The persecution of the Jews of the Netherlands began on May 10, 1940 with the Nazi occupation. Arthur Seyss-Inquart was placed in charge of the civil administration. Anti-Jewish legislation was rolled out with ruthless efficiency: Jews lost their professions and their homes, children their schools. Identifying yellow stars with the ominous script "Jood" became compulsory wear. Businesses and other assets had to be registered, and a Jewish council - the Joodse Raad - was established with Abraham Asscher and David Cohen in charge of implementing Nazi policy, with maximal compliance with respect to the Jews. Deportations to Westerbork internment camp and the Vught concentration camp commenced in July 1942, and thence Auschwitz and Sobibor extermination camps. Many Jews went into hiding, including Anne Frank and her family. Dutch police assisted the Nazi authorities in rounding up Jews, as did the so-called Henneicke Column, who were essentially Dutch bounty hunters paid for tracking down Jews.
Critically important in rounding up Jews was the work of Dutch civil servant J.L. Lentz, head of the Population Registration Office in the Hague. Lentz developed a population registration system, along with an identity card, which would effectively cover the entire population of the Netherlands. The German occupation authorities adapted Lentz's work to create a central register of Jews with links between the central register and the municipal registration offices. The registration record, the identity cards, and Lentz's 1942 report on the location of Jews in the Netherlands, culminating in so-called "dot maps" showing the population density of Jews by district, were used in the creation of transport lists by the Nazi SS. Ultimately these overlapping systems of identification, used to great effect by the Nazis, contributed to a survival rate of Jews in the Netherlands of only 27 percent.
The van Perlsteins were a prosperous family living in a vibrant Jewish community in pre-war Amsterdam whose lives were irrevocably changed under the German occupation. Philip Samuel (Sam) van Perlstein, had been an importer of Orientalia before expanding into other areas of profitability such as board games; his company, van Perlstein and Roeper Bosch, held the first license in the Netherlands to sell Monopoly. A copy of the stock market game Beursspel is displayed at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam; Peter van Pels had received it as a 16th birthday present, four months after going into hiding with the Franks.
Sam van Perlstein had understood early the plight of the Jews of Holland. He and his son Gerard van Perlstein assisted in setting up a resistance network. They were able to establish a relationship with Werner Klemke, a German Wehrmacht soldier and talented artist who despised Nazism. Klemke risked his life forging documents for Dutch Jews - identity cards, baptismal and birth certificates, etc. - which enabled some Jews to leave Holland and others to go into hiding. Klemke’s documents ultimately saved the lives of many Jews during the occupation.
While Sam and Gerard survived the war, others in his family were less fortunate. Sam’s brother Herman was murdered in Auschwitz in November 1942. He had been a prominent member of the Amsterdam rowing club. Sam’s uncle Bernard, whom Sam was able to help establish a business trading yeast when his own business failed in the Great Depression, was to be arrested for not wearing his Jewish star, and subsequently deported to Vught concentration camp and ultimately Auschwitz where he perished in January 1944. Siegfried Herman van Perlstein, a prominent lawyer and prosecutor, also perished at Auschwitz in January 1943. And Sam’s mother, Sara van Perlstein-Hecht, who resided at 160 Van Breestraat in Amsterdam, took her own life in March 1943.
-- Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Censored Cover Ravensbruch to Amsterdam from Dutch Jehovah's Witness
2019.2.111
Green envelope with censor tape of left edge, three German postal stamps on top right corner: green, red, and purple in that order.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
In the face of escalating persecution by the Nazi state, the Jehovah’s Witnesses held fast to their religious beliefs as dutiful servants of Jehovah. In refusing to submit to the authority of that state and swear allegiance to Hitler; in refusing to participate in elections; in their refusal to serve in the military, bear arms, submit to a draft, or serve in war-related industries, or allow their children to join the Hitler youth; Jehovah’s Witness remained true to their calling, and to a resolute refusal to defer on matters of conscience to any other authority than their faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany or the occupied countries were therefore publicly humiliated, imprisoned, or placed in concentration camps where they were distinguished from other prisoners by their distinctive purple triangle, and referred to as Bibelforscherinnen or “earnest Bible students”. They were often made to endure extreme torture, and some were even executed. And while Jehovah’s Witnesses—unlike Jews—could escape persecution, punishment and death by renouncing their beliefs and going along with the Nazi program, few chose to do so.
