What happened during the War?
The war started in The Netherlands May 1940. The key events during these days were the bombing of Rotterdam and the fights at the Grebbeberg. Piet Edelman still has clear memories of the Rotterdam bombing and made a detailed picture book in which he describes what happened during the bombing. Since the Germans threatened to bomb other cities as well the Dutch government decided to surrender.
In the early days of the war, daily life did not change immediately. The persecution of the Jewish community started with seemingly small measures in 1941. Two Jewish survivors, Micha Gelber and Rosa Hart, told us how the war affected their lifes and the lives of their families.
The resistance helped other people during the war. One of their tasks was to find addresses for people who had to go into hiding, such as Jewish people, people who had to work in Germany, and allied pilots. They sabotaged activities carried out by the Nazi Germans. Marinus Spek talks about the role his family played in the resistance in his village.
Once the resistance in Putten on the Veluwe killed a German officer. The Germans took revenge: all the men from Putten were sent to concentration camps. The majority of them never returned. Reijer van den Berg told us the story of his father, who was one of the few survivors.