In 1939, he was appointed director of the Lithuanian branch of production of
Philips. When the
Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, Ambassador de Decker wrote a declaration on
Nathan Gutwirth's and
Pessie Lewin's passport stating that entering
Curaçao and Dependencies in the West Indies did not require a visa, while omitting the part about the standard phrase "permission of the Governor of Curaçao is required". It is not clear if Gutwirth or Lewin suggested the omission. The idea of Curaçao possibly came up in correspondence between Mrs. Lewin and de Decker. She originally asked for a visa to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Zwartendijk was authorized or instructed by his superior, Ambassador to
Latvia L. P. J. de Decker, to issue the same modified text to Jews who wished to escape from Lithuania. As the word spread many Jews in
Kaunas/Kovno Lithuania approached Zwartendijk to get a similar inscription in their passports so they can leave. With the help of aides, he produced over 2,000 passport inscriptions for Jews to Curaçao. Possibly Jews who had fled from German, Soviet Union occupied Poland also sought his assistance. Subsequently, refugees also approached
Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese consul, who gave them a
transit visa through Japan, against the disapproval of his government. This gave many refugees an opportunity to leave Lithuania for the Far East via the
Trans-Siberian Railway. In the three weeks after 16 July 1940, Jan Zwartendijk, honorary Dutch consul, wrote 2,345 passport inscriptions to Curaçao and some of the Jews copied more. Many who helped only knew him as "Mr Philips Radio". When the
Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, they closed down his Philips office and the embassies and consulates in
Kaunas on 3 August 1940. He returned to the
occupied Netherlands to work in the Philips headquarters in
Eindhoven until his retirement, and did not talk about the matter. Zwartendijk died in Eindhoven in 1976. ==Awards==