Ajax, the Dutch and the War/Simon Kuper
British football reporters – with the exception of Ian Hawkey and before him Brian Glanville of The Sunday Times – are noted for their insularity.
There is little coverage of the game outside Britain. One writer I like is Simon Kuper of the Financial Times. Born in Johannesburg, educated in the Netherlands and at Oxford University, he writes not only of British football with acuity, though sometimes he can be chippy – as in this book on European football.
His aim in this book is to blow the myth that the Netherlands put up a heroic resistance to Nazi occupation.
He does this mainly through football.
His clear and supported view is that the Dutch were a passive people who wanted to get on with their lives during the occupation.
Anne Frank has given credibility to the alternate view but she was, of course, betrayed.
When Kuper tried to discover what Ajax did for its Jewish players and members he is clearly told “Don’t go there”.
The Dutch had both an organised resistance, amounting to 1% of the population, but also an active Nazi party (the NVB).
Only Poland suffered more Jewish losses to the camps.
Kuper draws a comparison, hardly favourable to the Netherlands, of how supportive were Norway and Denmark, which had organised 7,800 Jewish escapees to Sweden.
Even great film makers like Paul Verhoeven have contributed to the myth.
It is true that, in every Dutch war film of his I have seen and admired, there is one collaborator but the theme of the films is the heroic Dutch.
After WW2 Ajax became the Jewish club for many reasons.
They were funded by Jewish property developer Maup Costensa but also by the Van der Meijdrn brothers, known as the bunkers Brothera as they made their fortune out of building bunkers for the Germans.
In the golden era of Ajax they had a Jewish President – van Praag.
Johann Cruyff was rumoured to be Jewish and was seen in a red and white yarmulka in Jerusalem.
The greatest referee of his day – Dutchman Leo Horn – was Jewish.
Rotterdam and Amsterdam have never got on, as one says of the other:
“Rotterdam makes it, Amsterdam spends it”
This rivalry has spilled over between the two great teams of both cities. Kuper quotes some rather revolting anti-semitic chants of Feyenoord supporters.
He also mentions that, whilst the Luftwaffe’s demolition of Rotterdam is oft quoted, less remembered are the 42,000 Rotterdammer Jews sent to the camps.
This book is certainly worth reading – if only to show how successfully a country can rewrite its own history.
It is worth mentioning that a country which exceeded Norway, Denmark and Holland in sheltering Jews – Bulgaria – remains largely unknown for its heroic efforts.
