Five Brothers and a War

Rotterdam Razzia

While the Putten razzia was motivated by pure vengeance, the results, aside from teaching the Dutch a lesson, had huge benefits for the Nazis in terms the recognition of a new source of labor within Germany. It quickly became obvious that Holland still had a large source of untapped human resources, so plans were drawn up to secure those people. The first run was undertaken in Rotterdam, and was a huge surprise to the Dutch. Four weeks after Putten, during the first week of November, 1944, the Nazis quietly built up their numbers in and around Rotterdam. Then on November 10, they quickly sealed off all access points in and around the city to prevent anyone from coming or going, and distributed flyers across the entire city, ordering all men between the ages of 17 and 40 to immediately leave their homes and stand in the street. For two days, they moved through the streets of Schiedam and Rotterdam and picked up the men who were waiting. Then they conducted door to door searches to find people who had not complied. Anyone who was caught not only joined those who had gone outdoors voluntarily, but their possessions were confiscated. Anyone who tried to get away was subject to instant death.

The Rotterdam razzia netted more than 55,000 people—enough to fill the initial gathering place, the Dutch football Feyenoord Stadion (“Feyenoord Stadium”). Incredibly, 20,000 defied the German death threat and escaped capture, despite the efforts of the Wehrmacht and the NSB traitors. Throughout the course of the war, about 600,000 Dutch were captured and sent away to concentration and labor camps. One of those, of course, was Jan.

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Five Brothers and a War

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