Ignoring Palestinian threats and protests, President Isaac Herzog attended the opening of the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam on Sunday.
Herzog arrived amid pro-Palestinian protests demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Protesters were chanting “Never again is now” and “Ceasefire now” at a square close to the museum, while holding Palestinian flags and signs that said “Jews against genocide” and “The grandchild of a Holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust.”
Amnesty International put up detour signs around the museum to direct Herzog to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
Dutch Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rave, which organized the protest with the Dutch Palestinian Community and Socialists International, said that while it honors the memory of Holocaust victims, it could not stand by while the war in Gaza continued.
The museum has a Holocaust history of its own in that it is housed in a complex that was used as an escape route for Jewish children fleeing the Nazis during the Second World War.
Stressing the importance of remembrance, Herzog in his address recalled that exactly 40 years earlier he had accompanied his father, former president Chaim Herzog, on a state visit to the Netherlands.
As an officer in the British Army during World War II, he said, his father had taken part in the liberation of the Netherlands, liberating Dutch cities and villages, such as Enschede, Nijmegen, and Arnhem. He also liberated survivors from concentration camps.
Herzog’s grandfather, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog, for whom the president is named, had come to the Netherlands immediately after the war to find lost Jewish orphans who had been hidden from the Nazis. So, being in the Netherlands again, was naturally deeply meaningful for him, he said.
'Too many Dutch citizens were silent'
Noting that the illustrious Jewish community of the Netherlands had been decimated in the Holocaust, Herzog declared that too many Dutch citizens were silent, and too many including people in positions of power, aided the Nazis.
“At the same time, there were those with courage who dared to stand up to the Nazi evil,” he said, mentioning two such people – devout Protestants Cornelis Case and Amanda Vissers from Bussum, who have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. The two hid a young Jewish couple, Andries Asher and Leni-Rivka Hoffman, under floor boards, when the Nazis repeatedly raided their home.
Joining Herzog at the ceremony were Andries and Leni’s son, Yonah, and his family. Yonah Hoffman was born in the Netherlands in 1946 and was brought to Israel as a child. The story of the bravery of Case and Amanda – ‘Oma and Opa’ as they were called by Yonah’s children – has been a living part of the story of the Hoffman family to which a tragic chapter was added a month ago, when their son, Major Yitzhar Hoffman, was killed while defending Israel – “the nation-state of the Jewish People and its ultimate haven – after the horrific massacre of October 7th.”
“Moral integrity had saved Yitzhar’s family,” Herzog said, “and it defined him, too. May the memories of Yitzhar, of Case and Amanda, be a blessing.”
Expressing his gratitude to all who had supported the establishment of the new Holocaust Museum, Herzog said: “At this pivotal moment in time, this institution sends a clear, powerful statement: Remember. Remember the horrors born of hatred, antisemitism, and racism. And never again allow them to flourish. Unfortunately, Never Again is right now. Because right now, hatred and antisemitism are flourishing worldwide, and we must fight it together.”
He asked all present to join him in prayer for the victims of the Shoah, for the victims of hatred, terrorism, and antisemitism in the present, and for the immediate, safe return to Israel of the hostages being held in Gaza.Invoking the Jewish liturgy, Herzog asked that all join in the traditional prayer for peace: “May the Lord give strength to His people, may the Lord bless His people with peace.”
During his stay in the Netherlands, Herzog will also engage in several diplomatic meetings, to foster understanding for Israel’s case and for additional pressure being placed on Hamas to persuade it to agree to repatriate the hostages. Dutch King Willem-Alexander is set to meet with Herzog on Sunday.
Global Jewish community welcomes the opening
Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan also attended the inauguration of the museum, and had the opportunity to meet with the King of the Netherlands while doing so, according to a press release. Dayan assumed chairmanship of the museum in 2021.
During the trip, Dayan paid their respects to the Dutch Jewish victims of the Holocaust by visiting the Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names and by meeting with the Dutch Jewish community.
In the coming days, Dayan will travel to the Hague where he will preside of a ceremony recognizing three new inductees as Righteous Among The Nations for their efforts in saving Jews during the Holocaust.
"This visit to the Netherlands holds profound significance for Yad Vashem and for me personally," said Dayan. "The inauguration of the Dutch National Holocaust Museum represents a crucial step forward in honoring the memory of Holocaust victims and educating future generations about this dark chapter in history. As we bear witness to this historic occasion, we honor the memory of those cruelly and horrifically murdered during the Holocaust, recognize the selfless acts of kindness of those few Righteous Among the Nations and reaffirm our collective commitment to ensuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten."
Combat Antisemitism Movement CEO Sacha Roytman also told the Jerusalem Post that he was concerned about the protests surrounding the museum's inauguration.
"The violent protest we saw today is another painful manifestation of the disturbing level of antisemitic hatred proliferating across the globe today," Roytman said. "The fact it occurred at the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam reminds us again of the urgent need to fight without compromise all who perpetrate, support, or justify acts of terrorism, murder, and violence against Jews."