Jaap Meijer (writer)

Meijer was born Jakob Meijer on 18 November 1912 in Winschoten, Netherlands, and was raised in the Orthodox Jewish tradition.[1] At the age of 10, his father died, and it was decided to send him to the Dutch Israeli Seminary in Amsterdam[2] to become a rabbi.[3] During this period, he was involved in the zionist movement.[1]

Meijer graduated from the seminary in 1938,[4][3] but decided that he did not want to become a rabbi,[3] and continued to study history at the University of Amsterdam.[2] World War II had started and the Netherlands had been invaded, but Meijer had other things on his mind.[5] On 20 June 1940, he married Liesje Voet, which caused controversy with his orthodox family, because her father was active as a trade unionist.[4] Meijer was also working on his thesis about Isaac da Costa's conversion to Christianity. On 2 October 1941, he received his doctorate.[5] From 1941 until 1943, he taught history at the Joods Lyceum.[2] One of his students was Anne Frank.[6] On 14 February 1943, his first child Ischa was born.[7]

In June 1943, Meijer and his family were sent to Westerbork transit camp.[4] On 15 February 1944, they were moved to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. When British troops neared the camp, they were put on the so-called Lost Train, trains heading East with no clear destination. The train was captured by the Red Army in Tröbitz[8] on 23 April 1945.[9] Meijer and family managed to survive the war.[2]

In 1946, his thesis was reprinted as Isaac da Costa's weg naar het Christendom[10] As an author, he started to focus on the pre-war Jewish history in the Netherlands, and was known for his sharp criticisms.[11] In 1951, Meijer taught history at the University of Amsterdam.[2]

The Cold War worried Meijer, and in 1953, he accepted an offer to become rabbi in Paramaribo, Suriname.[12] He did not stay long, and returned to the Netherlands in 1955.[2]

In 1967, Meijer started to publish poetry in Kentering using the pseudonym Saul van Messel. Poetry started to become a means of escape from his Jewish history.[1] During the 1970s, he started to write many poems in both Dutch and Hebrew.[13] In 1969, he wrote Vrouger of loater in the Gronings dialect for which he was awarded the Literaire pries in 1984.[1]

Meijer died on 9 July 1993 in Heemstede, at the age of 80.[2]

• Cornelissen, Igor (2000). "Hora est Schrijvers en proefschriften". De Parelduiker (in Dutch). {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

• Jaap Meijer at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch)
• Jaap Meijer at the Joodse Bibliotheek (in Dutch)