Seyss-Inquart warns the Dutch Jews

Arthur Seyss-Inquart was an Austrian Nazi. From May 1940 onwards, he was in command of the Netherlands on behalf of Germany. His words carried a lot of weight. In March 1941, he gave a speech to the Dutch section of the NSDAP (the German Nazi party). The speech was held at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. It was broadcast on the radio, filmed for a cinema newsreel and the text was also published in a brochure.

A few weeks earlier, the German occupying forces had violently arrested more than 400 Jews. The strikes that followed were also stopped violently. These events were still fresh in the memories of his audience. In his speech, Seyss-Inquart warned the Dutch Jews and their helpers to remember that that would not be the end of it.

In his speech of 12 March, Seyss-Inquart said: ‘And I would like to take this opportunity to say something about the Jewish question. We do not consider the Jews to be members of the Dutch nation. To us, the Jews are not Dutch. The Jews are the enemy with whom no armistice or peace can be made. Do not expect me to lay this down in a regulation except in police measures. We will smite the Jews where we meet them and whoever goes along with them must take the consequences.’