View source for Netherlands in World War II

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{EngvarB|date=January 2024}}
{{see also|Timeline of the Netherlands during World War II}}
[[File:Rotterdam, Laurenskerk, na bombardement van mei 1940.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The city of [[Rotterdam]] after the [[Rotterdam Blitz|German bombing]] during the [[Battle of the Netherlands|German invasion of the Netherlands]] in May 1940]]

Despite Dutch neutrality, [[Nazi Germany]] [[German invasion of the Netherlands|invaded]] the [[Netherlands]] on 10 May 1940 as part of ''[[Fall Gelb]]'' (Case Yellow).<ref>{{cite book |last=Warmbrunn |first=Werner |title=The Dutch Under German Occupation, 1940–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ykWfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1963 |pages=5–7 |isbn=9780804701525}}</ref> On 15 May 1940, one day after the [[Rotterdam Blitz|bombing of Rotterdam]], the Dutch forces surrendered. The [[Dutch government-in-exile|Dutch government]] and the [[Dutch royal family|royal family]] relocated to London. [[Juliana of the Netherlands|Princess Juliana]] and her children sought refuge in [[Ottawa]], Canada, until after the war.

German occupation lasted in some areas until the [[German surrender at Lüneburg Heath|German surrender]] in May 1945. [[Dutch resistance|Active resistance]], at first carried out by a minority, grew in the course of the occupation. The occupiers deported the [[Jews in the Netherlands|majority of the country's Jews]] to [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Lee |editor1-first=Loyd E. |editor2-last=Higham |editor2-first=Robin D.S. |title=World War II in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with General Sources: A Handbook of Literature and Research |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZ7SyQ5bVYEC&pg=PA277 |publisher=Greenwood |year=1997 |page=277 |isbn=9780313293252}}</ref>

Due to the high variation in the survival rate of Jewish inhabitants among local regions in the Netherlands, scholars have questioned the validity of a single explanation at the national level. In part due to the well-organised population registers, about 70% of the country's Jewish population were killed in the course of World War II—a much higher percentage than in either [[Belgium]] or [[Vichy France|France]],<ref name="Croes"/> although lower than in Lithuania. Declassified records revealed that the Germans paid a bounty to Dutch police and administration officials to locate and identify Jews, aiding in their capture.<ref name="Cole">[https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article-abstract/CXXI/494/1562/389360?redirectedFrom=fulltext Tim Cole, Review: ''Hitler's Bounty Hunters: The Betrayal of the Jews''], ''English Historical Review'', Volume CXXI, Issue 494, 1 December 2006, pp. 1562–1563, {{doi|10.1093/ehr/cel364}}</ref> Communists in and around the city of [[Amsterdam]] organised the [[February strike]]—a general strike (February 1941) to protest against the persecution of Jewish citizens.

[[World War II]] occurred in four distinct phases in the Netherlands:
* September 1939 to May 1940: After the war broke out, the Netherlands declared neutrality. The country was subsequently invaded and occupied.
* May 1940 to June 1941: An economic boom caused by orders from Germany, combined with the "velvet glove" approach from [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]], resulted in a comparatively mild occupation.
* June 1941 to June 1944: As the war intensified, Germany demanded higher contributions from occupied territories, resulting in a decline of [[standard of living|living standard]]s. Repression against the Jewish population intensified and thousands were deported to extermination camps. The "velvet glove" approach ended.
* June 1944 to May 1945: Conditions deteriorated further, leading to starvation and lack of fuel. The German occupation authorities gradually lost control over the situation. Nazis wanted to make a last stand and commit acts of destruction. Others tried to mitigate the situation.

The [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] liberated most of the south of the Netherlands in the second half of 1944. The rest of the country, especially the west and north, remained under German occupation and suffered from a famine at the end of 1944, known as the "[[Dutch famine of 1944–1945|Hunger Winter]]". On 5 May 1945, [[German surrender at Lüneburg Heath]] led to the final liberation of the whole country.

