities expressing the sensible voice regarding the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. Amsterdam, 1935 - First Edition

Stemmen van Nederlanders over de behandeling der joden in Duitschland - Voices of the Dutch on the Treatment of Jews in Germany - a collection of opinions of prominent Dutch individuals (non-Jews) against antisemitism and in favor of persecuted German Jews by the Nazis, published by Comité voor Bijzondere Joodsche Belangen - the Committee for Special Jewish Interests, Het Comité. Amsterdam, 1935 - First edition. Dutch. Rare.

A compilation of the views of various prominent Dutch figures on the treatment of Jews in Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime. The individuals featured here provided their perspective on the antisemitic policies and actions implemented in Germany at that time, including responses to the Nuremberg Laws, which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. Each page in the booklet is dedicated to one of the personalities. The document before us reflects the grave feelings of the Dutch public and intellectuals towards the persecution of Jews in Germany.

For example, there is a long article under the title "The Lie of Antisemitism" by Prof. A. BONGER from the Municipal University of Amsterdam, who writes: "Among the most disgusting and dangerous lies of our time is antisemitism. Part of the harmful racial illusion. The ridicule and harm of the individual, imagining himself superior to his surroundings, is magnified a thousandfold. Instead of being grateful to nature for creating many types of races and types of people, imagine a world composed only of noble Germans, where one race is better than the other. What an illusion then becomes a factor in the attempt to suppress the other race. An illusion, because nothing has been proven before the forum of objective science about the spiritual superiority of one race over another. Being physically different does not prove anything about it. The misery in which Germany finds itself through the fault of its predecessors, the rulers who brought it into war, and who, due to circumstances, found themselves under the rule of others, is now being reckoned on the Jews. They are accused of many things and more, even the defeat in the war was their fault and they also caused the crisis. Everyone is guilty, the scapegoat is found. The inferior race of the Jews has everything on its conscience. Therefore, he is abused and expelled, now even optimally deprived of rights, deprived of his property... Of all the terrible horrors that modern humanity is forced to suffer, the persecution of the Jews is one of the worst. The accusations made against them have never been proven. Everyone, including those who spread them, knows that they are notorious lies. The opposite is true. Wherever the Jews went, they enriched life through their multifaceted achievements. The truth is especially true in the northern countries, where the bubbling Jewish spirit often served as a catalyst. No country can miss the Jewish spirit like Germany. The vengeance of history will one day be terrible..."

Similarly, among the writers, the renowned thinker Titus Bransma, a professor at the University of Nijmegen, writes in his letter about the blessed qualities of the Jewish people for all of humanity, and illustrates the great gifts that the Jewish people have given to all of humanity for hundreds of years, and accuses the persecutors of the Jews of being jealous of a people who are superior to them in values and morals, as well as the other writers.

The Committee for Special Jewish Interests aimed to deal with the refugees of Jewish persecution in Germany. From May 1935 until the publication of this booklet, the Committee managed to handle about 5,500 cases of Jewish refugees, provide them with a livelihood, and assist them in immigrating to Eretz Israel, South America, and other places. The booklet before us is one of the initiatives of the Committee, which succeeded in collecting writings from leaders of Dutch public opinion (who are not Jewish) against antisemitism and in favor of the Jewish people.

In addition, there is a letter from James McDonald to the Secretary General of the League of Nations about Jewish refugees, as well as a prospectus for the Committee for Special Jewish Interests.

23 p. 31 cm. Minor stains on the booklet pages. Good condition.