Louis Fles

Louis Fles
Born	Levie Jacob Fles October 19, 1871(1871-10-19) Maassluis, Netherlands
Died	May 24, 1940(1940-05-24) (aged 68). Amsterdam, Netherlands
Pen name	Dr. W. Bottema C.Az.
Occupation	businessman, author, activist
Nationality	Dutch, Jewish atheist
Period	1918-1939
Genres	non-fiction
Subjects	Jewish assimilation, anti-Zionism, Nazism, business
Notable work(s)	Forbidden radio-speech Hitler, reformer or criminal Away with Zionism!
Spouse(s)	Celine van Straaten
Children	Mina, Rosine, Henriette, Clara, Barthold, George
Relative(s)	Michael John Fles, Bart Berman, Thijs Berman, Giorgio van Straten

Levie Jacob "Louis" Fles (1872–1940) was a Dutch businessman, activist and author. He was a member of the organizing committee of the 1928 Summer Olympics. Louis Fles is best known for writing and broadcasting against Zionism and organized religion.

Fles was a strong supporter of Jewish assimilation and had a complex relationship with the Dutch Social Democratic Workers' Party. He was a strong criticizer of Nazism, for example in his work from 1933 Hitler, hervormer of misdadiger? (Dutch: Hitler, reformer or criminal?) and committed suicide at the conquest of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany.

Bibliography

• Is in de moderne boekhouding plaats voor het copieboek? (1918)
• Efficiency (1922)
• Kalenderhervorming, sabbath en kerk (1930)
• Mijn antwoord aan opperrabbijn I. Maarssen (1930)
• De schuldbekentenis van de SDAP (1930)
• Water en vuur (1931)
• Onderwijs zonder godsdienst (1932)
• Open brief aan den heer J.F. Ankersmit te Amsterdam (1932)
• Hitler, hervormer of misdadiger? (1933)
• Een verboden radiorede: Los van de kerk (1933)
• Godsdienst, openbare school en zionisme (1935)
• Weg met het zionisme! (1939)

Biography

• Vrijdenkers in verzuild Nederland : de Dageraad 1900-1940 : een bronnenstudie
• Biography of Levie Fles at the Biographical Dictionary of Socialism and the Labor Movement in the Netherlands

External links

• Louis Fles family page at Akevoth