Calmeyer’s Dilemma: Deciding Life and Death Under Nazi Rule

Hans Calmeyer, a German lawyer and Nazi official, saved thousands of Dutch Jews from deportation to concentration camps.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945), Calmeyer was responsible for reviewing claims of Jewish ancestry. In countless cases, he recognized forged certificates of descent, helping people to escape persecution. Through these decisions, thousands were spared deportation and likely death. At the same time, as a bureaucrat of the Nazi administration in The Hague, he rejected numerous other applications and exposed people to persecution. This compelling documentary examines the moral conflict between systemic power and individual humanity during the Nazi era in the occupied Netherlands.