(Jewish Group)New plaques give context to Dutch cemetery where Nazis are buried next to WWII victims

[Behind the Aegis]

‘No longer kept secret’: New plaques give context to Dutch cemetery where Nazis are buried next to WWII victims


The cemetery of Ysselsteyn in the Netherlands, where Nazi SS troops are buried alongside Dutch civilians. (Ralf Klinkhammer/Getty Images)

At the cemetery in the rural Dutch town of Ysselsteyn, the bodies of Nazi soldiers lie alongside Dutch civilians and troops.

To some, this makes the Ysselsteyn a symbolic reminder of the horrors of war, and commemorations are held annually there. But others say the commemorations equate World War II victims with perpetrators like Julius Dettmann — the Nazi officer responsible for sending Anne Frank and her family to death camps — who is buried at Ysselsteyn. In the past, German ambassadors to the Netherlands have attended the ceremonies.

On Sunday, a Dutch chief rabbi visited the site for the first time, marking a turning point in the public debate over the cemetery. New plaques were unveiled, acknowledging that it is the burial place of war criminals.

Dutch Chief rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, who has opposed the commemorations at Ysselsteyn for years, said in a speech there that he had a “heavy feeling” coming to where multiple soldiers for the Waffen SS elite Nazi unit are buried.

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