5 May - Filmscreening with/in Kriterion: Nederlandse Joden na de Bevrijding

The image of liberation in May 1945 is often one of celebration: cheering crowds, liberators handing out chocolate and cigarettes, and a nation looking ahead with relief. But for most Dutch Jews, that reality looked very different. For them, liberation did not mark the end of suffering, but the beginning of a new and difficult period.

This documentary shows how the small group of Jewish survivors — returned from concentration camps or from hiding — were confronted with loss and a cold reception. Family members had been murdered, homes and possessions were gone, and the Jewish community lay in ruins. At the same time, the Dutch government proved ill-prepared for their return: repatriation was bureaucratic and slow, and there was little room for acknowledgment of their specific experiences.

In personal conversations, Holocaust survivors share their stories about this often-forgotten postwar reality. Writer Jessica Durlacher speaks about her father, author Gerhard Durlacher, and his return. Historian and writer Michal Citroen also reflects on her family history and the broader government policies in the aftermath of the war.