Sally Noach the “Engelandvaarder”
From: “Het moest gebeuren”-It had to be done by M.G. Haringman
Sally Noach was born in Zutphen on
28 December 1909. He grew up in a
large family with six children: five
boys and one girl. His father was
dealing in carpets.
Sally went to primary school, where
he was a good pupil and a member of
the local scouts. He liked scouting
and he learned much from his guide
Wuestefeld. His interest caused a
conflict with his school teacher
Westerweel, who later became known
as a famous resistance fighter.
According to Westerweel scouting was
a kind of playing soldiers. He did
not agree with it. His attitude
insulted Sally, causing a
problematic relationship between
teacher and pupil. As a result Sally
left school, which seems to have
been no problem at the time.
So, at a very young age, Sally
started working as a messenger boy
for a butcher, earning five quarters
a week. After several months he
started to think about his future
and came to the conclusion that the
hotel business would be more
attractive. The station restaurant
of Zutphen was looking for a
bell-boy, he applied and was
accepted for three guilders a week.
During the coming two years he was
promoted and became buffet manager
of the third class waiting room.
Afterwards he worked in the
lunchroom "Suisse" and then in the
station restaurant of Zevenaar.
In the meantime his parents had
moved to Brussels. Sally's father
proposed that Sally also should move
there, since there were good
possibilities for a young man. He
resigned in Zevenaar and moved to
Brussels.
Once there he accompanied his father
on his business travels. He
discovered that his father was a
perfect businessman, he was talented
and knew exactly when to buy and
when to sell. Sally's first
commercial area was Gent, where his
father had a large circle of clients
and relations. At that time his
father traded in fabrics. After
several days together, he left his
son alone in Gent, with a suitcase
with fabrics and without money. "He
should earn his own money." Sally
returned to Brussels with a minimum
profit, but nevertheless he was
content, since he also earned his
train ticket.
His father worked by car. He thought
that if Sally also would like to
have a car – which was much easier
than travelling by train or bus – he
had to earn one by himself. Sally
got more experience and in 1928 he
was able to buy a car of his own.
First a Citroen and later on an
Opel. His father did not help him,
not because he was stingy or
indifferent, but he wanted to teach
his son to become independent.
In 1929 Sally enlarged his business
and moved to Lille, where two of his
brothers also lived. In Lille he
lived for three years, he learned
French there and worked in the North
of France, mainly in the commerce of
rugs. During that period he earned
well.
His trial to establish a market in
Switzerland
also, did not succeed.
The political development in Europe
did not leave him untouched and
caused him to worry. He returned to
Brussels for a holiday. He was the
only child still unmarried, his
parents were already happy
grand-parents.
It was already 1940, England and
France were at war with Germany, and
Sally had his misgivings about
coming disasters. He preferred to
stay in Brussels. The family was
very attached to the Dutch monarchy
and he was worried about the future.
In April 1940 the mood in Brussels
was very tense. People were
mobilized, at sea a full war was
raging and Dutch ships were already
torpedoed by the Germans.
When war broke out on May 10th,
Sally's first plan was to leave for
Paris. His father preferred to wait
a bit and on 13 May Sally decided to
go alone. He was not the only one.
He struggled through a multitude of
thousands of people and finally
reached the platform.
The train for Paris was ready. Sally
was joined by a young man, named
Armand. The train departed with a
delay of four hours, and after many
more delays reached the
Franco-Belgian border after five
hours. Some youngsters realized that
in the overcrowded train there were
women and children who needed help
and therefore they started a kind of
first aid help. Sally, who had some
knowledge in this area, joined this
group.
After a long delay the train moved
again, and reached a small place
near Amiens. There, several items
were purchased by the first aid
group, like food, drinks, warmed
bottles for babies and medical
goods.
The French police now entered the
train. All people who did not posses
a French passport were removed from
the train.
All this caused a further delay of
half a day, and when the train moved
again, it became clear that it would
not arrive at the French capital.
After a journey with more delays,
under terrible circumstances – the
train was too crowded and the
sanitary equipment did not suit such
a ride – the train reached Toulouse.
