Abraham Asscher

Abraham Asscher 

a Dutch Jewish businessman and politician from Amsterdam. In the 1930s, he became a leader and spokesmen of the Dutch Jewish community. He served as the President of the nation’s central Jewish organization, the Nederlandsch-Israëlitsch Kerkgenootschap (Dutch Jewish Congregation). When Jewish refugees began to flee in numbers to the Netherlands from the Nazi regime in Germany, it was Asscher, along with Professor David Cohen, who established (with government support) two organizations to deal with the situation. The Comité voor Bijzondere Joodse Belangen (Committee for Special Jewish Interests) and the Comité voor Joodse Vluchtelingen (Committee for Jewish Refugees) provided assistance and temporary accommodation to the refugees. t was in this context (see History of the Netherlands (1939-1945)) that the Nazi occupiers later, on February 12, 1941, ordered Asscher and Cohen to head up a new Joodse Raad (Jewish Council).