We have a Dutch friend (now an American citizen) who was eight or nine when the Nazi's invaded his country. He was the youngest in his Catholic family.

He's told us some ways he and his brothers worked to hinder the occupying forces. He's also spoken about the retribution and shunning meted out after the war to neighbors who were collaborators.

You will never find anyone more skilled at getting every morsel of food out of a container or who can spread a thinner layer of jelly onto his toast! *Everyone* was skin and bones, hoping for the war to end.

I read and enjoyed this book many years ago. If you want to revisit this era I recommend Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. Miep was the woman in the office downstairs who helped sustain the Franks in hiding. I was fascinated by the daily life of Dutch workers who continued on in the midst of this horror and Miep's role in keeping those in the secret annex going.

Thank you for your comments, Chisue and Pam. Chisue - my son's mother-in-law was born in The Netherlands during WW II and she said that they ate tulip bulbs to stay alive. Her father was involved with the Resistance as well. It's no wonder that Liberation was greeted with such joy in that country as well as others. The family moved to Canada soon after the war.

Pam - thank you for that book recommendation. I will look it up - it's such a sad time in history yet with much heroism as you point out.

I'm well acquainted with and love the Netherlands and its people. They pride themselves on being tolerant and accepting, and they have been so for centuries. Deep down inside many is a paradoxical conservatism that coexists with and contrasts with the outward tolerance they can show. They're happy and warm to others, there's no doubt.

In the face of that, it's hard to accept that more Jews were deported (* as a percentage of the pre-occupancy population) from the Netherlands to "The East" than from any other territory occupied by Nazi Germany. They had an active fascist movement and many sympathizers. There were no community protests against so called Jewish-laws as there were in other countries.

Post-war, everyone claimed to have been in the Resistance, as in Belgium and France. That's because it was dangerous to be fingered as having collaborated with the occupiers. The reality is that Resistance figures are hugely overstated and collaboration numbers are hugely understated. Everyone knows that.

There are probably hundreds and maybe thousands of incidents of such brave people who risked their own lives to try to save others, Such books can be both depressing and uplifting at the same time.

Edited for important omission, see asterisk above. Oops!

This post was edited by snidely on Thu, Sep 25, 14 at 20:42

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Snidley. If it was the case that more Jews were deported from The Netherlands than other Nazi occupied territory, then the actions of the ten Boom family are remarkable indeed for trying to stem the flow of Jews, albeit in a small way, into perilous circumstances. With the "example" that was made of the ten Booms as well as many others, it is not surprising that many chose to collaborate. The puzzle still remains as to how Anne Frank and her family were betrayed and perhaps it will always remain a mystery.

Are there any books that you have read and found useful in understanding this or related topics? If so, I would welcome some titles.

Just last week, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opened in my city. A hopeful cause, it is the "first museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. Our aim is to build not only a national hub for human rights learning and discovery, but a new era of global human rights leadership."

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian Museum for Human Rights

I really can't direct you to any one comprehensive source, sorry. WW2 is a broad subject, like the US Civil War or Abraham Lincoln, for which a huge number of books have been written. Whether your interest is geographic, or a particular topic, or eyewitness accounts, or a particular time frame, there are far too many books available to read. Maybe try getting a recommendation from a history professor in your area or from a librarian.

One interesting factor that has aided research even now is that enough time has passed so that many previously closed governmental archives have been opened in the last 20 years. Including Soviet archives that opened in the 1990s. Many recent works aren't just a rehash of old information at all but contain fresh information from new sources.

I've been reading books on the subject for at least 35 years. I've read many very good books, many quirky ones, and a fair number of poor ones too. I'll wish you good luck to find only good ones.

Thank you for your feedback, Snidely. What a treasure trove some of the old archives must be, and wonderful that some countries kept such detailed and meticulous records.