The Jewish Telegraph Agency reported from London on the arrival of
Jewish refugees from the Netherlands and the likely fate of those left
behind in a communique issued on the 19 May.
London, May 17 1940 (JTA) –
Little hope was held out today by refugees arriving from Holland that
any appreciable number of German Jewish emigres had succeeded in
escaping. (There were approximately 23,000 refugees from the Reich in
Holland at the outbreak of the war, according to the Joint Distribution
Committee.)
It was pointed out that all German
nationals had been ordered confined to their homes and it was
consequently impossible for them to arrange for flight until the last
moment.
There is no definite information
here as to the fate of the 331 refugees known to have been quartered in
the camp at Westbrook [Kamp Westerbork] near the Dutch-German border. A Quaker relief
worker who left Amsterdam told the J.T.A. today that he doubted if
there had been time to evacuate the camp before the invasion.
There were a number of refugees at
Camp Sluis in Zeeland, a province which is still held by the Dutch. While
they have not yet fallen into Nazi hands, they were believed to be in
the thick of the fighting unless they had in the meantime been evacuated
across the nearby Belgian frontier.
Seven German-Jewish men were among the 14 refugees from Holland who
arrived at an east coast port yesterday. They had fled from the
interior only to find the last refugee ship had sailed. In desperation,
they cycled to Scheveningen and from there set out in an 18-foot yawl,
though none of the party had been in a sailing boat before. After ten
hours of sailing they were sighted by a Dutch coastal vessel, taken
aboard and brought to England. The Jews were taken to a police station
for further interrogation.
Long lines of refugees at Dorland
House, headquarters of the Netherlands Emergency Committee, included
many Jews. One Jewish doctor from Amsterdam showed his stethoscope,
which was the only possession he had managed to salvage. He had escaped
in a lifeboat for 20 which carried 37.
None of those interviewed could tell
of more than his own harrowing experiences. "I still cannot believe I
am safe. It seems a miracle," one told the J.T.A. correspondent.
Source: "Little Hope Seen for Escape of German Emigres in Holland." Jewish Telegraphic Agency 19 May 1940.
The Jewish doctor from Amsterdam whose only possession was a stethoscope must have been one of the passengers on the Zeemanshoop
but at present it has not been possible to identify him. The fourteen
refugees who "cycled to Scheveningen and from there set out in an
18-foot yawl" included Leo Vroman, a well known Dutch poet. The yawl
was called the Emma and the story of their escape was published in March 2011 by the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas, where Leo Vroman lives in a retirement home.
Dutch nationals,
irrespective of religion, were welcomed as the innocent victims of Nazi
aggression but had to register with the police as Aliens and in common
with all adults in Britain were issued with National Identity Cards.
The Dutch community in London established the Netherlands Emergency
Committee to assist their fellow countrymen
The Netherlands Emergency Committee (NEC) was set up to offer assistance to the refugees.
The
Committee was established by the Dutch community in London, the Dutch
Church and the Dutch Benevolent Society following the invasion of the
Netherlands to
assist people of Dutch
nationality suffering hardship as a result of the war and was funded by
donations from companies and individual ranging from as little as 2/-
up to £1,000. It was chaired
by Th. H. de Messer and the secretary was F.H. Knottenbelt. He and his family took a particular interest in the student crew of the Zeemanshoop. The first
meetings of the NEC were held at Dorland House but in June it moved to Bush House
and in July to 120 Pall Mall where the office of the Committee
relocated. The premises were lent by sympathetic individuals and
secretarial assistance was provided by Lever Bros and Unilever. The
Committee met monthly and day to day management of its affairs, its
office and staff was the responsibity of its secretary Freddie
Knottenbelt.
The NEC worked closely with Jhr. Ir. O. C. A. van Lidth de Jeude, who had been appointed by the Dutch Government in Exile as High Commissioner for Relief work (Regeerings Commissaris) and later became Chairman of the London Committee of the Netherlands Red Cross Society. It also co-operated with the Joint Jewish Orthodox Committee which was instrumental in forming the Inter-allied Committee for the Evacuation Overseas of Refugee Children.