==Background==
[[File:Mill Rijksmonument 525576 S-Kazemat 543 langs Defensiekanaal tegen aarden wal.JPG|thumb|right|A bunker of the [[Peel-Raam Line]], built in 1939]]
The Dutch colonies such as the [[Dutch East Indies]] (modern Indonesia) allowed the [[Netherlands]] to be one of the top five oil producers in the world at the time and to have the world's largest aircraft factory in the Interbellum ([[Fokker]]), which aided the neutrality of the Netherlands and the success of its arms dealings in the [[First World War]]. The country was one of the richest in Europe and could easily have afforded a large and modern military {{Citation needed|reason= Does one really infers from the other ? Afford what and when ? Men, equipements ? Long before or right before the War ?|date=December 2023}}. Dutch governments between 1929 and 1943 were dominated by Christian and centre-right political parties.<ref name=KMLA1>{{cite web|title=The Netherlands between the Wars, 1929–1940|url=http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/neth19291940.html|work=History of the Netherlands|publisher=World History at KLMA|access-date=6 July 2013}}</ref> From 1933, the [[Great Depression in the Netherlands|Netherlands was hit]] by the [[Great Depression]], which had begun in 1929.<ref name=KMLA1/> The incumbent government of [[Hendrikus Colijn]] pursued a programme of extensive cuts in public spending in order to maintain the value of the [[Dutch guilder|guilder]], which resulted in workers' riots in [[Amsterdam]] and [[HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (1909)#Mutiny in the Indies|a naval mutiny]] between 1933 and 1934.<ref name=KMLA1/> Eventually, in 1936, the government was forced to abandon the [[gold standard]] and to devalue the currency.<ref name=KMLA1/>

Numerous fascist movements emerged in the Netherlands during the Great Depression era, which were inspired by [[Italian fascism]] or German [[Nazism]], but they never attracted enough members to be an effective mass movement. The [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands]] (Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging, NSB) supported by the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party]] which took power in Germany in 1933, attempted to expand in 1935. Nazi-style racial ideology had limited appeal in the Netherlands, as did its calls to violence.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hansen|first=Erik|title=Fascism and Nazism in the Netherlands, 1929–39|journal=European Studies Review|year=1981|volume=11|issue=3|pages=33–385|doi=10.1177/026569148101100304|s2cid=144805335}}</ref> At the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], the NSB was already declining in both members and voters.

During the interwar period, the government undertook a significant increase in civil infrastructure projects and land reclamation, including the [[Zuiderzee Works]]. That resulted in the final draining of seawater from the [[Wieringermeer]] polder and the completion of the [[Afsluitdijk]].<ref name=KMLA1/>

===Neutrality===
{{quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote="The new Reich has endeavored to continue the traditional friendship with Holland [sic]. It has not taken over any existing differences between the two countries and has not created any new ones."|source=German guarantee of neutrality, 6 October 1939<ref name=neutrality1>{{cite news|last=TC-32|title=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression|volume=I|url=http://fundamentalbass.home.mindspring.com/x6860.htm|access-date=31 December 2012|date=6 October 1939|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927220740/http://fundamentalbass.home.mindspring.com/x6860.htm|archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>}}
[[The Netherlands in World War I|During World War I]], the Dutch government, under [[Pieter Cort van der Linden]], had managed to preserve Dutch neutrality throughout the conflict.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abbenhuis|first=Maartje M.|title=The Art of Staying Neutral: The Netherlands in the First World War, 1914–1918|url=https://archive.org/details/artstayingneutra00abbe_614|url-access=limited|year=2006|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|location=Amsterdam|isbn=90-5356-818-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/artstayingneutra00abbe_614/page/n13 13]–21}}</ref> In the Interwar Period, the Netherlands had continued to pursue its "Independence Policy" even after the rise to power of the Nazi Party in Germany in 1933.<ref name=Hirschfeld12-4>{{cite book|last=Hirschfeld|first=Gerhard|title=Nazi Rule and Dutch Collaboration: The Netherlands under German Occupation, 1940–1945|year=1988|publisher=Berg|location=Oxford|isbn=0-85496-146-1|pages=12–14|edition=1st English}}</ref> The [[Anti-Revolutionary Party]]'s conservative prime minister, [[Hendrikus Colijn]], who held power from 1933 until 1939, believed that the Netherlands could never withstand an attack by a major power. Pragmatically, the government did not spend much on the military.<ref name=Wubs61-2>{{cite book|last=Wubs|first=Ben|title=International Business and War Interests: Unilever between Reich and Empire, 1939–45|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-41667-2|pages=61–62}}</ref> Although military spending was doubled between 1938 and 1939, amid rising international tensions, it constituted only 4% of [[government spending|national spending]] in 1939, in contrast to nearly 25% of Nazi Germany.<ref name=Wubs61-2/> The Dutch government believed it could rely on its neutrality or at least the informal support of foreign powers to defend its interests in case of war.<ref name=Wubs61-2/> The government began to work on plans for the defence of the country,<ref name=WOH1/> which included the "[[Hollandic Water Line#New Dutch Waterline|New Dutch Waterline]]", an area to the east of [[Amsterdam]] that would be flooded. From 1939, fortified positions were constructed, including the [[Grebbe line|Grebbe]] and [[Peel-Raam Line]]s, to protect the key cities of [[Dordrecht]], [[Utrecht]], [[Haarlem]] and Amsterdam, and creating a ''Vesting Holland'' (or "Fortress Holland").<ref name=WOH1/>

