Ans van Dijk: Dutch Nazi Collaborator Who Betrayed Even Her Own Family and Paid for It

Ans van Dijk was a Jewish collaborator in Nazi-occupied Netherlands who betrayed dozens of Jews in hiding, leading to their deportation and deaths during the Holocaust. Ans van Dijk remains one of the most disturbing figures of the Holocaust in the Netherlands. Born in Amsterdam in 1905 into a Jewish family, she would later become one of the most effective collaborators in the Nazi hunt for Jews in hiding. Her story illustrates how fear, coercion, and opportunism could turn victims into perpetrators under German occupation. After Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, anti-Jewish laws were rapidly imposed. Deportations began in 1942, sending Dutch Jews primarily to Auschwitz and Sobibor. Like thousands of others, Ans van Dijk initially went into hiding. For a time, she even helped fellow Jews find shelter, false papers, and food. That phase of her life ended abruptly in 1943, when she was arrested by Dutch police collaborating with the German Security Service. Under interrogation, van Dijk was given a choice: deportation to the East or cooperation. She chose to collaborate. Working with the SD and Dutch detective Pieter Schaap, she posed as a resistance helper, luring Jews out of hiding by promising safe houses and forged documents. Instead, she betrayed them. Her apartment in Amsterdam became a trap. Friends, acquaintances, relatives, and even members of her own family were handed over to the Germans. Between 1943 and 1944, Ans van Dijk directly betrayed at least 145 people. Most were deported to concentration and extermination camps, where few survived. Prosecutors later argued that her actions may have contributed to the deaths of several hundred victims. After the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945, she was arrested and put on trial for treason. In 1947, Ans van Dijk was sentenced to death. She was executed by firing squad in January 1948, becoming the only woman executed in the Netherlands for collaboration after World War II. Her name has since become synonymous with betrayal during the Holocaust, a grim reminder of how occupation shattered moral boundaries and human trust.This episode is part of the series Fascist Collaborators.Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at:WorldHistory.tv