Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

58 Adr. Monday and Other Tales of Jewish Amsterdam

but also did a great job in whipping up an insatiable hunger for the fine arts, especially literature. The simple working people discovered the world of the book.

In the Jewish neighbourhood, Socialism was personified by a man on a bicycle. Nobody knew his real name but everybody called him "Herringhead".

He was the runner of the diamond workers union. He delivered the Union newspaper and collected the subscriptions for the Union Fund that was appropriately called "Help Each Other".

Herringhead was the living link between the organisation and its members. You asked the man on the bike for an explanation when an item in the newspaper was unclear to you.You asked him for advice or aid. Usually he knew the answer, and if he did not, he used to say, "I will ask Henri this week." And then a week later the infallible advice came.. .Straight from Mount Sinai.

There was only one thing Herringhead could not do, supply the union members with books from the library. If you wanted to borrow books from the Union library on French Lane, you had to go fetch them there yourself. On Tuesday and Thursday night around seven, a small crowd was already standing in line on the high doorstep at the front door of the Building. The library didn't open until eight, but first come, first served. Lezeman, the doorman, was inexorable. Open at eight and not a second sooner. And no pushing allowed, and no loud noises on the staircase.

The library was not just there for lending out books, but also to instruct in the fine arts and sciences. The librarians knew the catalogue by heart. When a young union