From there it moved again until it
finally arrived in Castelnaudary, a
village at the foot of the Pyrenees.
In the waiting room there followed a
long registration. It took many
hours till the suffering refugees
were freed from the stench, the
dirt, the hunger and the thirst,
which had plagued them in the train,
during their four day travel from
Brussels.
Finally the travelers were divided
into groups of hundred people and
transported in busses.
The group to which Sally belonged,
went to the village of St. Julien,
near the Pyrenees. They were
received by the mayor, who happily
noted that Sally and his friend
Armand spoke French.
Sally was appointed as cook of the
group and taken to the village inn.
The female owner was happy with the
extra help. Now the people finally
received a regular meal, after which
they were divided among different
farmers.
As a reaction to the grief of the
suffering of the last days, Sally
had a crying fit that evening.
Everything passed again before his
eyes: The crying women, the shouting
children, people falling ill, the
suffering babies and the physical
circumstances. Nevertheless he and
Armand were ready to prepare
breakfast the following morning.
Breakfast was followed by a lunch of
soup, vegetables, potatoes and meat,
which was eagerly accepted.
It went on like that, but Sally
understood that such a small village
would not be able to support a group
of hundred refugees endlessly and he
decided to contact the Dutch
consulate in Toulouse. The mayor
gave him and Armand the necessary
papers
and so they could leave for
Toulouse. They were received by van
Dobben, the honorary Dutch consul.
Sally told him what had happened to
them and added that he wanted to go
to England in order to join the
Dutch fighting forces there. Van
Dobben answered that he would not be
able to help him. His powers and
possibilities were limited and
certainly not geared to a state of
war.
This man headed a large Dutch
enterprise in Toulouse, but he did
not dare to show any initiative,
without risking a conflict with the
people he was subordinated to.
They returned to St. Julien, but
after some time they went to
Toulouse again, in order to find a
way to England, nevertheless.
After meeting a French official in
Toulouse they decided to go to
Paris, which had not yet been
occupied by the Germans. There they
were unable to arrange things and so
they returned to Toulouse. It turned
out that the Dutch consulate in
Toulouse had taken a small step and
that each Dutch refugee received 16
Francs a day.
Sally refused to accept this amount
and tried to earn some money on his
own. He maintained his contact with
the consulate and one day he even
met his brother's family there. In
the meantime more and more Dutchmen,
who had succeeded to escape from
Holland, arrived in Toulouse and
Sally understood that many of his
compatriots would follow.
In the meantime a kind of reception
center was established in Toulouse,
but Sally, who in August 1940 was
quite well informed about the
general situation, decided to
contact the Dutch consulate in Lyon.
The consul there, Mr. Lambotte, was
French and did not speak Dutch.
Sally understood that here was a
task for him, since problems had
arisen with Dutchmen who did not
speak French. He also helped his
brother ,who was worried about the
fate of their parents, to return to
Brussels.
He contacted Mr. Lambotte again and
was appointed as a "non salaried
employee". In order to support
himself, Sally started his commerce
again, but now in Lyon. In this way
he met many people, who proved to be
of use to him later on. He contacted
the firm Bouchera and in December
1940 he made contact with Samani, a
wholesale dealer in Persian carpets.
He returned to the trade in Persian
carpets and his free time was
dedicated to his work at the
consulate. More and more Dutchmen
arrived, and thanks to the many
contacts he had made, he was able to
really help them.
He met colonel Paul Marx, judicial
investigator with the Military
Tribunal in Lyon, who appointed him
as interpreter with his Tribunal.
Sometimes Dutch refugees were
imprisoned without blame and had to
appear before the Tribunal. Due to
his connections with colonel Marx,
two of them could be freed.
In the meantime, in the Vichy part
of France, food was becoming scarce.
Sally kept himself busy with
providing food for the refugees and
for the England sailors, arriving at
the Dutch consulate in Lyon.
