The Assimilation and Integration of Pre- and Postwar Refugees in the Netherlands

Some years ago the N etherlands Research Committee for European Refugee Problems commissioned an investigation into the adjustment problems of foreigners who for various reasons have taken refuge in the Netherlands. This investigation is of great interest. In these times of rapid change we all have our problems of adjustment. How very much greater these problems must be for those who had to leave all they cherished behind them and start all over again in new and strange surroundings. I wholeheartedlyendorse the Committee's initiative in publishing in this monograph the main results of the investigation. These results should be useful in the work of the organizations concerned with refugee welfare. But in wider circles, both in the Netherlands and abroad, this publication should also awaken interest in the refugee question in general and the situation of refugees in the Nether­ lands in particular. How necessary this interest still is has been shown once again by the recent events in Hungary, which brought untold misery to many thousands. These Hungarian refugees and countless others who before them fled can best be helped to adjust to the new patterns of life if all who in their daily lives come into contact with them approach them in the right way. But to be able to do that we must first realize the difficulties the refugees have to contend with. Therefore the study of this monograph should be of posi­ tive value to many people.