The Story of the Jewish Dutch Diamond Workers during WWII

Abstract:This article sketches the historical background of Sieg Maandag's story. His father was a Jewish diamond worker who, when the Netherlands were occupied by the Germans, was exempted from deportation. The Germans wanted to set up a diamond industry of their own and the diamond workers managed to negotiate their exemption to include their direct families as well. However, in the course of 1943 the exemption turned out to be temporary. The diamond workers and their wives and children were deported first to the Dutch transit camp Westerbork, then on to Bergen-Belsen. In her 1995 video testimony Lize Elion relates the effect of the exemption on the diamond people, e.g. their decision not to go into hiding because the exemption seemed to offer better chances of survival. From the perspective of a child from a manual worker's family Gerrit Cohensius gives an account of what happened in Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen. Personal interviews with Robby Engelander and personal documents from his family give detailed insight into the fate of the men, the women and the children of the diamond transport, of which Sieg Maandag and his family were part too.