'I Really Learned to Pray by Heart'
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University of Amsterdam ‘I really learned to pray by heart’ Religious manifestations in camp Westerbork (1939-1945) Tim van Noord -10624236 30-6-2015 [email protected] Master Thesis ‘Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ Supervisors: Prof. dr. Johannes Houwink ten Cate and Dr. Karel Berkhoff, NIOD Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................3 0.1. Historiography ......................................................................................................................3 0.2. Structure ..............................................................................................................................6 0.3. Camp Westerbork (1939-1945) .............................................................................................7 Chapter 1: History of the Jews in the Netherlands (1870-1940) ..................................................... 11 1.1 A religious symbiosis between old and new ......................................................................... 11 1.2. The Zionist project .............................................................................................................. 14 1.3. Anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism .......................................................................................... 16 1.4. Demography and economics .............................................................................................. 17 1.6. Classifying ‘Jewishness’....................................................................................................... 20 1.7. Christian Hebrew Alliances ................................................................................................. 21 1.8. Enker, Benfey, and Blumenthal ........................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: The history of camp Westerbork .................................................................................. 24 2.1. The November pogrom....................................................................................................... 24 2.2. The Dutch refugee problem ................................................................................................ 26 2.3. Central Refugee Camp Westerbork October 1939 – May 1940............................................ 29 2.4. Internment camp Westerbork May 1940 – July 1942 .......................................................... 32 2.5. Transit camp Westerbork July 1942 – May 1945 ................................................................. 35 Chapter 3: Living up to the mitzvot ............................................................................................... 38 3.1 Bar and bat mitzvah............................................................................................................. 38 3.2. Jewish rites and practices ................................................................................................... 41 3.2.1. Dietary laws ..................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2. Fasting rituals .................................................................................................................. 43 3.2.3. Hanukkah ........................................................................................................................ 44 3.2.4. Sabbath ........................................................................................................................... 45 3.2.5. Passover Seder ................................................................................................................ 46 3.2.6. Outward appearances ..................................................................................................... 47 3.2.7. Mikveh ............................................................................................................................ 48 3.3. Religious guidance and advice ............................................................................................ 49 3.4. Religious education ............................................................................................................ 50 Chapter 4: Religious conflicts and changes after July 1942 ............................................................ 53 4.1. Religious changes for observant Jews ................................................................................. 53 4.2. A hospital in Westerbork .................................................................................................... 56 1 4.3. Religious changes for converted Jews ................................................................................. 58 4.4. Christian services and other activities ................................................................................. 64 4.5. Food packages and other presents ..................................................................................... 66 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 70 Comparing my findings with the historiography ........................................................................ 73 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 75 Video-testimonies from the USC Shoah Foundation................................................................... 80 Attachment 1 ................................................................................................................................ 82 Attachment 2 ................................................................................................................................ 83 Attachment 3 ................................................................................................................................ 84 Attachment 4 ................................................................................................................................ 84 Attachment 5 ................................................................................................................................ 85 Attachment 6 ................................................................................................................................ 85 Attachment 7 ................................................................................................................................ 86 Attachment 8 ................................................................................................................................ 88 2 Introduction ‘’Sunday May 30th [1943]: The Jews are living here at Westerbork like Job on the dunghill—without possessions. A suit and some underclothes to cover their miserable limbs in the daytime and a blanket at night, a pair of shoes, a cap, a knife, fork, and spoon and a mug are their only belongings. Like Job the religious Jews have not [emphasis mine] lost their trust in God and every Friday evening and Saturday evening bear witness to their devotion of the Almighty. The non-religious, i.e., those among them who are strong, trust in the power of their own spirit and bow down their heads before religious traditions of their camp companions. The believers do not enquire about the reason for their degradation. They accept it and endure it as something that cannot be pushed aside or avoided—in the firm conviction that their God will help them through it all, as He helped their forefathers to undergo trials of a similar nature. An unshakable trust in God underlies in their whole attitude.’’1 0.1. Historiography This quote came from the famous diary of former Westerbork inmate Philip Mechanicus. After the war, several ego-documents about inmate’s time in camp Westerbork emerged on the literary scene. Waiting for Death was one of those rare historical documents, written by an inmate himself. Before he got arrested, Mechanicus worked as a journalist. Throughout his internment in the camp, he made good use of the excellent writing skills he possessed. From 28 May 1943 to 28 February 1944, Mechanicus wrote down his personal impressions of life in the bizarre world of transit camp Westerbork. His daily entries vividly convey the confusion of his fellow-prisoners, their cynicism, their burst of optimism, their crucial humour and brief merriment, their religious life, and the silent horror of the transports. Mechanicus felt he acted as ‘a news reporter on a slowly sinking ship at open sea.’2 Eventually, Philip Mechanicus died in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Other important ego-documents regarding daily life in camp Westerbork were Dat onverwoestbare in mij by Etty Hillesum and Ik zal je beschrijven hoe een dag er hier uitziet by Mirjam Bolle. These books existed out of multiple diary fragments and a series of letters sent by former camp inmates Etty Hillesum and Mirjam Bolle. On 15 July 1942, Etty Hillesum was appointed by the Jewish Council in Amsterdam to the detachment Hulp aan Vertrekkenden, meaning she had to take care of Jewish deportees.3 Two weeks later, she voluntary applied to stay in camp Westerbork to provide some sort of aid to its inmates. Although she was in the position to travel back and forth to Amsterdam, which she sometimes did, she would not let down the Jewish camp community. Eventually, she got officially detained in the camp from 30 July 1942 to 7 September 1943. On that last