With
the exception of the four Dutch university students and Jhr Marinus de
Jonge most of the
passengers were Jews but they were treated very differently from the
German Jews. After landing at Dover they left by train for London and
after a night in a Salvation Army
hostel went to the office of theNetherlands
Emergency Committee
(NEC) in Dorland House. The Dutch doctor from Amsterdam who had escaped on the Zeemanshoop "with only his stethoscope" (Jewish Telegraph Agency,
London 17 May) was one of those in the long queue seeking assistance. They were provided
with accommodation at "a small hotel off Russell Square" and later in a
hostel created from a row of small family hotels in Bernard Street.
The large Dutch community in Britain was generous
in its support of the work of the NEC.
Loet
Velman's extended family were concerned about the disruption to his
education and despite his excellent English decided to accept a grant
from the Dutch government in exile to move to the Dutch East Indies where he could complete his schooling.
This decision led to their internment by the Japanese and to Loet
Velman spending several years as a Prisoner of War during which he
worked on the "death railway" from Thailand to Burma. Joop van der
Laan, an experienced journalist and former editor of the Deli Courant at Medan, on Sumatra in the Dutch Indies, worked for the Dutch Information Service in London.
The NEC worked closely with Jhr. Ir. O. C. A. van Lidth de Jeude, who had been appointed by the Dutch Government in Exile as High Commissioner for Relief work (Regeerings Commissaris) and later became Chairman of the London Committee of the Netherlands Red Cross Society. It also co-operated with the Joint Jewish Orthodox Committee which was instrumental in forming the Inter-allied Committee for the Evacuation Overseas of Refugee Children.
Freddie Knottenbelt, the Executive Secretary of the NEC, was very much in charge but many of those who were most active
in helping the refugees were not members of the Committee. Mrs Swaab
and her helpers, Mrs Byl and Mrs Osorio, organised accommodation for
the refugees in the Bonnington Hotel in Southampton Row.The Hollandsche Kamer in the
Bonnington Hotel became a place where refugees could be welcomed and
meet socially. At the meeting on the 25 June it was mentioned that "the
Netherlands Government had proposed to give a tea to Dutch refugees in
the Bonnington Hotel on the 4 July". Further details of the
accommodation provided for refugees were given at the meeting held on
the 14 August. The Bonnington Hotel was expensive, £10
a week for a room, but Mrs Swaab found cheaper accommodation at 11
Bernard Street for 27 refugees and there was room for more nearby.
These houses were to be converted into a hostel for Dutch refugees
costing only 40/- per week for a couple.
Arrangements were also made for
refugees to be evacuated, mainly to the Dutch East Indies but in
smaller numbers to Australia, New Zealand, Curacao (a Dutch colony) and
the USA. The meeting at the Piccadilly Hotel on the 14 August 1940
decided to transfer the executive powers of the Committee to the
Netherlands Red Cross which shared the same aims but was better placed
to raise funds. By the end of 1940 the Committee had received £21,764
in donations and had total outlays of
£14,867, most outright gifts or loans to refugees but including the
purchase of clothes, transport and a donation of £1,000 to the
Central Committee for War Refugees.
The initial generosity of donors following the invasion tapered off. A meeting on the 14 February 1941
attended by Jhr. Ir. O. C. A. van Lidth de
Jeude, the Chairman of the London Committee of the Netherlands Red
Cross, confirmed the decision to transfer executive powers to the Red
Cross. By the time the Committee met on the 3 July 1942 the bank
overdraft had increased to £11,000 and the decision was taken to wind
up the affairs of the
Committee.
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