In late 1939, with Britain and France already at war with Germany, the German government issued a guarantee of neutrality to the Netherlands.<ref name=neutrality1/> The Dutch military was gradually mobilised from August 1939 onwards, reaching its full strength by April 1940.<ref name=WOH1>{{cite web|title=Dutch Army Strategy and Armament in WWII|url=http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=dutch-army-strategy-organisation-and-armament-in-wwii|publisher=Waroverholland.nl|access-date=6 July 2013}}</ref>

==German invasion==
[[File:De Telegraaf issue from 10 May 1940.jpeg|thumb|[[De Telegraaf]] issue from 10 May 1940 reporting on the invasion. The lead headline reads “Bitter resistance on the Ijsel and Maas [rivers]; Four German armored trains out of action.” At center is a public announcement of resistance from [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]].]]

{{Main|German invasion of the Netherlands}}
On the morning of 10 May 1940, the [[German Army]] simultaneously invaded The Netherlands, [[Battle of Belgium|Belgium]], and [[Invasion of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] without a formal declaration of war.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Germans attack in the West|url=http://ww2today.com/10th-may-1940-the-germans-attack-in-the-west|publisher=World War 2 Today|access-date=6 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121062733/http://ww2today.com/10th-may-1940-the-germans-attack-in-the-west |archive-date=21 January 2015}}</ref> The attackers meant to draw Allied forces away from the [[Ardennes]], to lure British and French forces deeper into [[Belgium]], and to pre-empt a possible British invasion in [[North Holland]]. The ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' also sought to take over Dutch airfields on the [[North Sea]] to launch air raids against Great Britain.

[[File:Mobilisatie 1939 Dutch soldiers on guard.jpg|upright|thumb|Dutch soldiers guard the Holland Water Line shortly after mobilisation, 1939]]

The [[armed forces of the Netherlands]], with insufficient and outdated weapons and equipment, were caught largely unprepared.<ref name=WOH1/> Much of their weaponry had not changed since the First World War.<ref>{{citation|editor1-first=Herman|editor1-last=Amersfoort|editor2-first=Piet|editor2-last=Kamphuis|year=2005|title=Mei 1940 – De Strijd op Nederlands grondgebied|language=nl|location=Den Haag|publisher=Sdu Uitgevers|isbn=90-12-08959-X|page=64}}</ref> In particular, the [[Royal Netherlands Army]] did not have comparable armoured forces and could mount only a limited number of armoured cars and [[tankettes]].<ref name=WOH2>{{cite web|title=Dutch Armoured Cars type Landsverk|url=http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=dutch-armoured-cars-type-landsverk|publisher=Waroverholland.nl|access-date=6 July 2013}}</ref> The air force had only 140 aircraft, mostly outdated [[biplane]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Battle of the Netherlands|date=12 June 2013|url=http://totallyhistory.com/battle-of-the-netherlands/|publisher=Totally History|access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref> 65 of which were destroyed on the first day of the campaign.<ref name=Capitulation/>

The invading forces advanced rapidly but faced significant resistance. A ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' [[Battle of the Hague (1940)|parachute assault on The Hague]] aimed at capturing the Dutch government, [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]], and the key airfields at [[Ockenburg]] and [[Ypenburg Airport|Ypenburg]] was thwarted by Dutch ground forces with heavy casualties.<ref>{{citation|editor1-first=Herman|editor1-last=Amersfoort|editor2-first=Piet|editor2-last=Kamphuis|year=2005|title=Mei 1940 – De Strijd op Nederlands grondgebied|location=Den Haag|publisher=Sdu Uitgevers|isbn=90-12-08959-X|page=192}}</ref> This allowed the royal family and top government officials to escape to London, taking the national [[bullion]] and diamond stocks, and form a [[Dutch government-in-exile]]. The Dutch also succeeded in destroying significant numbers of [[Junkers Ju 52|transport aircraft]] that the Germans would need for their [[Operation Sealion|planned invasion of Britain]]. 

However, the German forces succeeded in [[Battle of Maastricht|crossing the Maas river]] in the Netherlands on the first day, which allowed the ''Wehrmacht'' to outflank the nearby Belgian [[Fort Ében-Émael]] and force the Belgian army to withdraw from the German border.<ref>{{cite book|last=Various|title=Belgium: The Official Account of What Happened, 1939–40|publisher=Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs|location=London|pages=32–36|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Belgium/Belgium_1939-40/Belgium-4.html}}</ref>

