Honoring Jan Zwartendijk 2022

An evening honoring Jan Zwartendijk, Righteous Among the Nations, was held at "Beit Vilna," on April 2022

The exciting event was organized by the Association of Jews from Vilna and Vicinity in Israel, with the collaboration of the Embassies of Lithuania and the Netherlands.

In 1940, Jan Zwartendijk served as acting Consul of the Netherlands in Kovno, Lithuania. He helped many Jews leave before Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany as well. A documentary film about Zwartendijk's heroic deed tells the story of a humble Dutchman, who until the day of his death did not know he had saved thousands of Jews thanks to visas he had given them to Curaçao, a Dutch colony on the American continent.

The highlight of the evening was the testimony of Berl Schur, aged ninety-five, who survived the Holocaust thanks to a secret collaboration between two diplomats who served in Kovno: the Dutch Zwartendijk and Chiune Sugihara, Japanese deputy consul.

On July 23, 1940, Zwartendijk issued between 1,200 and 1,400 passports to Curaçao. Relying on these permits, Sugihara issued close to 2,000 visas designed to allow the holders of the permits to pass through Japan to Curaçao.

Welcoming Address:

Mickey Kantor, Chairman of the Association of Jews from Vilna and Vicinity in Israel

Mrs. Lina Antanavičienė the Lithuanian Ambassador to Israel.

Mr. Hans Docter, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Israel

Mr. Rob Zwartendijk, Jan's son (via "Zoom" from the Netherlands)

Ms. Katya Gosarov, Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem,

It was an emotional moment, when the US Deputy Ambassador to Israel recounted that his relative also survived with the help of Jan Zwartendijk.