3.5 NL during WW2, part 1, -TXT-

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• Leerjaar 3

9. The Time of World Wars

3.5. the Netherlands during WW2

PART 1

What is this lesson about?

Between 1940 and 1945, German forces occupied the Netherlands. Nazi governor Seyss-Inquart attempted unsuccessfully to Nazify the Dutch. Not many people actively resisted. Approximately 100,000 Jews were deported and brought to their death. The southern provinces were liberated soon after D-Day. People in the northern provinces went through famine before they were liberated in May 1945.

people in this lesson

Winkelman

general

Netherlands

Mussert

leader NSB

Netherlands

Seyss-Inquart

Nazi governor of NL

Germany

Wilhelmina

queen

Netherlands

Anne Frank

Jewish girl

Netherlands

Word Duty

NSB: Dutch national socialist political party

collaboration: working together with the enemy

transit camp: camp for the temporary accommodation of Jews until they were transported to extermination camps

extermination camp: camp specially designed by the Nazis for killing large numbers of Jews, and others considered to be inferior people

razzia: Nazi round-up to capture Jews

resistance: opposition to the occupying authority, e.g. sabotage actions, hiding Jews and Allied spies, spreading illegal newspapers

February Strike: a general strike in the Netherlands to protest against the persecution of Jews by the Nazis

Dutch Famine of 1944/45: famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands; also known as Hongerwinter

Key words

Important dates in this lesson:

1940: German invasion and start of the occupation (May)

1941: February Strike

          Workers are forced to work in German factories (Feb)

1942: yellow Star of David to be worn by all Jews (May)

1944: liberation of southern Netherlands (Sept)

1945: liberation of northern Netherlands (Apr)

          surrender of all German troops in the Netherlands (May 5th =                    Liberation Day)

the bombing of Rotterdam, May 14th, 1940. When the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities like Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the Dutch government decided to capitulate (surrender) to avoid further loss of lives and further destruction.

German troops crossing the Berlage Bridge into Amsterdam, May 15th, 1940.

Notice several Dutch bystanders giving the Nazi salute to the German soldiers.

Use this website to learn about the German invasion of the Netherlands

The German invasion

Despite the Netherlands being neutral, as it had been through all European wars since 1840, Germany invaded in the early hours of 10th May 1940. The Dutch had set up three lines of defence along its main rivers. They had constructed more than nine hundred armoured bunkers from which guns were fired, the so-called casemates. Most bridges across the River Maas were blown up to stop the invasion. The Dutch forces were able to put up more resistance than the Germans had expected, but fighting was short-lived. On 14th May 1940, the Germans tried to force the Dutch to surrender by bombing Rotterdam. Almost 900 citizens were killed and almost the entire historic centre was destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless. The next day, with the Germans threatening to bomb other cities as well, Dutch general Winkelman surrendered. Meanwhile, queen Wilhelmina had fled to England after a failed German attempt to attack the government centre in The Hague.

the bombing of Rotterdam, May 14th, 1940. When the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities like Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the Dutch government decided to capitulate (surrender) to avoid further loss of lives and further destruction.

German troops crossing the Berlage Bridge into Amsterdam, May 15th, 1940.

Notice several Dutch bystanders giving the Nazi salute to the German soldiers.

The Nazi’s takeover

The economic crisis of the 1930s had been a good breeding ground for national socialists in the Netherlands as well. In 1931, Anton Mussert had founded the National Socialist Movement (NSB), with some success. After May 1940, this became the only legal political party in the Netherlands. The NSB provided officials and mayors who cooperated with the Germans during the occupation. This form of collaboration was no exception: tens of thousands Dutch volunteers served in the German army, fighting on the Eastern Front. Hitler appointed the Austrian Nazi Seyss- Inquart to govern the Netherlands. It was his assignment to create close economic cooperation with Germany: many goods were transported there and Dutch people were recruited to work in German factories.

The man in charge of ruling the Netherlands: Seyss Inquart, an Austrian Nazi. Here he inspects the german troops in the Binnenhof in The Hague.

Soon the Dutch people nicknamed Seys Inquart as 6 1/4 (Zes-en-een-kwart)

Anton Mussert, leader of the Dutch Nazi party, the NSB (Nationaal Socialistische Beweging) giving a speech to his followers in the 1930s.

Watch the short video about this place in the next slide.

Adjustment and Nazification

The Nazis saw the Dutch as fellow members of the Aryan ‘master race’; so Seyss-Inquart hoped that propaganda would be sufficient to persuade people become national-socialists voluntarily. Leaflets, newspapers, radio broadcasts and cinemas were used for this Nazification. Many Dutch were willing to cooperate with the Germans, but the NSB did not receive many new members. Most people just wanted to keep their jobs or maintain their businesses, so they simply adjusted to German occupation. Few people joined the NSB out of conviction to be a National Socialists. At the beginning of 1941, the German occupiers, realising their propaganda not had been effective enough, decided that more drastic measures had to be taken. Every artist had to become member of the Chamber of Culture and all radio stations were replaced by one station controlled by the state. Important government positions were only given to NSB members. 

The Germans used propaganda posters like this one to pursuade people to join the German army. They argued that Germany's fight against the Soviet Union and communism was a fight for all European people.

Elements in the poster:

The German soldier wears the uniform of a special Dutch "legion" (notice the Dutch flag and text on the sleeve) in German service. On his collar you see the "wolf's hook' (wolfsangel), a special rune symbol used for Dutch departments in the German special units of the Waffen SS.

The man in the background wears a Dutch lion on his tie, a coin with Wilhelmina's face on his lapel and a Dutch flag in his pocket.

Both claim to be "true Dutch", but the poster makes it clear that only those who join the German war against Russia are truly Dutch.

The Netherlands was ruled as a totalitarian state: the Nazis effectively controlled art, education, press and youth organisations. However, not enough Dutch people volunteered to work in Germany. From February 1941 onwards, Dutch prisoners of war were forced to work in German factories. Although many of them went into hiding, more than 600,000 Dutch people went to work in Germany.

German propaganda poster used to attract volunteers for working in German factories

Not everybody was eager to work in Germany...

congratulations

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END OF PART 1