SALLY NOACH

Disbelief

Winkel

Loved by the Dutch Royal Family. Reviled by the civil servants of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sally Noach saved hundreds of lives during World War II but never received government recognition for his deeds. On his escape to England, he was held at the Dutch consulate in Lyon, France, where he acted as a translator. From here, Sally helped hundreds of Dutch refugees (Jews and non-Jews) flee to Switzerland and Spain, after which these refugees joined the allied forces in England.

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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.