Some of these people were arrested
by the French police, and detained
in camps or prisons, which certainly
was no pleasure. Through his
connections with the consulate,
Sally met the camp commanders,
enabling him to solve matters
concerning detained Dutchmen.
In order to assist these people also
financially, he erected a special
fund. He quickly noted that
assistance to these refugees was
regarded by the Dutch authorities as
"illegal," not allowed according to
the consular rules. But he was of
the opinion that those people had to
be assisted, with or without rules.
And so Sally provided them with
clothing, shoes and also medical
help.
Consul Lambotte passed away, but
Sally was also on good terms with
the new consul. In 1941 the Dutch
consulate was degraded and it's
official status was taken away. From
now on it was called "Office
Neerlandais." This made no
difference to Sally, but the change
proved to be the subordination to
the Vichy regime, which was
influenced by the conquering Nazi
regime in Paris. It was also the end
of the diplomatic recognition of the
occupied countries, whose
governments were not acknowledged
anymore.
It was astonishing to note how often
fleeing Dutchmen were not aware of
the complicated situation in which
they were involved. They stayed in
France without valid papers, which
certainly opened the prison gates
for them.
Often these young men were arrested
as a group, either immediately after
leaving Holland, or when meeting
each other during the journey.
"Food" remained an important factor
in the care for these people. In
spite of the difficult situation in
France, Sally knew how to find
addresses where food was available.
Furthermore he constantly had to
provide financial means. The money
usually came from private hands,
from Dutch merchants who had taken
up their residence in Lyon. The
solidarity was great. That was not
so simple, because during the middle
of 1941 the influx of refugees
became greater. Mr. Kolkman, the
consul of Perpignan, who was later
executed, helped him very much.
In the Vichy area the situation was
not so simple, many England sailors
were arrested there and put into
camps or prison. Sally, providing
food and good meals, had good
connections with camp commanders and
jurists, which enabled him to free a
great part of these prisoners from
jails at places like Macon and Lons
de Saunier. This was not regarded as
bribery, but simply as the French
way of doing things.
Part of the refugees tried to
continue reaching Switzerland,
however the route
Holland-Switzerland was extremely
difficult. Many refugees were
arrested by the Dutch, Belgian or
French authorities and even when
they succeeded in reaching the Swiss
border, they were stopped by the
Swiss police, who returned many of
them.
Those who happened to reach
Vichy-France, were in a certain
sense better off. If they were
arrested – sometimes in groups –
they were put in the Annecy prison,
where Sally had his connections.
For his travels Sally needed
permits. He himself
"arranged" the necessary
papers and stamps. Regarding his
travels there were seemingly no
problems. From the Annecy prison,
Sally succeeded in freeing amongst
others, Ernst Voorst tot Voorst, the
son of a well known Dutch general.
As a result of the persecution of
Jews in Holland, more and more
non-Aryans arrived in Lyon. As Sally
considered the situation in Vichy
France less and less trustworthy, he
thought it advisable not to register
the Jewish refugees anywhere. He
took care of their needs
circumventing the Dutch Office, and
looked for trustworthy French
addresses.
The young men arriving from Holland
were still interested in reaching
England, in order to enlist with the
Dutch forces there. Toulouse, as
mentioned before, was an important
spot on this route, because since
1940 there were two reception
centers for Dutchmen. Sally's
endavours were to try to improve the
situation there. It was important to
obtain a valid visum to Spain and
Portugal, without which, great
difficulties in those countries were
to be expected. Both countries were
slow in providing a visum, and
precious time was spent with this
procedure. Especially young men
encountered difficulties.
In the meantime, the situation of
the Jews in Holland had become very
dangerous. Sally was personally
involved, because part of his family
had already been deported. Therefore
he decided to intensify his
assistance especially for Jewish
refugees. The first and most
important step in this connection,
was to obtain a French identity
card.
It was quite easy to acquire such a
document. They were sold blank, one
had to fill in all details, to add a
recent passport picture and to show
them to the French authorities.
After approval and payment of the
legal dues, the card was signed and
stamped by the official and became
an official document.
