Jewish Behavior During the German Occupation of The Netherlands
Business as usual with the Germans
On March 24 1933 the British newspaper Daily Express headlined “Judea declares war on Germany”. Despite the numerous calls for a boycott, Jews generally continued to do business with Germany, even during the war. Even Otto Frank, the father of the famous diarist Anne Frank, engaged in providing supplies to the German Wehrmacht after the occupation of Holland in May 1940. Not only relatively small businessmen engaged in trade with the German occupiers, but also the government, most notably secretary-general Hans Hirschfeld.
Hans Max Hirschfeld, born into a Jewish-German business-family, began his career as a civil servant in the department of Labour, Trade and Industry, specializing in relations with Germany. Despite the regime-change in Germany in 1933 Hirschfeld continued to focus on Germany as the premier business partner of Holland. His Jewish background did not prevent him from conducting business as usual: “Beyond the ministerial directorates begins the madness.” Read more