The Dutch government sees no reason to apologize for the passive
attitude of the Dutch government during the Holocaust in World War II,
Prime Minister Mark Rutte declared on Thursday.
Rutte was responding to questions by Party of Freedom (PVV) leader
Geert Wilders, who called on the PM to apologize one week ago.
The PVV leader made the appeal in response to an article in Dagblad
De Pers on the book "Judging the Netherlands", which was published last
year.
Manfred Gerstenfeld, writer of the book, thinks Dutch Queen
Wilhelmina and the Dutch government in exile could have done more to
prevent the Jews from being deported.
The Netherlands were occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 until 1945
and the Queen and government in exile had escaped to London. The Germans
sent the majority of the country's Jews to concentration camps.
Rutte replied that there is no "broad-based advice" from the people involved and no information that should lead to excuses.
The government of former Prime Minister Wim Kok had offered an
apology in 2000 for the "chilly reception" of Jews who had survived the
Holocaust after the War, but not for the government's behavior during
the war.
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