Johanna Groen, born Johanna van der Vijgh, is one of approximately 200-250 Jehovah’s Witnesses from the Netherlands sent to concentration camps after the German occupation. She had been interned in Ravensbruck with her sister Hendrika van der Vijgh who was murdered in Auschwitz in August 1942. Johanna had been married to Aron Groen, a Dutch bicycle repairman from a Jewish family. He was deported to Auschwitz in 1942 where he perished. The letter is addressed to her father.
[Related item: 2021.1.27]
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Lettersheet from Prisoner at Amersfoort Durchgangslager
2019.2.283
Letter with red “NEDERLAND” postage stamp in top right corner, two pages of writing on inside. Back includes additional page of writing and “Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort” printed in red in upper left corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Amersfoort in the Netherlands was referred to as a police transit camp. Prisoners here were ultimately to be sent to the major extermination centers such as Auschwitz, Sobibor, or Mauthausen. Conditions were as appalling as the worst of the major concentration camps. Hunger, disease, poor hygiene, and the cruelty and violence of the guards and administration were commonplace.
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Vouchers Used at Westerbork Transit Camp
2021.1.29a-d
a: Westerbork, voucher for 10 cents from February 15, 1944, CC series.
b: Westerbork, voucher for 24 cents from February 15, 1944, CC series.
c: Westerbork, voucher for 50 cents from February 15, 1944, CC series.
Westerbork, voucher for 100 cents from February 15, 1944, CC series.The 100 cent voucher has a partial watermark from the factory where it was printed: “Vuga NORMAAL”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The Commandant’s name “Gemmeker” appears on these vouchers along with a logo that was his idea: an image of the camp with a cog surrounding a warehouse chimney from which smoke emanates, perhaps a Westerbork nod to Auschwitz’s “Arbeit macht frei”, suggesting the importance of Jewish work to the Reich. Working all day would enable the Jewish prisoners to purchase small items at the canteen: coffee, razor blades, etc.
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Lettersheet from Jakob Weinberg in Westerbork Transit Camp to M. Polack in Amsterdam
2021.1.26
Stamped and handwritten lettersheet to Amsterdam
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Westerbork, located in Drenthe Province in the Netherlands, began in 1939 as a camp for German refugees attempting to escape persecution in Nazi Germany. The first refugees arrived in October of that year. Some had been passengers on the ill-fated SS St. Louis. Westerbork continued to function as a refugee camp supervised by the Dutch after the German occupation in May 1940 since all Dutch Jews were concentrated in Amsterdam. Administration of the camp was transferred to the Germans in 1942 at which time it functioned as a transit camp for Jews awaiting deportation to the extermination camps, Auschwitz or Sobibor.
While Westerbork functioned as a transit center for Jews prior to deportation, there would also be a longer-term population of mostly German Jews to create some stability in the camp. They would act as camp employees or Jewish council members and would not for the time being be subject to deportation.
Mr. Weinberg was one of the German refugees - from Emden, Hanover, Germany - at Westerbork. He was born on January 21, 1900 and he notes his barracks number as 40 b. He thanks Mr. Polack for packages received. He would be deported, and his date of death is given by Yad Vashem as February 28, 1945. The fate of Mr. Polack is unknown.
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Lagergeld Money from Westerbork, East Netherlands
2012.1.464a-d
Four pieces of currency, including a pink 10 cent note, a red 25 cent note, a blue 50 cent note, and a green 100 cent note.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Lagergeld from the transit camp at Westerbork, East Netherlands.
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Censored Cover from L.F. de Jong, Netherlands, to G. Newman Family Interned at Vittel Interniertenlager
2019.2.121
Front of envelope includes “Züruck” stamped in blue near bottom, “INTERNIERTENPOST, GEBÜHRENFREI!” underlined in top right corner in black ink, back of envelope includes “LOUIS FRANCOIS DE JONG” underlined at top.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Vittel was a resort town in the Vosges mountains of France. It was used by the Germans to detain aliens - British and American citizens living in France - as well as Jewish prisoners who could eventually be exchanged for German prisoners. However, most of the Jewish detainees were eventually transported to Auschwitz. On April 18, 1944, two months before this letter was written to a Jewish family interned in Vittel, 163 Jews from Vittel were sent to Drancy Transit Camp and then to Auschwitz where they were murdered.
