Mayor Jan Pierik this afternoon apologized to the Jewish community on behalf of the municipality of Borne for its role during World War II. He did so during a meeting at the Born synagogue, where he received the research report “Jewish citizens in Borne: treatment, disenfranchisement and restoration of justice” from Radboud University. After receiving it, the mayor handed the report along with the speech of apology to Jo de Leeuw, representative of the Jewish community Borne.
Mayor Pierik, on behalf of municipality Borne: “Reading the report, the conclusion cannot be other than that our fellow Born Jewish citizens of that time, who were slowly but surely deprived of all rights and expelled, were abandoned by the administrators of the time. Municipality Borne cooperated in the implementation of anti-Jewish measures that were introduced without protest. A very painful conclusion, because without the cooperation and knowledge of our predecessors and their officials, effective implementation was not possible.”
The report was prepared by Prof. Dr. W.P. van Meurs and researcher Eva van Leeuwen and her colleagues on the research team. It was commissioned by the College of Mayor and Aldermen. It is a deepening and broadening of the preliminary research done in response to program Pointer’s research question on Jewish real estate at the time of World War II among municipalities. This report shows that municipality Borne did not purchase any Jewish real estate or agricultural land. Legal restoration took place in all cases between 1947 and 1948. There was also no evidence found of after levies on municipal taxes.
The report also clearly describes the developments during the war and places the circumstances in the context of that period. Thus, it provides the prelude to a moral judgment by politicians and the public about the actions of the municipal government Borne. Mayor Pierik: “Through these apologies and with the knowledge that we have through this report, we cannot escape giving a moral judgment about the actions of the municipal government Borne during and around World War II. We do so from the awareness that norms and values are time-bound and thus recognize that judging our predecessors from the present requires great care.”
Municipality Borne is going to use the coming months to see what the next steps will be. This requires a careful process.To this end, the municipality would also like to hear from the community what they think of this report. Anyone who feels the need to respond to the report, wants to leave an idea or otherwise show involvement can do so by using the e-mail address In September, the municipality will indicate what conclusions, if any, will be given.