In the eastern Netherlands, the Germans succeeded in [[Battle of the Grebbeberg|pushing the Dutch back]] from the [[Grebbe Line]], but their advance was slowed by the Dutch fortifications [[Battle of the Afsluitdijk|on the narrow Afsluitdijk Causeway]] that linked the northeastern and the northwestern parts of the Netherlands.<ref name=Teeuwisse1>{{cite news|last=Teeuwisse|first=Joeri|title=Life During The Dutch Occupation – Part 2: May 1940, The Battle For The Netherlands|url=http://www.armchairgeneral.com/may-1940-the-battle-for-the-netherlands.htm|access-date=27 December 2015|newspaper=[[Armchair General (magazine)|Armchair General]]|date=17 March 2006}}</ref> The German forces advanced rapidly and, by the fourth day, were in control of most of the east of the country.<ref name=Teeuwisse1/>

The Dutch realised that neither British nor French troops could reach the Netherlands in sufficient numbers to halt the invasion, particularly with the speed of the [[Battle of Belgium|German advance into Belgium]].<ref name=Teeuwisse1/>

===Bombing of Rotterdam===
{{See also|Battle of Rotterdam|German bombing of Rotterdam}}
Fighting in Rotterdam had taken place since the first day of the campaign, when German infantrymen in [[Heinkel He 59|seaplanes]] landed on the Maas River and captured several bridges intact. The Germans hesitated to risk a tank attack on the city for fear of heavy casualties. Instead, the German commander presented an ultimatum to the Dutch commander in the city. He demanded the surrender of the Dutch garrison and threatened to destroy the city by aerial bombing if it did not accept.<ref name=Rotterdam>{{cite web|title=May 14 – Rotterdam|url=http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=rotterdam-4|publisher=Waroverholland.nl|access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref> The ultimatum was returned on a technicality since it had not been signed by the German commander.<ref name=Rotterdam/> While the corrected ultimatum was being resubmitted, Luftwaffe bombers, unaware that negotiations were ongoing, struck the city.<ref name=Rotterdam/>

During the [[Rotterdam Blitz]], between 800 and 900 Dutch civilians were killed, and {{gaps|25|000}} homes were destroyed.<ref name=Rotterdam/> The bombers' targets were the civilian areas of Rotterdam, rather than the town's defences.<ref name=Rotterdam/> Under pressure from local officials, the garrison commander surrendered the city and his {{gaps|10|000}} men on the evening of the 14th with the permission of [[Henri Winkelman]], the Dutch commander-in-chief. That opened up the German advance into "Fortress Holland".<ref name=Rotterdam/>

===Dutch surrender===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1969-097-17, Kapitulation der Niederlande.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Henri Winkelman]] (centre), just after signing the Dutch capitulation, 15 May 1940]]
The Dutch high command was shocked by the Rotterdam Blitz. Knowing that the army was running low on supplies and ammunition and receiving news that the city of [[Utrecht]] had been given an ultimatum similar to that of Rotterdam,<ref name=Capitulation>{{cite web|title=Capitulation|url=http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=part-iii-capitulation|publisher=Waroverholland.nl|access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref> Winkelman held a meeting with other Dutch generals. They decided that further resistance was futile and wanted to protect civilian residents. In the afternoon of 14 May, Winkelman issued a proclamation to his army to order them to surrender:

{{cquote|This afternoon Germany bombarded Rotterdam, while Utrecht has also been threatened with destruction. In order to spare the civil population and to prevent further bloodshed I feel myself justified in ordering all troops concerned to suspend operations&nbsp;... By great superiority of the most modern means [the enemy] has succeeded in breaking our resistance. We have nothing wherewith to reproach ourselves in connection with this war. Your bearing and that of the forces was calm, firm of purpose and worthy of the Netherlands.|author=Proclamation of General Winkelman, 14 May 1940.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ashton|first=H.S.|title=The Netherlands at War|year=1941|location=London|pages=24–25|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Netherlands/AtWar/AtWar-2.html}}</ref>|}}

On 15 May, the Netherlands officially signed the surrender with Germany. Dutch forces in the province of [[Zeeland]], which had come under French control, continued fighting alongside French forces until 17 May, when the bombardment of the town of [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] forced them, too, to surrender. The [[Dutch Empire]], in particular the [[Dutch East Indies]], supported the Allies; the colonies were unaffected by the surrender. Many ships of the [[Royal Dutch Navy]] in Dutch waters fled to the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Royal Dutch Navy |url=http://www.waroverholland.nl/index.php?page=the-royal-dutch-navy |publisher=Waroverholland.nl |access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref>

During the four-day campaign, about 2,300 Dutch soldiers were killed and 7000 wounded, and more than 3000 Dutch civilians also died. The Germans lost 2,200 men killed and 7000 wounded. In addition, 1,300 German soldiers captured by the Dutch during the campaign, many around The Hague, had been shipped to Britain and remained [[POWs]] for the rest of the war.

[[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]] and the Dutch government succeeded in escaping from the Netherlands before the surrender and formed a [[Dutch government-in-exile|government-in-exile]]. Princess Juliana and her children went to Canada for safety.

