Despite the fact that the Netherlands was a neutral country, it formed a strategically vital target for the Germans, who invaded on May 10, 1940. Five days later, after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch surrendered.
The occupation lasted almost five years; for the Dutch, it was the most difficult period in their countrys history.
Dutch resolve, however, was not broken, and resistance continued amid brutal reprisals, starvation, and mass deportations that would see the Netherlands lose three-quarters of its Jewish population.
On May 10, 1940, Germany launched an invasion of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium as part of Operation Fall Gelb (Operation Case Yellow) without any formal declaration of war. Clearly unprepared for modern styles of warfare, the Netherlands fell quickly.
It was one of the first examples of using paratroopers to seize objectives before the advance of the main ground forces. For the Germans, the entire operation was a stunning success.
The German advances were overwhelming, and the bombing of Rotterdam left incredible destruction. The Dutch knew that further resistance would be futile and only leave more destruction in its wake.
By May 14, the Dutch army had surrendered, although a small contingent in Zeeland continued fighting until May 17.
Queen Wilhelmina fled the country and formed a government-in-exile in the United Kingdom. Many believed that she had abandoned her country, but she was adamant that she would never become a puppet ruler under the Germans, and today, her flight is seen as a pragmatic move. She continued to address the Dutch people via radio throughout the war. The rest of her family escaped to Canada. The escape of the Dutch royal family was achieved with the assistance of the British, who led a rescue mission.
At the beginning of the Second World War, the Dutch had remained neutral in the hopes that they could avoid the conflict, but after the invasions of Denmark and Norway, it became clear to most that the Netherlands was likely a prime target. Hasty preparations were made, but it was not enough.
There was a significant amount of denial within the country, with many people expecting Germany to leave the Netherlands alone. Nevertheless, for those who were more pragmatic and for those living in hope, the reaction was the same. Outrage swept the country.
A few days later, the fighting was over, and the emotion of outrage was joined with relief, humiliation, and a sense of abandonment, as many Dutch felt that the French and British should have stationed troops in the Netherlands to protect it from German invasion.
From the German perspective, the Dutch constituted fellow Aryans, and the Germans intended to treat the Dutch people a lot better than the citizens of many other conquered areas of Europe. From the Dutch perspective, they didnt expect to be treated well, as they had a significant distrust of the Germans.
For a minority of Dutch people, the invasion was a blessing. The Dutch Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (National-Socialist movement / NSB) welcomed the German occupation as it brought the members of this right-wing movement significant power. Its leader, Anton Mussert, had expected to be installed as the ruler of a Dutch state allied to the Germans, but in reality, the occupation was under the control of the Austrian politician Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who served as the Reichskommissar of the Netherlands from May 29, 1940, to May 7, 1945.
The distrust of the Germans was exacerbated by the immediate effects of the German occupation in terms of food. The Germans blockaded the ports and effectively ended the importation of foodstuffs from abroad. Instead, the Dutch people would be fed by the Germans with careful rationing. The food that was distributed was healthy and based on modern dietary needs. It was low in fat, and the Dutch, who were used to a high-fat diet, began to lose weight; many assumed the Germans were starving them. This turned out not to be the case, at least not at this point in the occupation. Later on, as the Germans became more harsh towards the Dutch people, the threat of famine would turn into a reality.
Many Dutch people believed the occupation would be short-lived, some expecting it to be over by Christmas. Until then, they adopted a policy of conforming to the desires of the occupiers, or at least the appearance of conformity.
While the German soldiers, on the whole, treated the Dutch well during the beginning of the occupation, German leadership took control of all aspects of society and the economy, banning free speech and propagating Nazi ideology among the populace of the Netherlands. Naturally, most Dutch people saw this as an attempt to convert the country. While the NSB saw some initial growth, swelling to around 100,000 members, it remained a fringe group in terms of the total population and was utterly despised by the rest of Dutch society.
