Louis Fles

Levie Jacob "Louis" Fles (19 October 1872 – 24 May 1940) was a Dutch businessman, activist and author. He is best known for writing and broadcasting against Zionism, Nazism, and organized religion. A self-described freethinker, Fles was a vocal supporter of Humanism and Jewish assimilation. His relationship with the Dutch Social Democratic Workers' Party was more problematic. While he generally supported the ideals of socialism, he wrote extensively about his disagreements with the party as well. After a life filled with personal tragedy and devotion to political and social activism, Fles committed suicide in May 1940, only a few weeks after the German occupation of the Netherlands.

Family life

Louis Fles was born in Maassluis, Netherlands on 19 October 1871 to Jewish parents. His father, Jacob Levie Fles, worked as a diamond cutter, and his mother, Saartje van Blijdestein, ran a hosiery shop, placing young Louis squarely in the newly expanding merchant class. After his father died in 1873 his mother married a man named Swaab. Upon his mother's death in 1878, Louis was taken in and raised by his stepfather's family.

On 13 August 1896 Fles married Zipporah van Straten in the city of Rotterdam. They had six children; Mina, Rosine, Henriette, Clara, Barthold, and George. Barthold became a successful literary agent in New York City in the United States. George worked as a translator in the Soviet Union during the regime of Joseph Stalin. In 1938 George was arrested as a political dissident due to his Trotskyist sympathies. Upon hearing of George's arrest, Louis travelled to Moscow, but was unable to find his son before his visa expired. George died in prison in 1939.

With these experiences as a foundation, Fles soon founded his own company. The addition of a highly successful line of office furniture helped the company expand and establish branch offices throughout the Netherlands. Fles sold his business and retired in 1934. He expanded upon these ideas in Water en vuur (Water and Fire) (1931). Religion, Fles wrote, was as antithetical to socialism as water was to fire. Here Fles repeated his accusation that the government deferred too much to religious—particularly Catholic—authorities, especially in the area of children's education.

In 1933 Fles used a pseudonym, Dr. W. Bottema C. Az, to publish Hitler, hervormer of misdadiger? (Hitler, reformer or criminal?).

Additionally, Fles carried on correspondences with other leading thinkers of his day, including an extended debate with Henri Polak regarding the nature of socialism and Fles' determined opposition to Zionism.

The Olympiad Under Dictatorship When the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin were declared off limits to Jews and other groups that the Nazi government deemed undesirable, Fles was among a group of Dutch businessmen and politicians who organized De Olympiade Onder Dictatuur ("The Olympiad Under Dictatorship") both to showcase the artists of the Netherlands and to protest the policies of the Third Reich. Organizers of the exhibition included Fles' friend and correspondent Henri Polak, as well as other left-leaning Dutch leaders. The committee made it clear that their exhibition was as much about protesting the Nazis' manipulation of the arts and sciences for political purposes as it was about showcasing Dutch excellence. Artists from neighboring countries and even German artists who had fled the Nazi regime were invited to participate. The initials of the name itself spell out D.O.O.D, or "death" in Dutch.

The travelling exhibition opened on 1 August 1936 amid much controversy. In Amsterdam, the use of public buildings was prohibited, and in Rotterdam, the show was closed down after only a few days. Nineteen works were considered by the Dutch government to be too insulting to Hitler and were removed from display. The German consul himself characterized the event as "sheer provocation", showing that the committee's efforts had not escaped official German notice. Many of the organizers and participants went to prison or were executed after German forces occupied the Netherlands in 1940.

In 1996, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the D.O.O.D., the Amsterdam Municipal Archives allowed a number of the works from the original exhibition to be displayed at the Sports Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Published works Is in de moderne boekhouding plaats voor het copieboek? (Can copybooks serve a function in modern accounting?) (1918) Efficiency (1922) Kalenderhervorming, sabbath en kerk (Calendar Reform, Sabbath and Church) (1930) Mijn antwoord aan opperrabbijn I. Maarssen (My Answer to Chief Rabbi I. Maarssen) (1930) De schuldbekentenis van de SDAP (The Confession of the SDAP) (1930) Water en vuur (Water and Fire) (1931) Onderwijs zonder godsdienst (Education without Religion) (1932) Open brief aan den heer J.F. Ankersmit te Amsterdam (Open Letter to Mr. J.F. Ankersmit Amsterdam) (1932) Hitler, hervormer of misdadiger? (Hitler, Reformer or Criminal?) (1933) Een verboden radiorede: Los van de kerk (A Forbidden Radio Speech: Free from the Church) (1933) Godsdienst, openbare school en zionisme (Religion, Public School and Zionism) (1935) Weg met het zionisme! (Down with Zionism!) (1939)