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Letter from Arthur Seyss-Inquart
2012.1.390
Typewritten message on "Der Reichskommissar für die Besetzten Niederländischen Gebiete" stationery. Includes signature in blue.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A letter written by Arthur Seyss-Inquart to Albert Speer. Seyss-Inquart (1892-1946) was Reich Governor of Austria, Deputy Governor to Hans Frank in the General Government of occupied Poland, and Reich Commissioner for the German-occupied Netherlands. In the latter capacity, Seyss-Inquart shared responsibility for the deportation of Dutch Jews and the shooting of hostages. At Nuremberg he was found guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and subsequently sentenced to death.
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Nazi Hel Published by van Holkema and Warendorf in Amsterdam
2019.2.279
Black hard-board covered book, spiral bound with white text “Nazi Hel” and a swastika.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Nazi Hel is a first edition photo documentary of black-and-white photos taken by the Allies after the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945. Most of the photos were taken at Bergen-Belsen by the British army. Others were taken at Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Langenstein, and Schwabmuenchen. A two-page introduction is in Dutch, along with a map depicting the location of some of the larger concentration and labor camps. The final photograph is of a Dutch woman who belonged to the resistance, killed just one day before her home town of Deventer was liberated.
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Postcard from Company in London to Messrs. van Perlstein and Roeper Bosch in Amsterdam
2019.2.277
Envelope with blue postage stamp and green postage stamp in upper right corner, addressed to “Messrs. Van Perlstein & Roeper Bosch” in blue print.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Cover is postmarked just after V-E Day in Europe, after surrender of Nazis. It is sent with a question mark on the address on Singel Street. However, van Perlstein and Roeper Bosch’s corporate headquarters on 532-534 Singel St. in Amsterdam-Centrum was destroyed in a fire in April 1943.
The van Perlsteins were a prosperous family living in a vibrant Jewish community in pre-war Amsterdam whose lives were irrevocably changed under the German occupation. Philip Samuel (Sam) van Perlstein, had been an importer of Orientalia before expanding into other areas of profitability such as board games; his company, van Perlstein and Roeper Bosch, held the first license in the Netherlands to sell Monopoly. A copy of the stock market game Beursspel is displayed at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam; Peter van Pels had received it as a 16th birthday present, four months after going into hiding with the Franks.
Sam van Perlstein had understood early the plight of the Jews of Holland. He and his son Gerard van Perlstein assisted in setting up a resistance network. They were able to establish a relationship with Werner Klemke, a German Wehrmacht soldier and talented artist who despised Nazism. Klemke risked his life forging documents for Dutch Jews - identity cards, baptismal and birth certificates, etc. - which enabled some Jews to leave Holland and others to go into hiding. Klemke’s documents ultimately saved the lives of many Jews during the occupation.
While Sam and Gerard survived the war, others in his family were less fortunate. Sam’s brother Herman was murdered in Auschwitz in November 1942. He had been a prominent member of the Amsterdam rowing club. Sam’s uncle Bernard, whom Sam was able to help establish a business trading yeast when his own business failed in the Great Depression, was to be arrested for not wearing his Jewish star, and subsequently deported to Vught concentration camp and ultimately Auschwitz where he perished in January 1944. Siegfried Herman van Perlstein, a prominent lawyer and prosecutor, also perished at Auschwitz in January 1943. And Sam’s mother, Sara van Perlstein-Hecht, who resided at 160 Van Breestraat in Amsterdam, took her own life in March 1943.
[Related items: 2019.2.273-.278]
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Post-War Airmail Postcard Sent to Mrs. Dr. E. Townend in New York from Gisela Trampusch in Amsterdam
2020.1.15
Postcard with five stamps in blue, green, red, and teal. Four of five stamps are from the Netherlands. Address typewritten in black ink. Typewritten message in English continues on opposite side. Letter is signed in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Ms. Trampusch is making inquiries concerning the whereabouts of Mrs. Townend’s mother, who was her best friend. She had not heard from her since she (the mother) was interned at Westerbork transit camp in September 1943. She had been hoping to join her family in Palestine and was waiting for a particular certificate to arrive. Ms. Trampusch states that she hopes her mother made it to Palestine.
