Rudolf van den Berg made a nieuw movie, Süskind, about the true story about Jewish resistance fighter Walter Süskind (a Dutch Oskar Schindler), who saved hundreds of children from deportation.
The German- born businessman (Unilever) Walter Suskind worked for the Judenrat/Jewish Council in Amsterdam as the director of the Jewish theatre “Hollandse Schouwburg”. In this position the clever, handy, charismatic Suskind took the chance to change and hide the identity of hundreds children and adults to protect them from transportation to camps.
The Jewish theatre “Hollandse Schouwburg” ( now a monument and museum) was used by the Nazis to gather the Jewish families for deportation.
Suskind did his without any support from the Judenrat/ Jewish Council who did not support any resistance activities. The Judenrat Amsterdam was – like many other “Judenraete” – an enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to manage Jewish communities.
Without the good cooperation of the Judenrat Amsterdam the Nazis had not been able to deport as many Jews as they did, since it was unknown to the German occupier who was Jew and who was not. Later the Judenrat was serverely critized by a Jewish Honours Council for turning over community members for deportation.
The Judenrat Amsterdam hoped to save lives by cooperating well with the Nazis, something which later was recognized as a failing strategy.
Cooperating or not, millions were murdered- also seemingly cooperating Walter Suskind, his wife Hanna and their child Yvonne.
The full text can be read in Dutch on my Dutch weblog
Maria Trepp www.passagenproject.com
