Ronny Naftaniel is the son of a German Jew who had survived the Holocaust in the Netherlands after already having fled Nazi Germany in the aftermath of Kristallnacht in 1938. Naftaniel's father was immediately interned in Westerbork - in 1938 a refugee camp where Jews from Germany who had fled Nazi Germany were brought to - after crossing the border with the Netherlands.
Ronny Naftaniel's family history is marked by their Jewish heritage and their flight from Nazi persecution in Germany. They were forced to flee after Kristallnacht and ended up at Westerbork, a camp designed for refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.