The Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk saved thousands of Jews from Lithuania at the beginning of the Second World War. But he never received appreciation for this heroic act. Exactly 47 years after his death, he has now received the most important bravery award outside of combat.
It is never too late for official recognition of the ‘Dutch Schindler’. Son Rob Zwartendijk (84) is surprised that it took so long, but at the same time is ‘incredibly proud’ of his father. Today, together with his sister Edith (96), he will receive the Medal of Honor for Humanitarian Assistance in gold from Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a medal that has not been awarded since 1964. “My father was a very modest man. He did not want to be in the spotlight, but he did have a strong sense of justice. He felt it was his moral duty to help these people and I greatly appreciate that.”
Zwartendijk’s story begins in 1938 in Kaunas, Lithuanian. The capital of the then independent Lithuania. Zwartendijk is director of the Philips sales office there. In Europe, the threat of a German invasion hangs in the air and tens of thousands of Poles flee to the neighboring country. But their fate is also uncertain in Lithuania, because the country is on the verge of being annexed by the Soviet Union, something that actually happens in June 1940.
Trick
Just a month earlier, Zwartendijk was asked by the Dutch ambassador De Decker in Riga to become honorary consul of Lithuania. His predecessor was deposed because of sympathy for the Nazis and Zwartendijk is actually the only Dutch person with status in Lithuania. A nothing job, he is told.
Due to the invasion of the Soviet Union, many Jews in Lithuania no longer feel safe, but they are trapped like rats. There is no way out, until Ambassador De Decker pulls a rabbit out of the hat. He points out to Zwartendijk that a visa is not required for the Netherlands Antilles. He conveniently omits the fact that the governor of Willemstad must give permission.
Curaçao is not an end goal in itself, but it is an opportunity for Jews to flee Lithuania. This still requires the help of Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas. If it also issues a transit visa for Japan, Jews would be allowed to travel through the Soviet Union during their journey there.
And so Zwartendijk managed to get thousands of Jews to leave Lithuania. The news that papers for a flight can be obtained from the Dutch consul spread like wildfire throughout the country. Almost immediately, long lines formed in front of the Philips office in Zwartendijk. In ten days he issues a total of 2,345 visas, on which several family members can travel.
Secret
Zwartendijk only tells his wife about the help he gives to the Jews. He keeps his mouth shut even to his twin brother. The fewer people know, the better, he must have thought. And maybe that’s for the best. After he returns to the Netherlands in September 1940, it turns out that his neighbors’ house in Eindhoven has been commandeered by Nazi officers. “He was afraid that what he had done would one day leak out,” says son Rob.
Only after the war did he confess to his brother what he had done. He also informs his employer, but according to his son Zwartendijk he is criticized because he has issued fake visas. “He was very angry about that.”
All his life he hardly spoke about his brave deed. Not even if an American newspaper wrote an article about it in the 1960s, which was picked up by the Leeuwarder Courant. According to his son Rob, he doesn’t think it’s special. Although he would have liked to know how many people had actually escaped. This was investigated in Israel and it turned out to concern at least 2,132 people who fled in 1940 with the help of Zwartendijk. The news comes just too late for the consul. The letter with names comes exactly one day after he dies on September 14, 1976.
Posthumously honored
Only years later did he receive his due recognition. In 1997 he posthumously received Israel’s Yad Vashem award. That year he also received a monument in his hometown of Rotterdam and in 2018 a similar tribute will follow in Kaunas, Lithuanian, opposite his old office. But there was no recognition of the Dutch State. Until now. “That certainly affects us. He has been honored in Lithuania and in the United States by the people he saved, but the Netherlands lagged behind. We are pleased that this official recognition is now available,” says Zwartendijk.
Zwartendijk hopes that this award will make people think about what they would do in his father’s situation. “He would have found that very nice.”
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