==German occupation==
===Occupation government===
After a brief period of [[martial law]], Germany invited the Dutch government to return from London and continue to govern under German control, as France and Denmark had done. When government leaders refused, Germany established the ''[[Reichskommissariat Niederlande]]'' (“Dutch Imperial Commission”) as the occupation regime, assuming power on 29 May 1940, with its headquarters in [[The Hague]]. Austrian Nazi [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]] was installed as Reichskommissar, with his office in a mansion on [[Museumplein]] in Amsterdam, today the home of the American consulate.<ref name="Shorto">{{Cite book |last=Shorto |first=Russell |title=Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City |publisher=Doubleday |date=2013 |isbn=9780385534574}}</ref>{{rp|264}} Fellow Austrian [[Hanns Albin Rauter]] was assigned as [[SS and police leader]], reporting to Seyss-Inquart and to SS chief [[Heinrich Himmler]]. 

A long-term aim of the Nazis was to incorporate the Netherlands into the [[Greater Germanic Reich]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Z. Chesnoff|title=Pack of Thieves: How Hitler and Europe Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in His|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oW2f1OinlosC&pg=PT103|year=2011|publisher=Knopf Doubleday|page=103|isbn=9780307766946}}</ref> [[Adolf Hitler]] thought highly of the Dutch people, considering them fellow members of the [[Aryan race|Aryan "master race"]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Samuel P. Oliner|title=Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ze0ohBVFY0C&pg=PA33|year=1992|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=33|isbn=9781439105382}}</ref>

In his first public address on 29 May, Seyss-Inquart promised friendly governance:

{{Blockquote
|text=We have come with force of arms reluctantly, we want to be protectors and promoters to then remain friends… because we have to build a new Europe, where national honour and collective labour are the guiding principles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Iperen |first=Roxane |title=The Sisters of Auschwitz |publisher=Orion Publishing |date=2019 |isbn=9780063097629}}</ref>{{rp|p=14}}}}

However Seyss-Inquart began personally selecting and installing top officials, and one of his earliest orders was that German men in uniform be served first in Dutch shops and restaurants.<ref name="Audrey">{{Cite book |last=Matzen |first=Robert |title=Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II |publisher=GoodKnight Books |date=2019 |isbn=9781732273580}}</ref>{{rp|p=71}}

As in other occupied countries, the ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' ("Regulatory Police", commonly known as the "Green Police") were installed as the law-enforcement organization. The Green Police were supplemented from 1942 by the Voluntary Police Support (VHP), a neighborhood-watch organization of sympathetic Dutch civilians.<ref name="Auschwitz">{{Cite book |last=Van Iperen |first=Roxane |title=The Sisters of Auschwitz |publisher=Orion Publishing |date=2019 |isbn=9780063097629}}</ref>{{rp|p=113}} The ''[[Sicherheitsdienst]]'' intelligence agency, known as the SD, operated from a headquarters in The Hague. 

Also established in July 1940 was the ''{{ill|Nederlandse Opbouwdienst|nl}}'' (Dutch Construction Service) to dismantle the Dutch army and rebuild Dutch infrastructure. This would later be merged with the ''{{ill|Nederlandse Arbeidsdienst|nl}}'' (Dutch Labour Service), with a focus on building a labour force for the German war effort.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZHYu3hgxtg | title=Spectacular colorized film of the beginning of the German occupation of The Netherlands during WW-II | author=Rick88888888 | date=April 2023 | website=YouTube | access-date=28 Feb 2024}}</ref>

=== The NSB ===
{{See also|National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands|Nederlandsche SS}}
[[File:Toespraak Anton Mussert.jpg|thumb|[[Anton Mussert]], leader of the NSB, speaking at a rally in [[The Hague]] in 1941]]

The [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands|Dutch Nazi party]] (''Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging'', or NSB) had been founded in 1931 but was not politically powerful prior to the war. Under German occupation, the NSB quickly became the political arm of Dutch collaboration with German occupiers, quadrupling in membership to about 80,000, but never counting more than 1% of the Dutch population (3% of adult males) as members.<ref name="Arnhem">{{Cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Robert |title=A Street in Arnhem |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |date=2015 |isbn=9780711038288}}</ref>{{rp}} The NSB played an important role in lower government and civil service. Every new mayor appointed by the German occupation government was a member of the NSB. However, for most higher functions, the Germans preferred to leave the existing elite in place, since they knew that the NSB neither offered enough suitable candidates nor enjoyed enough popular support.

Soon after the occupation, Germany banned all socialist and communist political parties. In July 1940, the ''{{ill|Nederlandse Unie|nl}}'' (Dutch Union) party was established to oppose the NSB and preserve Dutch culture. Within a few months its membership grew to 800,000, the highest membership any Dutch political party has ever had. However there were internal disagreements over the extent to which the party should cooperate with German occupiers, and in December 1941 Germany banned all parties other than the NSB.

