THE JUST

The story of a Dutch businessman who helped Polish and Lithuanian Jews escape the Holocaust.

Jan Zwartendijk (1896-1976) was the head of the Phillips Radio factory and outlet store in Kaunas, Lithuania, when he was asked to act as Dutch consul for the country. In the first year of the war, it was still unclear what would happen in the Balkan countries, precariously poised between the Soviet Union and Nazi-occupied Poland. The previous consul was a Nazi sympathizer, and the Dutch government thought it best to replace him. Zwartendijk accepted the post without much knowledge about what it might entail. It was only when the German threat became imminent that he was approached by local Jews asking for visas to allow them to emigrate, their goal, Curacao, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean. To reach their destination safely, the Jews would need to travel through the Soviet Union, via the Trans-Siberian Railway, to Japan before taking a ship to their final destination. After getting their Dutch papers, they required a visa from the Japanese ambassador, Chiune Sugihara, who also proved willing to cooperate. Through the agency of these two men, several thousand Jews, perhaps as many as 10,000 were able to survive the Holocaust. Dutch writer Brokken traces the stories of Zwartendijk, Sugihara, and a number of those they aided, along with several other Dutch diplomats who added their help as the Jewish refugees continued their travels. The author has interviewed surviving members of Zwartendijk’s family and some of those he helped, and he has sifted through government documents in several countries to compile a complete picture of how these few men made a difference in a time when thousands of lives were in the balance. Brokken brings these largely unknown men to vivid life, and few readers will come away from the book untouched by their stories.

A deeply moving account of a few brave men who worked against the Nazi horror in the early days of World War II.