The Dutch Jewish socialist Maurice Ferares turned a hundred in January this year. Ferares is one of the last surviving participants of the famous Amsterdam strike against the Nazi persecution of the Jews in February 1941. The story of his life links us to a whole world of political struggle in the European workers’ movement of the last century, from the fight against Nazism to solidarity with anti-colonial revolutions in the Global South.

Ferares was born into a poor Jewish family during the interwar years. His father was a shoemaker whose workshop took up part of the small family home, and Ferares shared a room with his parents until he was eighteen. They wanted the young Ferares to become a professional musician, hoping that it would offer him an escape route from poverty. When his friends were playing soccer or watching movies, Ferares had to practice the violin.

His father also made him attend a Jewish religious school, which opened connections to wealthier members of the Jewish community. His father hoped that this would enable him to continue his studies, and Ferares did eventually receive a scholarship from a Jewish association.