1938

Jewish refugee children in front of Huis ten Vijver, circa 1940
Photo: https://www.joodserfgoeddenhaag.nl/, from the collection of Georg Tscherny, collection Miriam Keesing

KRISTALLNACHT: JEWISH CHILDREN SHELTERED IN THE HAGUE

In 1938 the Dutch Government decided that all Jewish fugitives were ‘unwanted foreigners’ for whom there was no place here. Still after Kristallnacht, the night from 9 to10 November 1938, The Netherlands allowed some 9000 Jews in, Jews who back in Germany were in mortal danger. There was a condition however, The Dutch Jewish community had to organise and pay for their stay. In Den Haag 200 children were temporarily housed in Jewish orphanages, with families and shelters.