To the Editor:
Regarding "The Ghosts of Amsterdam" (Sept. 29), Russell Shorto, in his otherwise excellent article, commits an injustice. Most Amsterdammers, confronted with the Nazi deportation of Jews, did not assist in this "violent betrayal of their liberal tradition."
The secretary-general in charge of the Ministry of the Interior, it is true, chose to have the Dutch administration cooperate with the Nazi occupation, including the identification, arrest and deportation of Jews, because he feared that the Dutch administration would otherwise be replaced by Germans (a decision for which he was punished after the war).
The Amsterdam police force, heavily infiltrated with members of Anton Adriaan Mussert's Dutch National Socialist Movement, cooperated generally in anti-Jewish actions. But the citizens of Amsterdam went on strike in February 1941 protesting Nazi measures against Jews; the students of the University of Amsterdam protested the removal of Jewish professors. There was another strike in Amsterdam in April and May 1943. All of these protest actions were repressed with the utmost severity, and hundreds of Dutch citizens and students perished for them in the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Robert O. Paxton, New York City
The writer is an emeritus professor of history from Columbia University.
To the Editor:
This is a beautiful article. I have visited Amsterdam many times while my daughter lived there. I was struck that this is a city of contrasts — Calvinists in the midst of red light districts, celebrating the great artists van Gogh, Rembrandt and Frans Hals, yet remembering the ignominy of the Nazi collusion with the Anne Frank House. It is a city of great beauty and unequaled bicyclists. And its small size allows one to visit everything by foot or bicycle in a couple of days. Thank you for bringing back the wonderful memories of my visits to Amsterdam.
Jack R. Lichtenstein, Annapolis, Md.
To the Editor:
Theo van Gogh's film was not "anti-Islamic." It was an artist's depiction of the truth, and his murder was strong evidence that the truth was even more dangerous than we knew. Amsterdam is a marvelous city and its preservation of the old and the beautiful speaks volumes about the quality of its people.
Susan Nial, Charleston, S.C.
To the Editor:
Walkable? Amsterdam? Better on a bicycle. Generally uneven paving stones make for stumbling, especially for Americans unaccustomed to lifting their feet. As in Venice, one needs to be on the water too. Walking tours are best combined with a canal cruise, which allows passengers to get on or off at any stop.
Rollo Marrocco, Brussels
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