Spying on Jews after war is scandalous, says Auschwitz Committee; "Bizarre and shocking"

Jacques Grishaver said it was scandalous that Jewish Amsterdammers who were involved with the Dutch Auschwitz Committee were followed by national security services after World War II. Grishaver, the current chair of the committee, spoke out regarding research by Parool published on Saturday based on personal files that were transferred to the National Archives in The Hague last year.

Amsterdam Jews who survived the war and returned from the Nazi camps were spied on for decades, viewed by the State as extremists and a threat to democracy, Parool reported. The former domestic security service, BVD, compiled reports on meetings, commemorations, and memorials abroad. In a response, the AIVD, the successor to the BVD, refuted the assertion that Jews were specifically the subject of the spying operation, and said more context was needed.

This is "bizarre and shocking," the Sobibor Foundation said. "This is beyond imagination." Their opinion was shared by Ronny Naftaniel, the former director of Israel and Jewish association CIDI, who said it was sickening.

Grishaver was astonished by the research compiled by Parool. "That a group of destitute Jews, who had all lost their families, were seen as extremists after returning to the Netherlands. And that reports were made about commemorations and trips made to the camps. It's just incomprehensible," he responded on Saturday afternoon. He wants more documents about the matter to be made public. He wants to know who would order such an investigation.

Grishaver's Committee was formed to commemorate the Holocaust, and to share knowledge about the persecution, deportation, and mass murder of Jews during the War. But immediately after the War, there was very little interest in the lives of Jews, he said. They had to fight for any recognition at all.

According to the AIVD, the BVD conducted investigations into communism during the Cold War. "That was the greatest threat to national security at the time," the AIVD said. "Possible investigations into persons associated with the National Auschwitz Committee should be viewed in that light." Security services suspected that the Committee was a front for the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN).

“This is very bizarre,” said NSC party leader Pieter Omtzigt on X about the news. Omtzigt is a strong advocate for religious freedom in the Netherlands. "I would like an explanation about it."