Dutch Red Cross apologizes for failing Jews in WWII

The Dutch Red Cross is offering its “deep apologies” for failing to do enough to protect and help Jews during World War II, after being sharply criticized by a respected research institute.

“The war years are undoubtedly a black stain on the pages of our 150-year history,” says Red Cross chairwoman Inge Brakman, regretting the “lack of courage” the organization had shown during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands.

“We have offered our deep apologies to the victims and their relatives,” she said, adding that the organization “acknowledges the mistakes made during and after the war.”

In a study commissioned by the Dutch Red Cross, the Amsterdam-based NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide studies found there was “a serious shortfall in the help given to persecuted Jews in The Netherlands.”

— AFP