Five Brothers and a War

February 1941 Strike

During the initial months of the German occupation, many Dutch thought that if they remained low-key in helping the Germans “govern” they would be treated less harshly than the populace of other occupied nations, such as Poland. But in February 1941, opposition to the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazis and the collaborationists caused major strikes to break out across Holland. The Dutch, by nature, have two highly contradictory traits. On the one hand, they are highly pragmatic, where they get along in order to get to where they need to be. But on the other hand, they are stridently opinionated—and are not at all reluctant to share those opinions. The strong opposition began building after NSB and its stormtroopers, the Weerbaarheidsafdeling (“Defense Section”) or WA began a series of provocations against Jewish neighborhoods in Amsterdam. Fighting broke out in which members of the WA were injured, the collaborationists then called in the support of the Wehrmacht —the regular German army. The Germans made short work of controlling the situation by converting the Jewish neighborhood into a ghetto—not unlike the Warsaw Ghetto. This was accomplished by erecting perimeters with barbed wire fences and armed guards to contain the Jews.

Non-Jews were not allowed to enter the area. Days later, German Ordnungspolizei (“Order Police”—or colloquially the neighborhood but a number of them were injured. The Germans needed very little provocation to then harshly clamp down, which they in fact did when they raided the new ghetto and captured Grünenpolizei –“Green Shirts”) entered the

nazi germany 425 Jews who were then deported to concentration camps. On the 24 th , the Communist Party of the Netherlands (made illegal by the Nazis) called for the

people of Amsterdam to go on strike. Afterwards, tram drivers, schools, and some companies joined the strike. After three days, German police put down the strike.

1942: Amsterdam sign, in both German and Dutch: “Jewish Quarter/Jewish District”.

Five Brothers and a War

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