SALLY NOACH

Disbelief

Letters

Even before the end of the war, my father started receiving thank you letters from Dutch people that he helped in the Lyon area from September 1940 - September 1942. These letters demonstrate a great amount of gratitude for my father’s actions; people thanking him for his prison visits – often followed by an unexpected camp or prison release – but also for the housing support, food (sausages are often mentioned), cigarettes, chocolates, and money that he provided. I have included many of these letters, each accompanied by a short quote. I hope that they will encourage further reading. Also included are four 'official' documents from the Lyon period, and three post-war testimonies. In 1967 an attempt was made to belatedly award my father a Royal Honor; I describe the outcome of this attempt in my book. I've also included six letters which my father received after the publication of his book "It had to be done"

Click on the title to read the letter

"...et ses services nous sont indispensables." Lambotte is dan directeur van het Office Néerlandais in Lyon

"Je gastvrijheid en je hulp aan medemenschen zal ik me steeds blijven herinneren".

"In de 'Progress' van 11 Februari jl. staat in het ochtendblad onder de rubriek 'Institution Militair' mijn veroordeling in de krant!"

"Dat U nog maar veel voor andere Hollanders doen mag wensen Kroes, Ruijs, Wesselius en ondergetekende"

"We zijn U veel, heel veel verschuldigd en dat weet ieder voor zich en dat onthoudt ieder voor zich"

"Nog hartelijk dank van ons allen voor wat U voor ons gedaan hebt"

te weten: de heren Adler, Paul van Hessen, Aron Brandon en juffrouw Elisabeth Sjouke; alsmede (met pen bijgeschreven) Justus Grootkerk en van den Veen

"Wij waren gelukkig kennis gemaakt te hebben met een jongen zoo als jij bent."

"Namens George schrijf ik je even een paar woorden, daar hij het erg druk heeft op het oogenblik."

"Nog eens mijn hartelijke dank voor uw grote gastvrijheid."

'Chers Amis, Encore une fois d'ici mes salutations sincères pour vous tous"

"Bien que c'est très difficile pour moi de m'exprimer en français, je vous remercie de tout mon coeur pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi."

The Dutch government felt that the ‘uncivilised’ diplomat needed to comply more with the (German and Vichy-French) rules. The high class and often anti-semitic members of the Dutch diplomatic service didn’t naturally gel with Sally Noach, an uneducated seller of carpets.

Sally’s son Jacques Noach (London, 1946) carried out extensive research into the ‘Sally Noach File’ and discovered some shocking revelations about the ‘support’ the London-based Dutch government provided to Dutch refugees. If it had been down to the Dutch civil servants, all Dutch refugees would have immediately been sent back from France to occupied Holland. There were also clear signs of a ‘politically correct’ form of antisemitism. Sally was discredited by the Dutch government and referred to as ‘uncivilised’. The Dutch Consul-General in France, Ate Sevenster articulated it clearly: “Jewish refugees are the lowest class.”

In 1969, Sally Noach was awarded the Royal Dutch Honorary Cross by Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. From the Dutch government however, Sally received only contempt. He published his war memoirs, titled “It had to be done” in 1971. Those memoirs have been included within this book.