Freddie Knottenbelt, the Executive Secretary of the NEC, was very much in charge but many of those who were most active
in helping the refugees were not members of the Committee. Mrs Swaab
and her helpers, Mrs Byl and Mrs Osorio, organised accommodation for
the refugees in the Bonnington Hotel in Southampton Row.The Hollandsche Kamer in the
Bonnington Hotel became a place where refugees could be welcomed and
meet socially. At the meeting on the 25 June it was mentioned that "the
Netherlands Government had proposed to give a tea to Dutch refugees in
the Bonnington Hotel on the 4 July". Further details of the
accommodation provided for refugees were given at the meeting held on
the 14 August. The Bonnington Hotel was expensive, £10
a week for a room, but Mrs Swaab found cheaper accommodation at 11
Bernard Street for 27 refugees and there was room for more nearby.
These houses were to be converted into a hostel for Dutch refugees
costing only 40/- per week for a couple.
Arrangements were also made for
refugees to be evacuated, mainly to the Dutch East Indies but in
smaller numbers to Australia, New Zealand, Curacao (a Dutch colony) and
the USA. The meeting at the Piccadilly Hotel on the 14 August 1940
decided to transfer the executive powers of the Committee to the
Netherlands Red Cross which shared the same aims but was better placed
to raise funds. By the end of 1940 the Committee had received £21,764
in donations and had total outlays of
£14,867, most outright gifts or loans to refugees but including the
purchase of clothes, transport and a donation of £1,000 to the
Central Committee for War Refugees.
The initial generosity of donors following the invasion tapered off. A meeting on the 14 February 1941
attended by Jhr. Ir. O. C. A. van Lidth de
Jeude, the Chairman of the London Committee of the Netherlands Red
Cross, confirmed the decision to transfer executive powers to the Red
Cross. By the time the Committee met on the 3 July 1942 the bank
overdraft had increased to £11,000 and the decision was taken to wind
up the affairs of the
Committee.
The Internment of "Enemy Aliens"
The refugees with German nationality who left Scheveningen on the 14 May 1940 aboard the Dutch lifeboat Zeemanshoop and disembarked from HMS Venomous
at Dover on the evening of the 15 May spent two weeks in Pentonville
and Holloway prisons in London before being sent by train to Liverpool
and by ferry to Douglas in the Isle of Man where they were interned as
"Enemy Aliens".
"At the
outbreak of war there were about 75,000 Germans and Austrians living in
Britain. Some had lived in Britain for many years, a large number had
come to Britain during the 1930s as refugees from Nazi oppression and
persecution while others were living in Britain on a temporary basis
working in hotels or as nurses.
Following
the German invasion of the Netherlands, fears grew that the Germans had
planted "fifth columnists" (enemy agents and spies) amongst the
refugees who would be gathering information and then aiding the German
armed forces if they invaded." Living with the Wire (1994)
The Isle of Man was an isolated
island in the middle of the Irish Sea with empty hotels and guest
houses which could be requisitioned
and used to accommodate German and Italian civilians living in Britain
at the outbreak of war and Jewish refugees from Germany.Separate camps
were created for men and women separating husbands from
their wives but initially no attempt was made to distinguish between
Jewish refugees and Nazi sympathisers.
Enemy Aliens resident in Britain at
the outbreak of war were classified in three categories which
determined whether they were interned:
Class A: Those suspected of Nazi sympathies to be interned immediately
Class B: Restricted freedom when a judge considered immediate internment was unjustified
Class C: Recognised as genuine refugees from Nazi oppresion
Plans to transport enemy aliens to Commonwealth countries were abandoned after the sinking of the Arandora Star on the 2 July 1940 while carrying 1,216 German and Italian internees to Canada. Over 800 lives were lost.
Enemy aliens arriving in Britain
after the outbreak of war were interned on the Isle of Man until their
case had been considered by a tribunal and even if the tribunal put
them in Class C they were not released until they received the offer of
a job on the mainland of Britain
Otto Neurath and Marie Reidemeister were released in early
February 1941 after nine months internment but Kurt and Frieda Munzer
were interned for two years before the offer of a job in Leicester
secured their release with their daughter who had been born on the Isle
if Man in September 1940.
References
British policy and the refugees, 1933-1941
by Yvonne Kapp, Margaret Mynatt. Routledge, 1997.
Britain's Internees in the Second World War
by Miriam Kochan. Macmillan, 1983.
Living with the Wire
Civilian Internment in the Isle of Man during the two World Wars; edited by Yvonne M. Cresswell. Manx National Heritage, 1994.
Internment during World Wars 1 and 2: Select Bibliography, No 1, June 2006
Manx National Heritage Library, 2006.
Read about the lives of the Englandaaverders who left the Netherlands on the Zeemanshoop
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