Het verhaal van Nederland

The Nazis label Jews as so-called Untermenschen. Through systematic exclusion, registration, and isolation, everything is taken from them: work, possessions, and freedom of movement. In a cunning manner, the occupier attempts to drive Dutch society apart. All this with one goal: the complete extermination of the Jewish community.

While most Dutch people obey the occupier, there are also those who offer resistance. At universities, through illegal newspapers, and by helping those in hiding. Resistance groups emerge throughout the Netherlands. The occupier responds to every form of opposition with harsh reprisals. Time and again, the question arises as to what extent resistance fighters are willing to continue.

With the advance of the Allies, the liberation of the Netherlands seems close, but it does not come without a price. Hundreds of Dutch people die in Allied bombardments, and in large parts of the country, a bitterly cold winter sets in with a harrowing shortage of food and fuel. The grueling final act of the occupation. When liberation finally arrives, not only joy prevails; it is also the beginning of the reckoning.

With the fall of Nazi Germany, the war is over. At least, that is the hope of the Europeans. But soon, it is precisely the Netherlands that is put to the test and will itself act as an aggressor. In August 1945, Indonesia, a Dutch colony, declares its independence. What follows is a bloody colonial war.