World War II & the Occupation

The German Invasion (May 1940)

Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. The Netherlands had been neutral in World War I and hoped neutrality would protect it again — a hope quickly shattered. After four days of fighting, the Luftwaffe bombed the centre of Rotterdam on May 14, killing around 900 civilians and destroying the city centre. The Netherlands surrendered the same day.

Queen Wilhelmina and the government fled to London, establishing a government-in-exile. The Queen's radio broadcasts via Radio Oranje became a beacon of hope for the Dutch people throughout the occupation. The royal family's courage made the House of Orange a powerful symbol of resistance.

The German occupation under Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart initially attempted to govern collaboratively, exploiting Dutch administrative structures. But conditions deteriorated rapidly, especially for Jewish citizens.

Persecution of Jews and the Holocaust

Before the war, the Netherlands had a Jewish community of about 140,000 people — the vast majority Dutch-born citizens. The German occupiers imposed increasingly harsh anti-Jewish measures: registration, exclusion from public life, forced wearing of the yellow star (Jodenster), and dismissal from jobs.

From 1942, mass deportations began. Jews were collected at the Hollandsche Schouwburg theatre in Amsterdam and transported to Westerbork transit camp, then eastward to Auschwitz, Sobibor, and other death camps.

Anne Frank — a Jewish girl from Frankfurt who had fled to Amsterdam — went into hiding with her family in 1942 in a secret annex (het Achterhuis) above a canal house on the Prinsengracht. She kept a detailed diary. The family was betrayed and arrested in August 1944. Anne died in Bergen-Belsen in February 1945. Her father Otto, the only family member to survive, published her diary after the war.

Of approximately 107,000 Dutch Jews deported, only around 5,000 survived. The Netherlands had one of the highest Jewish death rates in Western Europe — a fact that historians attribute to the efficient Dutch civil administration, geographic factors (no mountains or borders to flee to), and the high proportion of Dutch collaborators.

The Resistance

Many Dutch people resisted the occupation. The February Strike (Februaristaking) of February 25–26, 1941 was a remarkable moment: Amsterdam dock workers went on a general strike to protest the first German raids against the Jewish community. It was the only mass public protest against Jewish persecution in occupied Europe.

The organised resistance (het verzet) published underground newspapers (verzetskranten), forged identity documents, hid Jewish families and Allied airmen, and sabotaged German operations. An estimated 25,000–30,000 people were hidden (onderduikers) by Dutch families.

The resistance came at enormous cost. Those caught faced execution or deportation. The Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum) in Amsterdam documents these stories. A statue of the Dokwerker (Dock Worker) near Waterlooplein commemorates the February Strike.

The Hongerwinter (1944–1945)

The winter of 1944–1945 was the most catastrophic period of the occupation. After the Allied liberation of the south and the failed Operation Market Garden (the Arnhem battle), the Germans blockaded food supplies to the west of the Netherlands as punishment for a Dutch railway strike that had supported the Allied advance.

Over 4.5 million people in the western Netherlands faced severe starvation. City dwellers ate tulip bulbs, sugar beets, and anything they could find. An estimated 20,000 people died of hunger and cold. Desperate "hongertochten" (hunger trips) took people from cities to farms in search of food.

Relief came only with full liberation. Allied aircraft dropped food in Operation Manna (April–May 1945). The Hongerwinter left lasting physical effects — research on children born in 1944–1945 shaped understanding of how prenatal malnutrition affects lifelong health.

Liberation and Remembrance

The Netherlands was liberated in stages between September 1944 and May 5, 1945, by Canadian, British, American, and Polish forces. Canada played a particularly important role; the Dutch–Canadian bond is commemorated each year at the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek.

Every year, May 4 is Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day). At 8:00 PM, two minutes of silence are observed nationwide — traffic stops, trains halt. The main ceremony is at the National Monument on Dam Square in Amsterdam, attended by the King and broadcast live on television. It is one of the most solemn and widely observed moments in Dutch public life.

May 5 is Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day), celebrated with festivals across the country. Every five years (2025, 2030, etc.) it is an official national holiday for all workers.