The February Strike: The Common Man Against Nazi Occupation
Introduction
On February 25, 1941, tens of thousands of Amsterdammers stopped work and took to the streets to demonstrate against the German occupiers.
The February strike was a reaction to the increasingly harsh measures being taken against the Jews. Not only by the Germans but also by the Dutch NSB. The WA, uniformed troops of the NSB, provoked the Jewish neighborhoods (“Jodenbuurt”), smashed windows and forced cafe owners to put up placards saying, “Jews not wanted”. There were fights almost every day.
Ordinary brave strikers
Background
On 9 February 1941, mass fights broke out on the Rembrandtsplein near the Jewish quarter. Jewish boys clashed with the WA. On 11 February, NSB member Hendrik Koot was wounded during a fight and died later. On 19 February, a patrol of the German Ordnungspolizei was ambushed in IJssalon Koco.
Hanns Rauter, the German chief of the SS and police in the Netherlands, reported the incidents to SS leader Heinrich Himmler and expanded the facts considerably. Himmler, Rauter and Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart decided on a tough approach; the first raid took place on 22 and 23 February. To set an example, a total of 427 Jewish men aged between twenty and thirty-five were deported to camp Schoorl.
Typewriter with strike leaflet
The Strike
The ‘Jew hunt’ led to fierce outrage among the Amsterdammers. On February 24, municipal workers gathered at the Noordermarkt for a meeting of the underground Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and decided to go on strike. Workers from various companies were also called to strike through a manifesto that was distributed in the early morning.
Strikers succeeded in blocking trams as they tried to leave the depot. Due to the absence of the trams, everyone noticed that there was a strike and more and more people joined what would become one of the greatest acts of resistance against Nazi Germany. Businesses closed their doors and students left their classrooms. The strike spread. A day later, people in Hilversum, Haarlem, Utrecht and other places also stopped working.
The Germans intervened with harsh measures to end the strike. Nine people were killed, 24 seriously injured and numerous strikers were arrested. After two days the strike was over – also under pressure from the Amsterdam city council. The participating cities were fined heavily by the Germans. Amsterdam had to pay 15 million. After the strike, the hunt was opened on members of the Communist Party. Another planned strike was cancelled because of this.
Jewish Amsterdammers held at gunpoint
Historical value
The February strike is a unique event in the history of the occupation; it is the first public protest against the Nazis in occupied Europe and the only mass protest against the deportation of Jews to be organized by non-Jews.
It was also the last public expression of dissatisfaction with the fate of the Jews; the occupier had suppressed the strike with such violence, most Dutch people opted for passivity, while a smaller group set up underground organizations (see blogpost Resistance movement) to protect their Jewish fellow citizens against the Nazis.
Passport photos strikers
Commemoration
The February Strike is commemorated annually at the statue “De Dokwerker” on Jonas Meijerplein in Amsterdam. The bronze sculpture of a striking dock worker, made in 1952 by sculptor Mari Andriessen, symbolizes the resistance of the common man against the occupier.
Dokwerker Statue Amsterdam
The February Strike and The Crystal Butterfly
In my soon-to-be released 6th novel in The Resistance Girl Series, The Crystal Butterfly, main character Edda Van der Valk keeps a diary to register all the Germans are doing to her country. This is what Edda writes in her diary after the February strike.
Amsterdam, 27 February 1941
We’ve had two extraordinary days! But also very sad ones. I never thought it possible, but the Dutch actually stood up to the Germans in a two-day national strike. It started here in Amsterdam, but it also spread to other parts of Holland. I fear it will backfire on us but at least it gave those who hate the Nazis a boost. I also now know for sure my neighbor Mevrouw Meulenbelt is anti-German, as we finally talked.
(…)
The strike was immediately knocked down by the Germans and I fear harsh repercussions. I truly hope they won’t take it out on poor Van Limburg Stirum and the other hostages!
However, the spree of freedom was exhilarating. I just wish I had the courage to really show which side I’m on. Well, I don’t. But I can tell you, Herr Hitler and your mouthpiece Meneer Mussert, we won’t lay down without another fight. So be prepared.
