This article is based on this Dutch article of Martijn Benders
In the Netherlands, since October 1, 2024, a law has been in effect that criminalizes the denial, justification, or trivialization of genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. This legislation is a response to international obligations and aims to protect victims and their relatives from hurtful remarks that deny or minimize such crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), in recent rulings, has classified certain acts as war crimes and genocide. As a result, individuals or organizations that deny or condone these crimes can now be prosecuted under the new Dutch legislation.
Yannis Ritsos (1909–1990) was a prominent Greek poet and one of the most influential literary figures of his time. His work was internationally recognized and translated, and he received numerous prestigious awards. Despite his reputation, there is no documented evidence that he was ever personally invited to the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam.
In poetic terms, one might call that a crime. But what lies at the root of this crime?
It was during the turbulent 1960s that Geert van Oorschot, a man with a sharp pen and an even sharper eye for ideology, intensified his fight against communism. As an influential Dutch publisher, he used his platform not only to disseminate literature but also to establish a cultural-political foundation for his outspoken anti-communist views. His magazine Libertinage served as a sounding board for like-minded individuals, and he worked closely with Jacques de Kadt, a former communist who had become a fervent anti-communist after 1935.
Van Oorschot’s missionary zeal was evident in the creation of the Russian Library. This monumental series was more than just a collection of translated works; it was a mission to liberate the Russian people from what he perceived as a diabolical system. He believed that making authentic Russian literature accessible would help the Western world contribute to the enlightenment of the Russians. Even the spelling of their names was altered, as if the Dutch interpretation was superior.
The entire Russian Library, therefore, was born out of a kind of missionary drive, a drive that can still be observed today. The Russians must be freed from their sinister essence. We, the enlightened West, know better—even down to how their names should be spelled.
The rather domineering presence of Van Oorschot Publishers in various spheres (such as Poetry International, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, prize juries, and festival organizations) clearly has an ideological dimension. Last year, thanks to an article in Parool, we learned that intelligence agencies shadowed individuals returning from concentration camps for up to thirty years just to see if they had picked up any communist sympathies in those camps.
My first thought was: if they are willing to go to such lengths with people returning from concentration camps, what lengths wouldn’t they go to in the case of communist or anarchist writers or poets?
That these individuals are not invited to festivals might be the least troubling variable in this equation. The entanglement with secret services is worse—anyone who thinks that the experiments with art by the CIA in France during the 1960s were an exception is sorely mistaken. Culture lends itself exceptionally well to propaganda. We are Freedom.
Take Pieter Waterdrinker, for example. He wrote yesterday on X:
“Because I am so old (but still not tired or weary of life), I once lived in a country where everyone had to think the same: the Soviet Union. The spiritual terror I felt there, I now feel again. Do not despair: the USSR ultimately fell apart.”
And by “spiritual terror,” he means the pursuit of a peaceful solution for Ukraine instead of pumping in more weapons. I replied:
“The outcome of yet another Western ‘liberation war’ could have been predicted by anyone with three brain cells from the start. What we now have is an amalgam of Russia, North Korea, and Iran, even linking their electricity grids. Thank you, diplomacy hater.”
That touches on the real core issue: the West massively overestimates itself. Just as it is foolishly diabolical to call the pursuit of peace “terror”—this gentleman clearly lives in an upside-down world—the behavior the West displays is based on the belief that it will remain technologically superior forever. The problem is: it hasn’t been superior for a long time. And such behavior then becomes downright insane.
Russia is the only country with Mach 10 missiles; that is a fact. These are impossible to intercept and can travel from Russia to the United Kingdom in ten minutes. You’re no longer “superior,” but you still act as if that’s beyond doubt. And that, of course, is nothing short of life-threateningly stupid.
Martijn Benders, 22-11-2024