"Suspicious entries", like Jewish
names, were changed by Sally and any
religion was suitable, with the
exception of the Jewish one of
course.
The next step was the visa problem
for Spain and Portugal. A Spanish
consul, Jaquet,
offered cooperation and in Lyon
cooperation was received from the
Dutch military attaché in Bern,
general van Tricht.
The Vichy regime was entirely
rotten; people like Laval and Darlan
were regarded as
criminals by most Frenchmen. Most
Frenchmen wanted to be free, which
could be noticed in daily life.
Therefore the Dutch Office in Lyon
found much support and many
Frenchmen supported the Dutch case.
In 1941 the Office functioned in a
peculiar way,
a mixture of an escape
organization for arrested Dutchmen,
travelling agency and a social
service. Active were Jacquet, his
secretary and Sally Noach.
In 1942 still more assistance was
required from the Office. The number
of arriving Dutch Jews was higher
than in 1941. The situation of
Vichy-France became similar to
Paris, where razzia's were already
held. Sally was on his guard and
kept assisting younger men, who
would be able to join the Dutch army
in England.
About June 1942 the situation in
Vichy worsened, especially the food
situation. Sally appreciated the
assistance of colonel Marx in this
matter.
Now he started receiving messages
from the police in Lyon, warning him
that difficulties for the Jews were
coming. At the end of July 1942
Sally was informed about the
existence of the transitional
camp Drancy and at the
beginning of August he was warned by
the head of police in Lyon, that
razzia's for the Jews were planned.
Sally changed his identity to Jean
Desbonnets.
There were changes in command ranks.
Frenchmen who were not willing to
execute Vichy commands were ousted.
On 30 August 1942 the first razzia
in Lyon took place.
Sally, with much daring, succeeded
to free a large group of Dutchmen
from prison, promising that they
would receive official registration,
which was arranged immediately by
the Dutch Office. The next day it
turned out that other Dutchmen were
transported to the Iris stadium.
From there Sally was also able to
save many of them, by providing them
with legitimate papers, fabricated
by himself.
Day by day Lyon became more and more
unsafe and in October 1942 the
situation became critical.
During that period Sally's nerves
were sorely tested through the
enormous quantity of work, but also
due to the message that his parents
were transported in September 1942.
In the meantime the French
resistance got stronger, which
caused the Vichy regime to combat
its rivals and to fight those French
who did not cooperate with Vichy
collaboration. As a result the Dutch
Office started to attract the
attention of the Vichy agents.
Mr. Jacquet realized that their work
had become more dangerous and he
advised Sally to flee to England as
soon as possible. Sally possessed a
"Libre sortie de France" with the
required stamps and he reached Spain
at the last moment. On 11 November
1942 the Germans conquered the
"free" part of France, only two days
after Sally had crossed the
Franco-Spanish border!
Via Barcelona he went to Madrid, to
the Dutch embassy there, but he
noticed that it was better to
proceed on his own power and with
his own means. In Madrid he found
some rest, but the
extraordinary stress, from
May 1940 on, started to take its
toll. He did not give in, he had to
go on. He obtained a Portuguese
visa and reached Lisbon without
further disturbance. He went to the
Dutch embassy there and was coolly
received by Baron Harinxma thoe
Sloten, who also managed the Red
Cross, which took care of the
refugees.
The Baron had obviously heard about
Sally from Dutchmen who were active
in France. He was not content with
the criticism uttered by Sally on
the little interest shown by Dutch
officials to Dutch refugees,
including Jews.
London had decreed that Sally should
rest well before making the passage
to London. In France he had had many
discussions regarding the importance
of helping Dutch refugees, even when
this required a "breaking of rules."
These discussions earned him the
title of a "troublemaker."
But Sally never forgot that due to
the "legality" so beloved by the
Dutch authorities, many people, some
of them in deathly danger, could not
be saved. The sluggishness with
which Dutch officials in Vichy
worked, had been the cause of many
disasters.
In Lisbon Sally received more news
about his deported parents. He was
happy to hear that his brothers were
able to reach Switzerland safely.
