Hugo Pos’ recruitment campaign

500 volunteers to liberate the Netherlands

The Surinamese Jew Hugo Pos tells the story of his 1940 escape from the Netherlands to Surinam in 1941 in Paramaribo. In a passionate report he calls on his audience to report for the Prinses Irene Brigade to help liberate the Netherlands. No less than 500 volunteers answer his call!

No reaction

Pos reports this to the Dutch government in London but receives no reaction. Pos did not find out the reason until much later. The minister of War was afraid the black Surinamese would be offensive to the brigade’s white volunteers and conscripts from South Africa. The 500 men receive no word. In 1944 a new call for volunteers was made to aid the liberation of the Dutch East Indies.