The legation in The Hague monitored not only the Dutch reactions to the anti-Jewish measures in Germany, but also attitudes to the flow of Jewish refugees who had been seeking sanctuary in the Netherlands since 1933. Actions and protests against the support given to German-Jewish refugees, for example, in the National-Socialist press and from the delegate Marchant et d’Ansembourg, were particularly noted and endorsed.

Checkpoint, 1939 (NIOD 41053)

The parliamentary debates, held repeatedly during this period, on admission or exclusion, internment in camps, and conditions of entry, were closely followed. The German delegate reported regularly on the position adopted by Justice Minister Goseling and Prime-Minister Colijn.

There was understanding for the position of Colijn, who decided after the Kristallnacht not to allow Jewish refugees to enter the Netherlands in large numbers or without restrictions. One of the fears voiced by Colijn in the Second Chamber was that a flood of Jewish refugees would feed antisemitism (entry 358).

Even so, according to Zech, the influence of the German-Jewish immigrants, particularly in Amsterdam, had reached a point where “if things continued along these lines the Dutch might not only develop sympathy for the German treatment of the Jews, but might even follow suit” (entry 332).