Before the war, Dutch society had been fractured and split along social, religious, and political lines. With the exception of the small minority of those who supported the NSB and the Nazis, the vast majority of the Dutch population found itself with a common enemy, and as such, a sense of unity thrived.
Around 5% of the Dutch people joined the resistance. While this may (or may not) have been a relatively small percentage, this was the section of society that went into hiding and used violent tactics to strike at German assets. Other forms of resistance were common and were much less active. The Dutch people took to hiding those wanted by the Germans. In particular, Jewish people found hope and protection in the families that secreted them away in the attics of houses. The famous Anne Frank was one of these Jews who were looked after by compassionate and brave Dutch people.
When those in the Dutch resistance were caught and executed, the Dutch were horrified. Given the initial attitude of the Germans towards the Dutch at the beginning of the occupation, it came as a shock. Especially since in the Netherlands, the death penalty had been outlawed for many decades, and the Dutch were not used to anybody being executed.
It was also not just Jewish people who the Nazi occupiers were after. Communists and outspoken critics of the regime were targeted, as well as people with mental disabilities.
Life was tough for everybody under Nazi occupation. Forced labor was implemented, and adult men were drafted to work in German factories, which were often targeted by Allied bombing runs.
After the German conquest of the Netherlands, a Joodse Raad was created, a council that acted as a liaison between the Jews and the Nazi occupiers. The Raad was run by Abraham Asscher and David Cohen, supplied the Germans with information, and was responsible for organizing and selecting Jews for deportation. Asscher and Cohen were both tried for collaboration by the Jewish Community in the Netherlands after the war but were exonerated. Many Jews found themselves in difficult situations, being forced to collaborate on pain of death.
For their part, the Dutch did not sit quietly and do nothing. With the first waves of antisemitic policies came pushback in the form of protests and strikes from the Dutch populace. In February 1941, a strike was met with violent suppression by the Nazi regime, which tried thereafter to limit the amount of violence dealt to non-Jewish Dutch people.
This situation of being forced to collaborate was not just a situation for the Jews. Many Dutch people, especially those in the government and the police, were compelled to perform heinous acts in order to protect themselves and their families. Forced collaboration was an incredibly difficult issue that raised many questions, especially after the war, when people were put on trial for their assistance to the Nazi regime.
The outcome of the Nazi policies in the Netherlands was that over 70% of Dutch Jews were deported. This was a higher proportion than in any other German-occupied territory in Western Europe.
Not all collaboration was forced, however. Some elements of Dutch society supported the Nazis and did so openly. Up to 25,000 Dutch men even volunteered to join the German army and the Waffen-SS.
Hope became a reality in September 1944 with the beginning of Operation Market Garden. Although the operation achieved very limited gains, it represented the beginning of the collapse of German resistance. In the following months, the Netherlands was freed from German control bit by bit. The Allies, however, concentrated their efforts on Germany, not the Netherlands, and Berlin fell before Amsterdam was liberated. Many parts of the Netherlands were only free of German occupation once the Germans had officially surrendered.
However, the months in which liberation was achieved were not as happy as they could have been. The Germans cut off supply to the western region of the country where 4.5 million people lived, and as a result of the Hongerwinter (Hunger Winter), around 18,000 Dutch people starved to death, with relief only arriving as late as May 1945, with the complete surrender of the German forces in Europe.
By the end of the war, 205,901 Dutch people had died from war-related causes. Just over half of them were victims of the Holocaust. This total represented 2.36% of the entire Dutch population at the time and was the highest proportion in Western Europe.
For Dutch people today, the occupation of their country represents an awful time in their history. Generally being a liberal people who value freedom, the five years of Nazi governance is seen as a time that flew directly in the face of Dutch beliefs.
Not only did it aggravate Dutch ways of life, but it humiliated the Dutch people, who, for the most part, did what they could to resist.
