Commemoration of deportation of Jewish compatriots in the Shul, Brielle

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are here today in the Brielle Shul to remember that on October 27 and 28, 1942, 83 years ago, the last Jewish residents of Voorne-Putten were deported by the Nazis. Never to return. Victims of the Holocaust. When I say this, the words sound leaden in themselves. But for me, the meaning of these words comes in only when you look at the stories behind these atrocities. And then the chills run down my spine every time.

Last year we paid extensive attention to the celebration and commemoration of 80 years of liberation and freedom. Because we find it important to tell the stories of the war to the youngest generations as well, who, with the passage of time, are increasingly distanced from the war, we have developed a teaching package together with the unsurpassed regional archive. During one of the guest lectures I had the privilege of giving myself, I had to gulp when I saw a picture of the teaching material. A receipt for the transportation of a group of Jews. Just from a local business. Ice cold. Not a shred of humanity. It's chilling.

However, the personal stories come to me the most. I will soon be allowed to share with you the story of the Wessels family. An intensely poignant story of a very ordinary family, who lived on Stationsweg, where father Izaäk ran a gold and silver store with his wife Antje. The family was enormously connected with society on our island. Nathan who played field hockey at HC Voorne. Ben who played clarinet at De Volharding. It could just as easily have been about a family from Oostvoorne today.

Carla Wessels, the daughter of the family, had an intellectual disability, but until the age of ten she went to school as usual. When she was ten, she moved to Hilversum. Most likely to the Rüdelsheim foundation, a home for mentally disabled Jewish children. That home was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht in 1942, and in 1943 all remaining children were deported. I searched to see if I could find more about Carla. You should know, I myself come from Hilversum and have been closely involved with the still small Jewish community there. However, I could not find anything more about Carla. There is the story that she survived the war because a non-Jewish cleaning lady declared that Carla was her daughter. This brave display of humanity ensured that Carla was the only surviving Jewish resident of Voorne-Putten.

Because no one came back. All the Jewish inhabitants of Voorne-Putten were murdered. Not for their political views. Not because of money. Not because of acts of war. No, just because of the fact that they were Jewish. Anti-Semitism in its most heinous form. A year and a half ago, I was biking to a Jewish cemetery to attend an important meeting. I had a yarmulke on. When I was scolded on the street on that ordinary day, and I will spare you the words, I could feel for a moment a wafer-thin veneer of what very many Jews must still feel today. I said it last year and I say it again now. The specter of anti-Semitism is still among us. And we must continue to fight against it.

I stand here today in the Shul of Brielle. And as often happens, I experience ambivalent feelings here. On the one hand, I feel joy and pride. Joy that the Shul is still a household name in Brielle. And pride that this last, tangible legacy of Jewish life in Brielle is still carried with so much love by the current generation of Brielle residents and is a lively place of encounter. As a Shul is meant to be! And at the same time, I cannot deny a feeling of total emptiness. For what is a shul without Jews? I continue to find it sad and cynical. There is a Shul, but for 83 years there has been no Jewish community on Voorne Putten.

I want to close with a short poem by Judith Herzberg. A poem that for me very aptly expresses the paradox in commemoration. For however inhuman the suffering may have been, let us also remember Isaac, Antje, Nathan, Ben and Carla Wessels for who they were. Beautiful, nice, sweet, human people.

Don't let words wear out
let them remain shrouded
from the dirt
from the dirty facts

Thank you.