New NSB members were shunned by some existing members who accused them of opportunism; ''meikevers'' ([[Cockchafer|Maybugs]]) was a common slur, referring to the month of the German invasion.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The NSB sponsored paramilitary squads known as “blackshirts” who harassed Jews and conducted other targeted violence. The NSB’s co-founder [[Anton Mussert]] remained its leader throughout the war. In September 1940, under German pressure, Mussert organised the Dutch wing of the [[Waffen-SS]]. About 22,500 Dutch men enlisted. Most of these fought on the Eastern front against Russia, and more than 7,000 died.

===Collaboration===
Many Dutch people chose or were forced to collaborate with the German regime or joined the German armed forces, which usually would mean being placed in the ''Waffen-SS''. Others, like members of the [[Henneicke Column]], were actively involved in capturing hiding Jews for a price and delivering them to the German occupiers. It is estimated that the Henneicke Column captured around 8000 to 9000 Dutch Jews who were ultimately murdered in the German [[death camps]].

After the war broke out, the NSB sympathised with the Germans but nevertheless advocated strict neutrality for the Netherlands. In May 1940, after the German invasion, {{gaps|10|000}} NSB members and sympathizers were put in custody by the Dutch government. Soon after the Dutch defeat, on 14 May 1940, they were set free by German troops. In June 1940, NSB leader [[Anton Mussert]] held a speech in [[Lunteren]] in which he called for the Dutch to embrace the Germans and renounce the [[House of Orange|Dutch Monarchy]], which had fled to London.

[[File:Ssnederland.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Dutch recruiting poster for the ''Waffen-SS'']]

After the German signing of surrender on 6 May 1945, the NSB was outlawed. Mussert was arrested the following day, and was executed on 7 May 1946. Many members of the NSB were arrested, but few were convicted.

In September 1940, the ''[[Nederlandsche SS]]'' was formed as "Afdeling XI" (Department XI) of the NSB. It was the equivalent to the ''[[Allgemeine SS]]'' in Germany. In November 1942, its name was changed to [[Germanic SS|''Germaansche SS in Nederland'']]. The Nederlandsche SS was primarily a political formation but also served as manpower reservoir for the ''[[Waffen-SS]]''.

Between {{gaps|22|000}} and {{gaps|25|000}} Dutchmen volunteered to serve in the ''[[Waffen-SS]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waffen-SS (in numbers) |url=https://www.niod.nl/en/frequently-asked-questions/waffen-ss-numbers |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=www.niod.nl |language=en}}</ref> The most notable formations were the [[4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands|4th SS Volunteer ''Panzergrenadier'' Brigade ''Nederland'']] which saw action exclusively on the Eastern Front and the [[SS Volunteer Grenadier Brigade Landstorm Nederland|SS Volunteer Grenadier Brigade ''Landstorm Nederland'']] which fought in Belgium and the Netherlands.<ref>Georg Tessin, Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS 1939–1945, Biblio Verlag, vol. 2 for ''Nederland'', vol. 14 for ''Landstorm Nederland''</ref>

The ''Nederland'' brigade participated in fighting on the Eastern Front during the [[Battle of Narva (1944)|Battle of Narva]], with several soldiers receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross|Nazi Germany's highest award]] for bravery.

Another form of collusion was providing goods and services essential to the German war efforts. Especially in 1940 and 1941, when a German victory was still a possibility, Dutch companies were willing to provide such goods to the greedily-purchasing Germans. Strategic supplies fell in German hands, and in May 1940 German officers placed their first orders with Dutch shipyards. The co-operation with the German industry was facilitated by the fact that due to the occupation the German market 'opened' and due to facilitating behaviour from the side of the partly pro-German elite. Many directors justified their behaviour with the argument that otherwise, the Germans would have closed down their company or would have replaced them with NSB members and so they could still exercise some limited influence. After the war, no heavy sentences were dealt to high officials and company directors.

==Life in occupied Netherlands==
[[File:Colportage - Fotodienst der NSB - NIOD - 211853.jpeg|thumb|Amsterdam in April 1944]]
Initially, Seyss-Inquart applied the 'velvet glove' approach; by appeasing the population he tried to win them for the National Socialist ideology. That meant that he kept repression and economic extraction as low as possible and tried to co-operate with the elite and government officials in the country. There was also a pragmatic reason since the NSB offered insufficient candidates and had no great popular support. The German market was opened to the Netherlands, and Dutch companies benefited greatly from export to Germany even though, if the goods might be used for German war efforts, such trade might be seen as collaboration. In any case, despite the British victory in the [[Battle of Britain]], many considered a German victory a realistic possibility and that it would therefore be wise to side with the winner. As a result, with the ban on other political parties, the NSB grew rapidly. Although gasoline pumps had been sealed in 1940, the occupation seemed tolerable.

