SALLY NOACH

Disbelief

As the Portuguese consul based in Bordeaux, France, Aristides de Sousa Mendes was one of the great heroes of the Second World War. In May and June 1940 he came face to face with thousands of Engelandvaarders and refugees outside the Portuguese consulate in their attempt to escape the horrors of the Nazis. Read more about this exceptional man on the website of the Sousa Mendes Foundation: https://sousamendesfoundation.org/On Friday the 5th of May 2023, the documentary “Forgotten Soldier” was live-streamed by the Foundation. And on Sunday the 7th of May there was an online panel which further discussed the importance of the work my father, Sally Noach, did for the Engelandvaarders and the Refugees in France during September 1940 - 1942. This video shows the closing speech given by Mordecai Paldiel on Sunday the 7th of May.You can watch the entire panel discussion here
yt_favicon.png / sousamendesfdn  

As the Portuguese consul based in Bordeaux, France, Aristides de Sousa Mendes was one of the great heroes of the Second World War. In May and June 1940 he came face to face with thousands of Engelandvaarders and refugees outside the Portuguese consulate in their attempt to escape the horrors of the Nazis. Read more about this exceptional man on the website of the Sousa Mendes Foundation: https://sousamendesfoundation.org/On Friday the 5th of May 2023, the documentary “Forgotten Soldier” was live-streamed by the Foundation. And on Sunday the 7th of May there was an online panel which further discussed the importance of the work my father, Sally Noach, did for the Engelandvaarders and the Refugees in France during September 1940 - 1942. This video shows my contribution during the online panel discussion. You can watch the entire panel discussion here   yt_favicon.png / sousamendesfdn  

On January 6, 2023, I was interviewed at the National Archives in The Hague by historian and publicist Victor Laurentius, together with Frank Kanhai, who has been an employee of the NA for 35 years, on whom I can always fall back if I get stuck in my research

On May 2, 2019, Yom HaSjoa, the day on which the Jewish victims of the Second World War are commemorated worldwide, the Sally Noach Park was officially opened in the presence of many guests and interested parties, including the Dutch Ambassador to Israel, Gilles Plug Beschoor and his wife. The Sally Noach Park is located in Shazar Dakar, a large are area in the middle of the coastal city of Haifa (Israel) which was restored after a fire destroyed it in 2016.

Prior to the official opening of the Sally Noach Park in Israel, Jacques Noach, Sally's eldest son, was interviewed by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Jacques starts a new JNF park as a 'living monument' for his father.

My father Sally Noach recorded his life story in 1971. That book with the telling title “It had to be done” (Het moest gedaan worden), was the guideline for the documentary my sister Lady Irene Hatter had produced. It would have been a real cinema film called “Forgotten Soldier”, an entirely English production with Lucile Smith as Director. She has made a beautiful film, including the music composed for this film. The premiere was on May 20, 2018 in London. See also forgottensoldier.co.uk

Jaap van Meekren (AVRO Television) interviews Sally Noach about his activities during September 1940 – September 1942 in Lyon (France). The interview was largely recorded in Lyon. Greetje Schpektor, Max Koster and Simon Ginsberg are also interviewed.

Bookpresentation

On March 30, 2022 I presented my book Disbelief in the Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. Nienke van Boom made a video registration of this well-attended meeting. This is the short version of it

On March 30, 2022 I presented my book Disbelief in the Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. Nienke van Boom made a video registration of this well-attended meeting. This is the full version of it
The program
00.00 Introduction Gerton van Boom, publisher

08:20 Sierk Plantinga, Refugees in France
37:20 Musical interlude
43:30 Interview Frits Barend and Jacques Noach
01:12:20 Acknowledgment Jacques Noach
01:24:15 First copy to Laila Schipper
01:25:45 Acknowledgments Laila Schipper
01:28:30 Closing Gerton van Boom, publisher

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.