Ellen van Praagh warned of the deteriorating environment facing Dutch Jewry and expressed stark alarm over how rapidly security and social acceptance have eroded in the Netherlands since October 7, ahead of the European Jewish Association (EJA) delegation to Auschwitz on Monday.
Van Praagh, Chair of the Board of the InterProvincial Chief Rabbinate (IPOR) and member of the Advisory Board of the EJA, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview, “We live in a completely different country now than before; if you’re visibly Jewish in Holland, you have a real problem, and I think it deteriorates even more and more at a very rapid tempo.”
Van Praagh was a panelist in a session titled “Being Jewish in Europe in 2026,” at the annual EJA symposium, which brings together international lawmakers, ministers, and Jewish community representatives for high-level panel discussions on Holocaust remembrance, community security, tech regulation, and combating antisemitism and delegation to Auschwitz.
Van Praagh and her family have lived in the Netherlands since the 1600s. During World War II, her mother survived by hiding at 16 different addresses, while her father-in-law survived imprisonment at Kamp Vught. Her mother-in-law was deported on the final transport from the Nazi transit camp at Westerbork in the Netherlands to Auschwitz.
“On my side of the family, about 70 people were murdered,” van Praagh said. “From the side of my in-laws, no one came back. They were all alone.”
When Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, van Praagh’s niece’s husband and grand-nephew immediately drove south from their home in Israel to assist victims and pull people to safety. Both were killed by Hamas terrorists.
“They jumped in their car and went south, trying to help get people out, and came back in a body bag,” van Praagh said. “It may seem a long way from Holland to Israel, but it isn’t.”
Threats, canceled Jewish events in the Netherlands
Van Praagh told the Post that since October 7, Jewish community members in the Netherlands regularly face overt threats, including being told to leave the country or facing taunts such as, “they forgot to kill you in the war.”
Van Praagh highlighted a growing reluctance among public venues in major cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague to host Jewish events due to fear of harassment. In her hometown of Amersfoort, a planned museum exhibition marking the 300th anniversary of the local synagogue was canceled by the museum manager due to fears over volunteer safety, only to be reinstated after the local mayor intervened.
“In day-to-day life, there are not many problems, but it’s the feeling of imminent threat,” van Praagh explained, noting that the Dutch Chief Rabbi now requires full-time security guards to travel in public.
Van Praagh also pointed to a trend in public education, where Holocaust survivors are increasingly canceled or turned away from speaking at public schools due to pushback from parents and students. “They used to go to schools to talk to children about what happened in the Holocaust, and they’re canceled,” van Praagh noted, highlighting how second-generation and elderly survivors are facing censorship in educational settings. She specifically observed that students in public schools sometimes turn their backs to the survivor and walk out of the class, while some parents complain that survivors are bringing “propaganda.”
Dutch Jewish leader’s message to European leaders
Van Praagh told the Post that she and the Chief Rabbi maintain close contact with center-right and Christian parties, such as the SGP and Christian Union, to help shape parliamentary questions and discussions. Conversely, she noted with regret that left-wing political groups have largely abandoned their traditional support for Israel and the Jewish community.
Van Praagh told the Post ahead of the symposium that European leadership must take decisive action rather than turn a blind eye.
“What I’m trying to convey is that the world shouldn’t look away, because it’s very easy to take a step back and don’t get involved,” she said. “If we don’t have politicians, teachers, and people of influence telling the true story about what happened in the past centuries... there won’t be Jewish life in Europe in the next 20, 30 years.”
Asked how Dutch Jewry should respond to the surge in antisemitism in the Netherlands, van Praagh said, “Fight it. Fight it, because if we don’t, my family will have lost their lives for nothing. That can’t be happening. Keep on fighting. We don’t lose a battle. Never. We have never done so in the past, and we will not in the future.”
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · ALEX CARSON
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