Here is the original post:
The Dutch Under Nazi Rule: German WWII Occupation of the Netherlands - The Collector
- Iceland Abstains From Voting On Anti-Nazism UN Resolution - Reykjavk Grapevine [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- When it comes to the truth, are we different than Nazi Germany? - Wyoming Tribune [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- Headstones with swastikas removed from Nazi POW graves in Texas - BRProud.com [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- Hateful Neo-Nazi propagandist who called for extermination of Jews and gay people jailed for four years - PinkNews [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- Dr. William Good, who battled Nazis in Poland, dies of COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- New memorial highlights Nazis' overlooked crimes in Greece - DW (English) [Last Updated On: December 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: December 28th, 2020]
- SA man with links to national neo-Nazi group accused of trying to make bomb - 7NEWS.com.au [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- New Nazi documentary Final Account is a powerful & prescient warning for our identity politics obsessed age - RT [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- BBC investigating reporter who tweeted Hitler was right, compared Israel to Nazis - Fox News [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Mass graves of women & children unearthed at Russian Nazi death camp as skulls with bullet holes reveal... - The US Sun [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- The hunt for Germany's largest warship proved that U-boats were the Nazis' best weapon - Business Insider [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Mass grave of women and children unearthed at ex-Nazi concentration camp - The Mirror [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- The other problem with Marjorie Taylor Greene's Nazi analogy - Yahoo News [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- He Posed as a Neo-Nazi and Caught the London Nail Bomber - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Former Nazis give their 'Final Account' in new documentary J. - The Jewish News of Northern California [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- The Nazi Fixation on Jews Cost Them the War - A Magazine of American Culture [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Disgusting and despicable: Neo-Nazi group gathers in front of New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston - Boston Herald [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Dalton Delan | The Unspin Room: From Nazi occupation to COVID, she's endured it all and survived - Berkshire Eagle [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- Secret network of tunnels found at former Nazi German army HQ raise speculation they could contain legendary Amber Room - The First News [Last Updated On: May 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 29th, 2021]
- A preeminent scholar on Nazism explains whether it makes sense to refer to Trump-loving populists as fascists - Raw Story [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- GoDaddy, Digital Ocean ban Texas Right to Life's abortion reporting site - Mashable [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Once Upon A Time In Nazi Occupied Tunisia REVIEW: A brave attempt to awaken history - Express [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Where are Nazi Germanys uranium cubes? New tracking method could reveal its missing trail - ThePrint [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Following the paper trail: How neo-Nazis make their money - SBS News [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Great Art Heists of History: The Nazis' War Against Modern Art - MutualArt.com [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Montero signs the activist who called Vox Nazi to give lessons in feminist democracy&#... - Market Research Telecast [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Camp Atterbury, the place where thousands of Afghan evacuees seek refuge, once held Nazi POWs - WTHR [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Daniel Andrews Moves To Ban Nazi Symbols And Strengthen Anti-Hate Protections - Junkee [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Why People Flocked to Hitler, and Why the Nazis Believed Here There Is No Why - The Wire [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Dive Team to Investigate Wreck of Sunken Nazi Steamer - Gizmodo [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Ex-neo-Nazi Christian Picciolini: "The words I used to say are now part of the mainstream" - Salon [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- Neo-Nazi Group Appears To Register With FEC - Forbes [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2021]
- May you live long and be prosecuted | Efraim Zuroff | The Blogs - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- Covid LIVE updates as Omicron now 20% of infections in England and hundreds queue for booster jabs - Manchester Evening News [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- Sniper Elite 5 Takes The War To France, Launching In 2022 - GameSpot [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- The Luftwaffe: The Making & Breaking Of The Nazi Air Force - BBC History Magazine [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- The hand-cranked calculator invented by a Nazi concentration camp prisoner - Ars Technica [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- How European Jewish refugees wined and dined Nazi prisoners for US Army intelligence - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- Mixed-race cop on policing in 2021: Ive been called racist and a Nazi - New York Post [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- 80 years ago this month, Nazis invented industrial murder at quiet Chelmno - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- Fact check: Nazi scientists brought to U.S. in Operation ... [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2021] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2021]
