ABSTRACT
Proud. That was how Dutch Jews felt in 1860. One of their leading men, lawyer Michel Henri Godefroi (1813–1883), had been appointed minister of justice. He was the first Jewish government minister in the Netherlands and very much aware of his Jewishness. At the time of his appointment he was chair of the Executive Committee for Israelite Affairs, where he had devoted himself to the interests of Dutch Jews since 1844.
