Jan Zwartendijk (29 July 1896 – 14 September 1976) was a Dutch businessman and diplomat. As director of the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

factories in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and part-time acting

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile (), also known as the London Cabinet (), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the German invasion of the country during World War II on 10 May 19 ...

, he supervised the writing of 2,345 visas for

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

to save Jews from

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

during World War II. In 1997,

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

recognised him as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Early life

Zwartendijk was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

World War II

Jan Zwartendijk hand signed visa from 1940

In 1939, he was appointed director of the Lithuanian branch of production of

. When the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupied Lithuania in 1940, Ambassador de Decker wrote a declaration on Nathan Gutwirth's and Pessie Lewin's passport stating that entering Curaçao and Dependencies in the West Indies did not require a visa, while omitting the part about the standard phrase "permission of the Governor of Curaçao is required". It is not clear if Gutwirth or Lewin suggested the omission. The idea of Curaçao possibly came up in correspondence between Mrs. Lewin and de Decker. She originally asked for a visa to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Zwartendijk was authorized or instructed by his superior, Ambassador to

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

L. P. J. de Decker, to issue the same modified text to Jews who wished to escape from Lithuania. As the word spread many Jews in Kaunas/Kovno Lithuania approached Zwartendijk to get a similar inscription in their passports so they can leave. With the help of aides, he produced over 2,000 passport inscriptions for Jews to Curaçao. Possibly Jews who had fled from German, Soviet Union occupied Poland also sought his assistance. Subsequently, refugees also approached Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese consul, who gave them a transit visa through Japan, against the disapproval of his government. This gave many refugees an opportunity to leave Lithuania for the Far East via the Trans-Siberian Railway. In the three weeks after 16 July 1940, Jan Zwartendijk, honorary Dutch consul, wrote 2,345 passport inscriptions to Curaçao and some of the Jews copied more. Many who helped only knew him as "Mr Philips Radio". When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, they closed down his Philips office and the embassies and consulates in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

on 3 August 1940. He returned to the occupied Netherlands to work in the Philips headquarters in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

until his retirement, and did not talk about the matter. Zwartendijk died in Eindhoven in 1976.

Awards

In 1996, Boys Town Jerusalem, an orphanage and vocational training school in Jerusalem, honoured Zwartendijk at a tribute dinner in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and announced the establishment of the Jan Zwartendijk Award for Humanitarian Ethics and Values. The award has since been bestowed on other Holocaust-era saviors, including President Manuel Luis Quezon and the people of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

. In 1984

bestowed the

title on Chiune Sempo Sugihara and on Zwartenijk in 1997. deDecker was not awarded that recognition per the Righteous database updated to January 2022. Also in 1997,

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

erected a plaque honoring Zwartendijk in the city's Raoul Wallenberg Park. On 10 September 2012, he was awarded with the of the Republic of Lithuania, a decoration to award the persons who, despite danger to their lives, attempted to save life. In June 2018, a monument to Zwartendijk (about 2,000 LED rods connected into a diameter spiral) was unveiled on Laisvės alėja, Kaunas by King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

and President Dalia Grybauskaitė. In 2023, he was awarded the Erepenning voor Menslievend Hulpbetoon (Honorary Medal for Charitable Assistance), the highest possible non-military award, by the Dutch government.

Popular culture

In 2018 Dutch author Jan Brokken published ''De Rechtvaardigen'' ('The Just'), a book describing the rescue operation and Zwartendijk's life. The title refers to all diplomats involved in the rescue operation. In the novel '' The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay'' by Michael Chabon, it is implied that the protagonist Josef Kavalier receives visas from Zwartendijk and his ally Chiune Sugihara. Though the novel does not mention these men by name, it describes a "Dutch consul in Kovno who was madly issuing visas to Curaçao, in league with a Japanese official who would grant rights of transit" (p. 65). Zwartendijk is also portrayed in the 2015 Japanese film biography of Sugihara, ''

Persona Non Grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

''. In 2022, the monument Loom Light created by Titia Ex was unveiled in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in commemoration of Zwartendijk and regional resistance fighters.

References

External links