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

Hélène Heijmans schrijft mijn vader dat haar vertrek met de ss Nyassa aanstaande is.

Derks Mans verklaart dat Sally Noach hem en negen eveneens uitgehongerde lotgenoten op 13 december 1941 in Lyon een kostelijk maal heeft voorgeschoteld

Felix schrijft over hun verblijf in New York en zijn bereidheid en die van anderen om Sally te helpen bij de repatriëring van zijn vriendin naar Londen.

Alex Veder wil zo snel mogelijk uit Suriname weg. Wellicht kan Sally Noach helpen om een verblijfsvergunning in Engeland te verzorgen.

Alex Veder, zijn vrouw en hun 2 zonen zitten in Suriname. Zij willen zo snel mogelijk naar Engeland.

Barend Broekman belooft (in het Engels!) om samen met Felix Levenbach geld naar mijn vader over te maken.

Zuster Mary Teresa verneemt dat haar neef Willem Mooij in Londen is overleden. Zij bedankt mijn vader voor de hulp die hij Willem in Frankrijk geboden heeft.

Alex Veder schrijft mijn vader dat hij binnenkort naar Amerika zal reizen en dan hopelijk door naar Engeland. Vooralsnog zonder vrouw en kinderen.

Samuel Simon Noach is vanuit Theresienstadt in Zwitserland terecht gekomen en op zoek naar familie die de oorlog overleefd heeft.

"Demain je vais annoncer votre retour a la plus Haute personnalité Hollandaise et vous pouvez toujours compter sur Elle.."

"Comme je vous ai écrits j'aller annoncer votre retour au cabinet de la Reine (...), mardi prochain je dois revenir pour vous..."

"De Heren Noach en Jacquet hebben alle mogelijke moeite gedaan om ons te bevrijden."

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.