- A year after the Capitol riot, my cousin has a Nazi flag on his bedroom wall - The Independent [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Putin demands EU joins forces with Russia in severe Nazi crackdown in Ukraine - Daily Express [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- MMA Fighter Barred From Competing In Organization Due To Nazi Tattoos - MMA News [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Vienna examines its WWII legacy with exhibition of Nazi art - Euronews [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- The disturbing parallels between the 2020s and 1940s in the U.S. - Salon [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- My mother has dementia but can still remember the Nazi doctor who gave her 'medicine' at Auschwitz - Telegraph.co.uk [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Last call for claims to scheme compensating victims of Nazis for property confiscated in WWII - GOV.UK [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Nazi Druid Accused of Hoarding Weapons to Prepare for Societys Collapse - VICE [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Symposium focuses on racism in health care and public healthfrom Nazi medicine to COVID and cancer - The Cancer Letter [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Inglourious Basterds: A Nazi's Worst Nightmare - The American Society of Cinematographers - American Cinematographer [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- Archive amassed by Nazis sheds light on Masonic history - FRANCE 24 [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2022] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2022]
- He Marched At The Nazi Rally In Charlottesville. Then He Went Back To Being A Cop. - HuffPost [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Ben Bril: The Dutch Jewish boxing champion sent to Nazi camps by Olympic team-mate - BBC [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- He Founded an American Neo-Nazi Terror Group. But Will Rinaldo Nazzaro Ever Face US Justice? - VICE [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland - Warsaw Institute [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- They died praying for others: Two Catholic priests martyred by Nazis beatified in Italy - Catholic News Agency [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Nazis burned the book and started a riot in theaters when it went to film but now it has its own version from Germany - War Is Boring [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Nazi boat sunk by the British during WWII is still polluting the sea - Sky News [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Norman Lear Rips Donald Trump, Says Former Presidents Recent Appalling Words About Jews Remind Him Why He Enlisted To Fight The Nazis - Deadline [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive | Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2022] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2022]
- Hollywood Flashback: All Quiet on the Western Front Earned Two Oscars and a Ban in Nazi Germany - Hollywood Reporter [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2022]
- Prince Harry calls Nazi uniform one of the biggest mistakes of his life: I was 'so ashamed - Page Six [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2022]
- California congressman apologizes to Jewish congregants for Nazi remark ... [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2022]
- Ukrainian court rules SS division's symbols are not Nazi [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2022]
- www.lataco.com [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2022] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2022]
- 'Infestation '88' changes title following claims of Neo-Nazi symbols - NME [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Israel in discussions with Congo to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, Recalling Nazi Madagascar Plan for Jews - Informed Comment [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Which Nazi Ideas am I Supposed to Debate for Your Profit? - Daily Kos [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Infestation 88 Has Already Changed Its Name Due To Nazi Connotations - TheGamer [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Grimes says she's proud of white culture after being labelled a "Nazi" - Mixmag [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Daily Wire host plots to smear Disney: "We need to turn Mickey [Mouse] into a Nazi" - Media Matters for America [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Nazi-Looted Painting Returned to Collector's Heir | Smart News - Smithsonian Magazine [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Neo-Nazi Podcasters Who Targeted Harry Jailed on Terror Charges - The Daily Beast [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2024] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2024]
- Active Club Finland Welcomes Australian Neo-Nazi Visitor, Mentions Cooperation And Collaboration - Middle East Media Research Institute [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]
- Donald Trump can't quit his Nazi Germany obsession, as he posts an ad with the words "Unified Reich" - Daily Kos [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]
- Why are the German authorities so reluctant to believe in neo-Nazi attacks? - The Spectator [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]
- Israeli minister addresses convention hosted by Vox, Spanish far-right party criticized for neo-Nazi ties - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]
- Cotton On to redesign kids tee over Nazi symbol resemblance - Geelong Advertiser [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]
- Over 1000 killed on British soil in UK-based Nazi concentration camps - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2024] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2024]