Dutch newspapers reported over the November 21-22 weekend on the appearance of the WWII concentration camp diary of Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch ‘Everything Was Destroyed’ in Amsterdam. The De Volkskrant daily wrote that "She started where Anne Frank was forced to leave off. Klaartje de Zwarte-Walvisch, murdered at the Sobibor camp, kept a diary so the rest of the world would know what happene."
The De Volkskrant paper noted that 32-year-old Klaartje started her diary on March 20, 1943, the day that she and her husband were arrested in their Amsterdam apartment by two Dutch Jew hunters. Along with thousands of others, they were taken to the Hollandsche Schouwburg Theatre before being taken to Camp Vught, the only official SS concentration camp in occupied northwest Europe.
The De Telegraaf newspaper reported, "After the world-famous diary of Anne Frank, and the diary by Tilburg's Helga Deen, discovered just five years ago, another diary written by a Dutch Jew has been discovered". Other media reports noted that Jewish Historical Museum had had the diary for some years but the author was unknown until the researchers for the television series The War discovered the book and went searching for the author.
De Telegraaf reported "the first copy of ‘Everything Was Destroyed’ was presented to Deputy Public Health Minister Jet Bussemaker in a ceremony at the Hollandsche Schouwburg Theatre; a place of grim significance as the collection point for Amsterdam Jews.
RSS