The German occupiers implemented a policy of ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' ("enforced conformity" or "coordination") and systematically eliminated non-Nazi organisations. In 1940, the German regime more or less immediately outlawed all socialist and communist parties. In 1941, it forbade all parties except for the [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands]].

''Gleichschaltung'' was an enormous shock to the Dutch, who had traditionally had separate institutions for all main religious groups, particularly Catholic and Protestant, because of decades of [[pillarisation]]. The process was opposed by the [[Catholic Church in the Netherlands]], and in 1941, all [[Roman Catholics]] were urged by Dutch bishops to leave associations that had been [[Nazified]].

After the failure of [[Operation Barbarossa]] in June 1941 and the subsequent German defeats at Moscow and Stalingrad [[Eastern Front (World War II)|in the Eastern Front of World War II]], Germany increased economic extraction from its occupied territories, including the Netherlands. Economic extraction increased, and production was limited mostly to sectors relevant for the war effort. Repression increased, especially against the Jewish population.

After the Allied invasion of June 1944, the railroad strike and the frontline running through the Netherlands caused the Randstad to be cut off from food and fuel. That resulted in acute need and starvation, the ''[[Hongerwinter]]''. The German authorities lost more and more control over the situation as the population tried to keep what little they had away from German confiscations and were less inclined to co-operate now that it was clear that Germany would lose the war. Some Nazis prepared to make a last stand against the Allied troops, followed Berlin's [[Nero Decree]] and destroyed goods and property (destructions of the Amsterdam and Rotterdam ports, inundations), but others tried to mediate the situation.

Among the notable social organisations during occupation was the ''[[Nationale Jeugdstorm]]'' ("National Youth-storm"), a Dutch counterpart to the [[Hitler Youth]] and an alternative to the banned [[Scouting Nederland]] with many parallels to both organisations. At its peak the NJS had over 12,000 members, mostly children of NSB members. When they reached 18 years of age, NJS members were assigned roles in the German war effort, with boys being conscripted to the Dutch Labour Service or the [[Waffen-SS]].

=== Rations and restrictions ===
[[File:Voedselbonnen-01.jpg|thumb|[[Ration stamp]]s from the German-occupied Netherlands]]

Within five weeks of occupation, rations were set on bread, meat, milk, and sugar, the first of many limitations to come.<ref name="Audrey">{{Cite book |last=Matzen |first=Robert |title=Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II |publisher=GoodKnight Books |date=2019 |isbn=9781732273580}}</ref>{{rp|p=72}} Propaganda posters warned the Dutch against hoarding, with slogans like “Don’t be a hamster.”<ref name="Hunger">{{Cite book |last=Fuykschot |first=Cornelia |title=Hunger in Holland |publisher=Prometheus Publishing |date=2019 |isbn=9780879759872}}</ref>{{rp|532}} At times, the resistance would raid distribution centres to obtain [[ration cards]] to be distributed to those in hiding.

As in other countries at war, the entire country was required to observe a nighttime curfew and blackout conditions, with [[tarpaper]] used to cover windows at night. Civilians lived in fear of a heavy fine or a warning shot through their windows if any light was visible from the exterior.<ref name="Baron">{{Cite book |last=Baron |first=Sid |title=The Way It Was: Growing Up in Wartime Holland |publisher=Exxel Publishing Company |date=2007 |isbn=9780978558208}}</ref>{{rp|p=71}} These conditions made the stars clearly visible even in city centers; astronomy books were popular in local libraries.

Raw materials quickly became harder to come by. In 1940, the occupiers announced that all bronze and copper was required to be handed in at designated locations.{{r|Hunger|loc=300}} 6,700 of the 9,000 church bells in The Netherlands were eventually confiscated and melted down.{{r|Auschwitz|p=267}} Tires for bicycles and motor vehicles were especially difficult to find; many bicycles were fitted with inferior hard rubber or wooden tires. Gasoline was rationed until only German vehicles could be found on the roads.{{r|Hunger|loc=734}}

=== Media ===
[[File:1941 issue of "Het Parool".jpg|thumb|A 1941 issue of ''[[Het Parool]]'' published illegally under German occupation]]

The Dutch were subject to [[propaganda]] from both sides of the war. German propaganda encouraged Netherlanders to accept and collaborate with the occupiers, while the [[BBC European Service]] hosted a radio programme called [[Radio Oranje]] operated by the Dutch government-in-exile. Despite German jamming signals, many Dutch people were able to modify their radios to receive the program. In May 1943, the Germans ended their own radio propaganda and ordered all Dutch citizens to turn in their radios{{r|Audrey|p=136}}; approximately 80% did so, but thousands of radios were hidden, and resistance papers re-printed radio news along with instructions for building covert receivers.