At the start of 1943, Sally finally
reached London. He was received by
the famous spy catcher, colonel
Oreste Pinto. The professional
reputation of this man was
unequalled and he proffered great
service to Holland and to the allied
powers. He had a special sense
enabling him to spot the unreliable
elements amongst the “Engelandvaarders”,
the escapees to England . He acted
moreover without bias and didn't
care what people thought about him,
which drew a lot of criticism. He
had a long conversation with Sally,
gathering as much information as
possible. In London Sally found time
to think about what had happened in
France during his stay there and he
composed a detailed report about
that period.
Almost immediately Sally arrived in
"Oranjehaven," the home donated by
Queen Wilhelmina to the
Engelandvaarders . There he met
several young men whom he had
assisted in Lyon and was received
with loud cheers.
Because Sally did not feel too well,
he passed a medical examination,
leading to the conclusion
that he was in shock. The Dutch
department of National Affairs
ordered
him to rest at a home, were
other citizens and sailors were also
recovering.
After several weeks of good care and
total rest, an important visit was
announced.
The visitors were Gerbrandy, the
Dutch minister president, van Boeyen,
minister of war, minister of state
Beelaerts van Blokland, and Tets van
Goudriaan, representative of Her
Majesty the queen.
Sally was quite astonished by this
visit, but he was also touched.
Minister Gerbrandy welcomed him in
name of the Dutch government and
minister van Boeyen thanked him for
his work in France. Minister
Beelaerts van Blokland offered the
appreciation of the ministry of war,
since Sally had paved the way for
escapees to England, to enlist in
the Dutch forces. Tets van Goudriaan
received him in name of the queen.
Sally never thought about thanks or
honor. He regarded his actions as
duty only. The visit was followed by
a long conversation during which
Sally gave a detailed report. Sally
was outspoken and gave an honest
opinion regarding the Dutch
representation in France, which
seemed often too neutral and old
fashioned.
Ten days after this conversation
Sally received an invitation to
visit Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina
at her residence in Chester Square.
Naturally he accepted the
invitation. He was collected by car
and received by Francois van het
Sant, which he would meet again at a
later date. He had lunch with the
queen followed by a long
conversation.
Sally was requested by several
departments to give information
about his experience in France. At
the end he was interviewed by the
Governmental Information Service,
where he met the Dutch journalist
and radio speaker, Meyer Sluyser.
Sally told him that the queen had
suggested that he write a report for
her on his experience in France.
Sluyser offered the use of his
office for the writing of the
report, and also gave him a
secretary for the typing. The
finished report was delivered to the
secretariat of the queen. At the
time there were different Dutch
information services, more or less
in competition with each other.
After the war the report found its
way to the National Institute for
War Documentation in Amsterdam.
Sally was sometimes attacked,
because of the criticism contained
in
his report. He was invited to
minister van Kleffens, of
Foreign Affairs, which
certainly was an unpleasant meeting.
The minister felt passed over,
because the report – which belonged
to his ministry - was delivered
directly to the queen.
After a short time Sally was
summoned to the department of
internal affairs, where a
function was reserved for
him. Sally was quite astonished,
because he had been approved for
military service and he thought that
he would be a part of the active
service. But the ministry of war had
concluded that he would be more
useful in another function.
He was received by van der Putten
and placed in the documentation
department. He had to check details
concerning occupied
Holland, and personal details
of NSB
members, which were all entered in a
huge card system, managed by major
Olifiers. Sally worked with daily
newspapers, magazines and other Nazi
publications, as well as with papers
of the resistance, which all reached
London. The information gleaned was
actual and accurate, giving Sally an
excellent picture of what occurred
in his conquered home country.
Around Christmas 1943 Francois van
het Sant invited Sally again, and he
discovered that Sally had to manage
with seven Pound Sterling per week,
an amount not affording him much to
spend. As a result he received a
Christmas present from the queen of
25 Pound Sterling and after some
time he received a part-time
appointment from Van het Sant with a
monthly income of
40 Pound Sterling. He also
continued his first job with
internal affairs.
