How Belgium sacrificed its Jews to the Nazis

The first question that must be asked is why this has taken so long. About three weeks ago, 62 years after the end of World War II, a committee of historians appointed by the Belgian government published a comprehensive report on the role of the Belgian authorities in the persecution and deportation of the Jews during the war. In other words, the committee was appointed to investigate the extent of the Belgian state's collaboration with Nazi Germany. "Most Belgians are unaware of the gravity of the persecution experienced by the country's Jews," stated the Belgian Senate in its 2002 decision to establish the committee. "Why was it necessary for half a century to elapse in order for us to discuss this part of our past? It is the Senate's duty to preserve the memory of the genocide, relying on facts that cannot be questioned. This is our obligation to the coming generations." What, in truth, can possibly explain this delay? Professor Dan Machman, chief historian of Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) and a specialist on the Holocaust in Belgium and Holland, says Belgium began dealing with the Holocaust later than other nations, but its state-commissioned report is an exception to the rule. He says that such reports have only been published in Romania, Switzerland and Lichtenstein thus far, and similar research is currently underway in the Baltic states. However, in France, for example, no such project has been launched......(Adi Schwartz )