“Dutch Tzedakah” - Stories of righteous ones in the Netherlands - Saving Jews from the Nazis

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The word “Tzedakah” is Hebrew for being righteous, or doing a righteous act!

Above is an image of the “New” and the “Great Synagogues” that are located together located on the Jonas Daniel Meijer Square in the heart of the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam and on that Square there is a famous memorial there that is surrounded by where once there was five old Synagogues, including the two aforementioned large Synagogues, that once also included the small “Upper” and “Third Synagogues” that are now all part of the “Jewish Historic Museum.” Whilst the memorial being a statue named the “Dockworker” stands directly behind next to the largest of all of these Synagogues, being the “Portuguese Synagogue,” which was completed after the “Great Synagogue,” which was in 1671, and the “Portuguese Synagogue” was completed in 1675.

The “Dockworker” has an amazing story associated to it, for it is in memory of the day when all of Amsterdam’s waterside workers simply had enough of the Nazis taking good Dutch fellow citizens, just because they were Jewish, thus they decided in taking a stand by saying in a powerful way “No More! And they went on strike, they were soon joined by workers from every sector of Amsterdam’s workforce who stood by them, including the rail, tram, banks and shops assistants, Amsterdam stood completely still and every businesses and industry was closed down. Obviously the Nazis relied on many of these, lost their means of supplies and even to their own funding through the banks as the vaults were all sealed! This greatly angered the Germans and they came with their weapons fully armed.

The “Dockworker” is seen on Memorial Day (Feb 25) at the Jonas Daniel Meijer Square at the side of the “Portuguese Synagogue”

What happened is told in chapter 10. The reason for the strike was because the Nazis had commenced gathering the Jewish people of Amsterdam to their camps, first in Holland and then to the death camps around Europe. As far as the Dutch people were concerned, the Jews were “Amsterdammers” and Dutch through and through, for the Dutch did not discriminate and they left that for the wicked world out there!

Every year on February 25, being the very day in 1941 the strike commenced, a special ceremony is held at the monument with the Royal family and the Jewish community and thousands of Dutch people present!

This book has stories of the many Dutch people who joined forces against the Nazis, but then there were also many wonderful individuals who stood strong in faith and assisted and hid Jewish people from those evil Nazis and they saved as many as they were able, even though it was at times at the cost of their own lives. This work covers a good number of heroic and stories of great faith and thus this work is entitled - “Dutch Tzedakah.”

Reuben Goossens.

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