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A Document from 1946 Searching for a Jewish Child, Born in 1932, Hidden During War
2019.2.284
Document with “KANTONGERECHT GROENLO” and round seal stamped in blue in lower left corner, dated “16 April 1946” in upper right corner, line separating first and second section of letter, signed twice.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
This document reflects an effort to locate a child through guardianship registers, but the response to this inquiry reveals no record of Mozes Philip Noot in these registers. In all probability Mozes was hidden during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Approximately 25,000 Dutch Jews went into hiding during the war, and approximately two-thirds survived. The rest were deported to death camps. About 4,000 of those who survived were children. It is possible that Mozes Philip Noot, born in 1932, eight years of age at the beginning of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, survived the war and possibly retained his assumed name and relevant ID forms.
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Post-War Document to Hans Glucksmann, a Former Passenger on the St. Louis
2020.1.6
Letter with "Centraal Registratiebureau Voor Joden" printed at top with typewritten message below. Typewritten address on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Post-WWII typed document from the Central Registration Bureau for Jews, Amsterdam, Oct. 23, 1946 to Hans Glucksmann advising him that there has been no sign of Dr. Richard Marcuse since he had been “transported” in October, 1942. In all probability Dr. Marcuse perished in Auschwitz after a period of internment at Theresienstadt since early March 1942. The Glucksmanns became Dutch citizens after the war.
[Related items: 2020.1.4a-d, 2020.1.5]
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Lettersheet from Netherlands Red Cross Settlement Office of Concentration Camps Concerning Fate of Zendijks
2019.2.299
Letter with Red Cross symbol near top, stamped with date “15.11.1946” in top right corner, “Dhr. D. Zendijk, Singel 16, Deventer.-“ printed in bottom left corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Lettersheet sent to D. Zendijk in Deventer with information about the fate of Hersch A. Zendijk (born in 1885) and Dina Zendijk-Natan (born in 1888). At the time of this letter the only information available was that they were transported from Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz on January 25, 1944. With newly available information it was discovered that they were both murdered in Auschwitz in April 1944.
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Post-War Dachau Death Certificate and Letter for Abraham Keizer with Envelope
2023.1.5a-c
Certificate: Statue of Liberty in silhouette at center with typed information on both sides, three round handstamps. Envelope: Red Cross near top left with small handwriting underneath “NEDERLANDSCHE ROODE KRUIS”. Typed letter with red cross in top left; completed on 31 Maart 1947.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Mr. Abraham Keizer, born March 12, 1904, was a merchant selling lamps and bicycle parts in Lindengracht, a large market in Amsterdam. He was taken to Dachau concentration camp on October 10, 1944, where he perished January 5, 1945, several months before the end of the war. He was registered as prisoner number 115140. His death certificate from the “International Information Office for the Former Concentration Camp Dachau” was issued only for victims of Dachau.
The signed letter from the Netherlands Red Cross National Tracing Bureau was sent to a surviving relative in Amsterdam on March 31, 1947.
It is also known from Dutch Jewish archives that Mr. Keizer’s entire family was deported to Auschwitz where his wife Estella Catherina Keizer-Rodrigues (age 38), sons Robert (age 13) and Alfred (age 4), and daughter Marianne (age 11) perished (gassed) together on October 14, 1944.
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Maximum Postcard Commemorating the February 1941 Dockworkers Strike Against the Nazi Persecution of the Jews of the Netherlands
2019.2.294
Postcard of black and white image of statue with postage stamp of statue in top left corner marked “NEDERLAND 15.” Back includes “Amsterdam J.D. Meyerplein” printed in top right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Maximum postcard real photograph with commemorative stamp of the Dockworker strike of February 22 and 23, 1942. The first major German roundup of the Jews of Amsterdam occurred at Jonas Daniël Meijerplein square. Here, 425 Jewish men were driven together to the square and deported to Mauthausen and Buchenwald concentration camps. These raids inspired the February dockworkers strike. Queen Juliana unveiled this statue in 1952 to commemorate the strike.
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Maximum Postcard Commemorating the Persecution of Jews in the Netherlands During WWII
2019.2.295
Postcard with black and white image of Star of David patch being sewn on coat, stamp in upper right corner marked “ONRECHT/VERZET NEDERLAND 50 CT.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Photograph of person sewing Star of David with word “Jood” on coat as was required after the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1940.
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Signed Letter from Miep Gies
2012.1.562
Letter on Anne Frank House stationery with rainbow emblem on upper right. Includes a printed letter and a signature in blue ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Miep Gies (1903-2010) was a Dutch citizen who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis during World War II. She discovered and preserved Anne's diary after the Franks were arrested and deported. This letter was written in Amsterdam on Anne Frank House letterhead to Mary Louise in Kentucky.