Since he had to be a few times a
week in Chester Square, he met the
queen from time to time and he also
met princes Juliana during her visit
to England.
Two important persons, who should
not be forgotten were Saal and Mamie
van Swaanenberg. Their family became
a real home for many people in need
of rest and recuperation, also for
Sally.
During one of the meetings between
Queen Wilhelmina and Sally, the
subject of the expenses paid by
Sally in assistance of the “Engelandvaarders”was
mentioned. He told the queen that
the official authorities did not
partake in this expenditure.
Therefore he had to beg for money
from well-to-do Dutchmen and some
part of the expenses were paid
personally by him. The queen advised
him to file a claim with the
department of internal affairs.
Since Sally did not know exactly the
amount in question, he asked people
whom he had assisted, to help him in
this matter. In the end it turned
out that he had to contact the
ministry of war, where he was not
treated too well. Finally he gave up
and waived his claim.
Sally had many experiences during
wartime in London. He was a regular
visitor to "Oranjehaven", the home
of the England sailors, where he
often met the queen and also prince
Bernhard. He had great admiration
for the British behavior during the
terrible bombing of their towns.
After the liberation of the South of
Holland, queen Wilhelmina paid a
visit there, and returned unwell.
She wished to use a certain brand of
eau de cologne and Van het Sant
asked Sally whether he knew how to
obtain it.
Sally had just been in liberated
France and he happened to posses
that kind of eau de cologne, which
he offered the queen without delay.
During one of his visits to France,
he met Mr. Jacquet, who had offered
him so much assistance during his
stay in Lyon. This man, seriously
harmed during his stay in German
concentration camps, fretted that
the Dutch had not reinstated him,
and had not returned the title of
consul of Holland to him. Sally
decided to bring the subject up in
London, even by mediation of the
queen. Finally a favorable result
was reached and Jacquet was
appointed as "honorary consul" in
Lyon.
After the war Sally was honorably
discharged from his activities, with
thanks for his services to his
country.
Sally did not object to his
discharge, since he wanted to regain
his independence and to return to
commerce. But he remained in the
queen's service.
So he remained in London, where he
found his wife. She was secretary to
several ministers. In 1946 they got
married.
Sally tried to rebuild his commerce
in Persian carpets. This was not
easy at all, since the Dutch
government was very cautious with
foreign currency transactions.
Sally succeeded in adhering to the
foreign currency regulations and was
able to purchase a great quantity of
carpets in Persia. He was proud to
be the first Dutch businessman able
to present Persian carpets after May
1945. Finally he was able to supply
carpets to other tradesmen, as a
respected wholesale dealer.
In February 1947 he returned to
Holland by boat with wife and baby,
but could not find a flat. He lived
in Zandvoort till he found a flat in
Amsterdam.
When he became 60, he received a
decoration from the queen. Sally had
expected something like that,
because Major Olifiers was also a
member of the Decorations
Commission. He and minister Albarda
hinted that Queen Wilhelmina planned
to give him a decoration. Nothing
happened however. Later on it turned
out that van Kleffens from foreign
affairs had tried to slow down the
procedure, obviously as a reaction
to Sally's past criticism on the
Dutch officials in France. Finally
the decoration was given to him at
Soestdijk Palace, by Queen Juliana
and Prince Bernhard, in 1969- when
he became 60 years. Sally was the
first one to receive the Cross of
Honor of Oranje Nassau, a
distinction instituted only seven
years earlier.
Afterwards there followed a
reception at the Doelenhotel, with
many friends,
“Engelandvaarders”, former
resistance fighters, officers and
officials.
Sally thankfully felt that "he had
done what had to be done."
He passed away in Amsterdam in March
1980.
Source:-M.G. Haringman,
Sally Noach. Het moest gedaan worden, 1971, uitgeverij
Semper
Agendo, Apeldoorn,
paperback, 136 p. (met foto's)
Extracted in Dutch from the
source:-Yael Benlev-de Jong
Translation into English:-Mechel
Jamenfeld
Editing:- Ben Noach
Final review :- Hanneke Noach