The Netherlands in World War II

Oppression and resistance

An Arbeitseinsatz was imposed on the Netherlands, which obliged every man between 18 and 45 to work in the German factories, which were bombed every night by the western Allies. Those who refused to work in German factories were forced to go underground. As food and many other goods were taken out of the Netherlands, rationing (the ration card) became a way of controlling the people. Any Dutch who violated German laws, such as hiding or hiding another, automatically lost their food. Hiding Jews was even more dangerous as it was punishable by death - one third of the people who hid Jews did not survive the war.

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The Atlantic Wall, a gigantic coastal defence line built by the Germans along the entire European coast from South France to Denmark and Norway was built in the Netherlands too. Some towns, like Scheveningen, were cleared because of this. In the Hague 3200 houses were demolished and 2594 were dismantled. 20,000 houses were cleared, and 65,000 people were forced to move. The Arbeitseinsatz also included forcing Dutch people to work on this, but a passive form of resistance took place here by working slowly or doing such a bad job that it had to be done again. And again.

Related Topics:
Atlantic Wall - Denmark - Norway - Scheveningen

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Due to the censorship, the radio and newspapers were only allowed to deliver the news approved by the Germans. Obviously this only reported the positive results of the Germans. These news messages were not able to hide the unfavourable completely, after all the German 'victories' in Russia keep coming closer to Germany. Listening to Radio Oranje (Radio Orange), Dutch-speaking broadcasts from London, was prohibited.

Related Topics:
Radio - Newspaper - London

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These measures of oppression stimulated the resistance movement. Illegal newspapers with the news from Radio Oranje were spread. Some people stole to obtain ration cards, to feed people in hiding.

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In February 1943, the Amsterdam-based resistance cell CS-9 assassinated Luitenant-Generaal Hendrik A. Seyffardt, the figurehead of the SS-Freiwilligen-Legion Niederlande and a major Dutch collaborator with ties to the NSB.

Related Topics:
Amsterdam - CS-9 - Hendrik A. Seyffardt - SS-Freiwilligen-Legion ''Niederlande''

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Acts of resistance were met with increasing German brutality. After an assault on a German officer near Putten the entire male population of the town were executed without trial.

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Members of the underground resistance in the Netherlands included Hannie Schaft.

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In order for the resistance to do their work it was sometimes necessary to act as if they were collaborating with the Germans. After the war this led to problems if they couldn't prove they had been in the resistance - which was difficult because it was the nature of the job to keep it a secret.

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Some even decided to keep their underground activities a secret after the war because they didn't want to brag about what they had done. Such was the case in Valkenburg. This led to a problem for historians, who couldn't find any information on any resistance there, so they claimed there wasn't any. See Valkenburg resistance, also as an example of how such resistance worked.

Related Topics:
Valkenburg - Valkenburg resistance

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