Gerhard Durlacher

Gerhard Leopold Durlacher (1928 - 1996) was a Dutch writer and sociologist.

Durlacher was born into a liberal Jewish family in Germany. In 1937 he settled with his parents in Rotterdam (Netherlands), after they had fled the Nazis. The flight was not far enough. The family was arrested on October 3, 1942 and transported to Westerbork concentration camp; then to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz. On May 8, 1945 Gerhard Durlacher was liberated by the Russians. His father died in Bergen-Belsen, his mother in Stutthof. 
From 1964 to the end of 1983 was G. L. Durlacher Professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. 

Durlacher wrote several books about his experiences in World War II. Later in life Durlacher sharply criticized the Allies who did not intervene even though they were aware of the fate of the Jews in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany. 
In July 1996 Durlacher died suddenly in his hometown of Haarlem.