Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rotte's apology for the Dutch government's conduct during the Nazi occupation came almost too late for most Dutch Holocaust survivors, perhaps for most Dutch. When are few survivors still alive, the second and third generation living in today's anti-Semitism much more frightening.

I write things in half: my father was saved from being sent to death camps by Dutch underground fighters, and by a brave Catholic family - who even received recognition as a Righteous Among the Nations. I owe my life except for the brave Dutch who risked their lives to save Jews, most of the Jews in the Netherlands were not lucky.

From my vast family, there is hardly a remnant left. As a child, I didn't know what Uncle, Auntie, Nephew, Grandpa or Grandma were. I would call friends of my parents "uncle", as a grandmother served as a Dutch widow who adopted us as her grandchildren.

In his remarks, Rote mentioned that most of the Dutch during the Nazi occupation preferred to look away. "Turning a lazy eye" is a well-known term in Dutch, which describes the tendency of the Kingdom people not to see what is difficult, problematic or just uncomfortable. The Dutch "look with a lazy eye" at a variety of things, from light drug smoking (no official legalization in the Netherlands, despite what is commonly thought) to wars in remote countries in the Middle East.

Even today, many Dutch people look "lazily" at various anti-Semitic phenomena, from hatred of Jews to anti-Israelism, which is mostly the source of Muslim immigrants. But something, maybe, is changing. It began this week with the continuous, live reading of the names of the 102,000 Dutch Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The exciting reading has created unprecedented media interest, incorporating the younger generation into the initiative, it is hoped in the Netherlands, to change their perception.

Rota's apology arrives almost too late, but still on time. Precisely in the days of increasing anti-Semitism, the courage to face the cameras and not to turn a "lazy eye" into the past like many have done before - deserves appreciation. On my behalf, and on behalf of many Dutch Jews, I thank you Prime Minister Rota for the courage, the desire to change.

Now we just have to translate the tribute to the 21st century reality. A reality in which the arms of Dutch law quickly reach everyone who is shutting down the royal house on the social network, but many hundreds of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli attacks remain unanswered. Here too, there is no room for "lazy eye".