Jaap Meijer (18 November 1912 – 9 July 1993) was a Dutch

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and poet. He wrote his poetry under the pseudonym Saul van Messel.

Biography

Meijer was born Jakob Meijer on 18 November 1912 in

Winschoten Winschoten (; ) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt (region), Oldambt in the province of Groningen (prov ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and was raised in the

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

tradition. At the age of 10, his father died, and it was decided to send him to the in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

to become a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. During this period, he was involved in the

zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

movement. Meijer graduated from the seminary in 1938, but decided that he did not want to become a rabbi, and continued to study history at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

had started and the Netherlands had been

invaded An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives of co ...

, but Meijer had other things on his mind. On 20 June 1940, he married Liesje Voet, which caused controversy with his orthodox family, because her father was active as a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist. Meijer was also working on his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

about

Isaac da Costa Isaäc da Costa (14 January 1798 – 28 April 1860) was a Jewish Dutch poet. Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jew, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a promi ...

's conversion to Christianity. On 2 October 1941, he received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

. From 1941 until 1943, he taught history at the . One of his students was

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

. On 14 February 1943, his first child Ischa was born. In June 1943, Meijer and his family were sent to

Westerbork transit camp Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...

. On 15 February 1944, they were moved to

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

. When British troops neared the camp, they were put on the so-called Lost Train, trains heading East with no clear destination. The train was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

Tröbitz Tröbitz is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Elbe-Elster district, in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. History From 1815 to 1947, Tröbitz was part of the Prussia, Prussian Province of Brandenburg. From 1952 to 1990, it was par ...

on 23 April 1945. Meijer and family managed to survive the war. In 1946, his thesis was reprinted as ''Isaac da Costa's weg naar het Christendom'' As an author, he started to focus on the pre-war Jewish history in the Netherlands, and was known for his sharp criticisms. In 1951, Meijer taught history at the University of Amsterdam. The

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

worried Meijer, and in 1953, he accepted an offer to become rabbi in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. He did not stay long, and returned to the Netherlands in 1955. In 1967, Meijer started to publish poetry in ''Kentering'' using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Saul van Messel. Poetry started to become a means of escape from his Jewish history. From the 1970s onwards, he wrote many poems in Dutch, Gronings Low Saxon and Hebrew. In 1984, he was awarded the for his Gronings-language volume of poetry ''Vrouger of loater'' (1969). Meijer died on 9 July 1993 in

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2021, it had a population of 27,545. Located just south of the city of Haarlem on the border with South Holland, it is one of the richest ...

, at the age of 80.

References

Bibliography

External links

Jaap Meijer at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature
(in Dutch)
Jaap Meijer at the Joodse Bibliotheek
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Meijer, Jaap 1912 births 1993 deaths Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivors 20th-century Dutch historians Dutch Jews Dutch poets Dutch male writers People from Winschoten Surinamese rabbis University of Amsterdam alumni Westerbork transit camp survivors