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Verborgen Verzet [Hidden Resistance], an Anti-Nazi Propaganda Booklet Distributed in Netherlands
2019.2.267
Booklet with green cover, 6 pages, cover includes image of Nazi soldier stabbed with a dagger, “VERBORGEN VERZET” in bold print at top with large “V” in white print. Back includes large, green “V.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Printed in England during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the cover shows an image of a Nazi soldier stabbed to death with a dagger in his back. The booklet depicts resistance activities in nations overrun by the Germans: Norway, Poland, France, and other occupied countries, along with a photographic record of victims of Nazi brutality being executed. The last page stresses the importance of destroying the powers that are intent on enslaving free people and the symbolic V for Victory.
Scarce anti-Nazi propaganda booklet printed in Dutch by a British publisher for distribution in the occupied Netherlands, 8 pp. 8vo., entitled “Verborgen Verzet” (“Hidden Resistance”) and illustrated with a cover illustration of a slain German soldier with a dagger in his back. The pamphlet opens with the title “In the Shadows…Europe Fights On!” opposite a photograph of Polish civilians digging a mass grave for their recently-executed countrymen, whose bodies lie in the foreground. The booklet further contains a record of resistance activities undertaken in Norway, Yugoslavia, Poland, France, and other occupied nations, images of resistance newspapers, and photos of “undesirables” being rounded up and executed by Germans. The final page bears the slogan “All your thinking, all your works are focused on the destruction of the powers that want to enslave free people” over the initial “V” for victory. The front cover bears a stamp indicating that the pamphlet was retained as a “specimen of British war literature.” Shows slight toning and bumps to the edges, else very good.
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Antisemitic Handbill Distributed in Netherlands Depicting Caricatures of Allied Leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin
2019.2.268
Illustration of four men with printing in bold black and red type at bottom, K 288 at bottom right, ‘VIKTORIA’ at top right, thick black border at all edges
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:The image of the three Allied leaders and the caricature of the Jew is captioned in Dutch: “Yankee-Englishman-Bolsjewiek” dance to the tune of the Jewish clique’s piper. This handbill was distributed around the Netherlands during the German occupation.
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Dutch Fascist Party NSB (Nationaal Socialistische Beweging) Identification Card
2019.2.280
Pink tri-folded paper. Recto has a black and white image of a young man on the left panel and 12 green membership stamps on the right panel that read “NSB” with dates on each. Verso has 8 “NSB” stamps on the left hand panel.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
NSB membership card (Lidmaatschapskaart) issued to C. Steenstraten who registered in the Hague on November 10, 1941, membership no. 98701. Membership stamps indicate that he paid membership fees through August 1944. Verso right panel: “Faith in God, love for people and fatherland, respect for labor”. Verso center panel: “For the moral and physical well-being of a people there is a need for a strong state administration, self-respect of the nation, discipline, order, solidarity of all classes of the population, and the preceding of the general (national) interest above the group interest, and of the group interest above the personal interest.”
The NSB - the Dutch fascist party - was the Dutch equivalent of the German Nazi Party, the NSDAP. Founded in 1931 by Anton Mussert and others, it hewed to an increasingly antisemitic line. After the occupation in May 1940, it became the only legal party in the Netherlands. Members zealously aided Germans in locating Jews in hiding, including Anne Frank and her family.
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National Socialistische Beweging in Nederland (N.S.B.)
2019.2.296
Booklet marked “DE N.S.B. EN ONS CHRISTELIJK VOLKSKARAKTER” across top, image of man holding one arm up, 15 pages.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Anton Mussert’s name appears on this N.S.B. pamphlet cover and is possibly its author. He was a leader of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands. Found guilty of treason at the end of WWII, he was executed in 1946.
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Dutch NSB Propaganda "Viktoria": Germany Wins for Europe on All Fronts
2019.2.300
Document includes large red “V” in center with a banner marked “VIKTORIA” going through it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A Dutch National Socialist party (Nationaal Socialistische Beweging) – ‘V’ Propaganda leaflet.
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3rd Reich Dutch Nazi Party NSB Postcard
2019.2.301
Black and red postcard with large, white bird on front, “WAT WILT GU VRIJHEID OF KNECHTSCHAP” printed in top left corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:The message is “What do you want, freedom or servitude – Freedom only through the NSB.” Verso the exhortation to work together, and that through cooperating with the N.S.B. the Dutch will be free in a new Europe.