Dedicated to Meyer Sluyser, who, after The War, wrote so many nostalgic books about Amsterdam’s Jewish life that was all but exterminated.
Today, I suddenly thought of the Dutch military police at Amsterdam airport who protect passengers who fly to or from Israel. These young men and women wear heavy body armor and big machine guns. But they don’t look stern. They almost smile. You simply see the love in their eyes. That’s how dedicated they are to protecting the Jews. They want them safe. It could be that’s how committed they are to democracy’s equality that demands safety for all. But I suspect they also have a special place in their heart for the Jews. The ‘ancient People,’ in the Netherlands, the land of Anne Frank, so mercilessly persecuted, transported, and 91% murdered in WWII. Most of the war, the main Dutch concentration camp, Westerbork, was guarded by the Dutch military police. After the war, the police, who had taken the Jews from their houses or streets, were never purged.
Not a giant leap to the same security personnel who will check your passport upon entering the Low Countries. You expect they’ll say a formal ‘goeden middag’ (good afternoon) when you hand them your ID, but instead, you get a warm ‘Shalom’ from these tall, blond workers. Some of them are Frisians. The People that has no jealousy and hid so many Jews and others from the Nazi occupier, so long ago already. I’m not going to see them again for a long time, now that the Dutch streets have once more become unsafe for visible Jews, despite the vast majority not hating us. The silent majority is part of the Europeans who, at the Eurovision Song Contest, anonymously and enthusiastically vote overwhelmingly for Israel, so the broadcast cooperation now lowered the public vote’s weight, trying to let no (Israeli) winner irk Europe’s hateful streets and governments.
And then I think of our present King, who had dared to declare that he sometimes can’t sleep because of how the wartime Queen, his great-grandmother, had done nothing to help save the Dutch Jews. He didn’t declare this just to help the Jews but also for himself. He’s right. How can one respect oneself and look in the mirror while abandoning the Jews? How can anyone walk the streets safely if even the Jews are unprotected?
I’m thinking of my friends so far away in the country I emigrated from 31 years ago, when public Jew-hatred was still rare. They love me, feel for me, want to know what I see and experience, and seek out objective facts about the wars Israel is now fighting. The Dutch media is just like the BBC. My steadfast friends are unlike the friends of 50 years I lost because they believe Chamas and ‘the news’ more than me—unbelievable. I always knew that most Antisemites were never persecuted; the police and many civil servants were never cleansed of Jew-haters, so that one day, the old bigotry would surface again, like in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. Yet, the love of Jews that once filled so many Dutch hearts also won’t go anywhere. It must still be there. I’m longing for when it will enable my great-grandchildren to walk their streets again as proud Jews.
A Short Historical Overview
Hundreds of years of Jewish life in dozens of Dutch cities and villages.
Before WWII, most Jews in Amsterdam lived in the deepest poverty.
Raw film fragments that the Nazis ordered for a propaganda film in 1944 had to show that all is well and orderly in the Netherlands’ largest camp.
Choosing to join the Resistance against the Nazi occupier.
Last-minute, saving the lives of Jewish children from Amsterdam.
From 2023 about the ‘largest razzia’ in the Netherlands in Rotterdam. Some 52,000, most of the local men, were deported to work in Germany. Many died. Curiously, no reference to the 104,000 Jews murdered.
The Hague suffered 1940-1945. Jews’ deportations absent. Made in 2020.
Returned after Auschwitz, they weren’t welcomed in the Netherlands.
You won’t find many clips about Dutch Nazi collaborators and members of the SS. Belgian, yes, but not about the Dutch. Only about how the innocent children of ‘wrong’ Dutchmen suffered after the war, but not about them. Or about the many Dutch policemen who rounded up the innocent Jews.
Most survivors were from mixed marriages because the Nazis had planned to deport them only in 1948. A ‘Jewish’ last name often meant not Jewish under Orthodox-Jewish Law; Jews often had a ‘non-Jewish’ last name.
The Netherlands was never safe for Jews, also not four or five years ago.
Jewish life still blossomed in some places before October 7, 2023.
But many young Jews are now planning to leave the Netherlands. Please keep to the right so you don’t bump into Israelis fleeing the country.
About the Author
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