About 1,100 illegal newspapers were published over the course of the occupation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/en/tweede-wereldoorlog/kingdomofthenetherlands/thenetherlands/thenetherlands,may_1943_-_may_1944/the_illegal_press|title=Verzetsmuseum – The illegal press|work=verzetsmuseum.org|access-date=21 January 2015|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126102932/https://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/en/tweede-wereldoorlog/kingdomofthenetherlands/thenetherlands/thenetherlands,may_1943_-_may_1944/the_illegal_press|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some were simple leaflets, printed and distributed in small areas. Others, including [[Het Parool]], [[Vrij Nederland]], [[De Waarheid]], [[Trouw]], and {{ill|Ons Volk|nl}}, were printed professionally with a secret nationwide network for reporting and distribution.<ref name="Baron">{{Cite book |last=Baron |first=Sid |title=The Way It Was: Growing Up in Wartime Holland |publisher=Exxel Publishing Company |date=2007 |isbn=9780978558208}}</ref>{{rp|p=87}} The papers used a [[clandestine cell system]], with readers receiving deliveries from unknown persons and then anonymously distributing them further.<ref name="Hunger">{{Cite book |last=Fuykschot |first=Cornelia |title=Hunger in Holland |publisher=Prometheus Publishing |date=2019 |isbn=9780879759872}}</ref>{{rp|loc=1468}}

==Military installations==
Bunkers and other military buildings were constructed throughout the country, often disguised as civilian houses with false windows and even geraniums.{{r|Hunger|loc=289}}

=== Detention camps ===
The first organised detention camp on Dutch soil was [[Kamp Schoorl]], previously a Dutch army camp, on the coast. Prisoners of war and other detainees were temporarily held here before being transferred elsewhere or released. 

In the summer of 1941, the occupiers began establishing new camps. The most prominent were [[Kamp Amersfoort]] and [[Kamp Erika]], which allowed the Germans to close Kamp Schoorl in October 1941. From December 1942, [[Camp Barneveld]] housed higher-class Dutch Jews in favorable conditions. In 1943, [[Herzogenbusch concentration camp]] was established in [[Vught]], the only [[SS]] concentration camp outside of Germany.<ref>{{cite news |title=Evacuation of Camp Vught commemorated, 80 years after fatal Mad Tuesday |url=https://nltimes.nl/2024/09/08/evacuation-camp-vught-commemorated-80-years-fatal-mad-tuesday |work=NL Times |date=8 September 2024 |access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>

Traditional prisons were also heavily used—notably [[Scheveningen]] prison, which had a German-built [[cell block|block]] for political prisoners. 28,000 were held there during the occupation. Detention House I at [[Weteringschans]] in Amsterdam also housed 25,000 prisoners.<ref name="McQueen" /> Some prisoners were detained indefinitely, while others were executed (often in reprisal for resistance attacks) or released for various reasons.

In addition to local detainees, Kamp Amersfoort housed German prisoners of war from as far away as the Eastern front. The present-day Soviet Field of Honour in [[Leusden]] includes the graves of 101 Soviet soldiers who died or were executed there.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sovjet-ereveld.nl/ |title=Sovjet Ereveld Experience |author= |date= |website=Stichting Sovjet Ereveld |access-date=13 September 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

In 1942 the [[Westerbork transit camp]], previously built by the Dutch to process Jewish refugees from Germany, received its first trainload of detainees to be deported back to Germany. By far the most well-equipped camp, Westerbork featured a hospital, dental clinic, day care, and school.{{r|Auschwitz|p=182}} Despite these amenities, Westerbork was intended only as temporary accommodation before sending prisoners to concentration camps.

Though relatively few people died in the Dutch camps, summary executions and torture were common, and large numbers of detainees (including [[Anne Frank]]) died or were killed after being transferred to other camps.

=== Luftwaffe ===
The [[Luftwaffe]] was especially interested in the Netherlands, as the country was designated to become the main area for the air force bases from which to attack the United Kingdom. The Germans started construction of ten major military air bases on the day after the formal Dutch surrender, 15 May 1940. Each of them was intended to have at least 2 or 3 hard surface runways, a dedicated railway connection, major built-up and heated repair and overhaul facilities, extensive indoor and outdoor storage spaces, and most had housing and facilities for 2000 to 3000 men. Each air base also had an auxiliary and often a decoy airfield, complete with mock-up planes made from plywood. The largest became [[Deelen Air Base]], north of [[Arnhem]] (twelve former German buildings at Deelen are now national monuments). Adjacent to Deelen, the large central air control bunker for Belgium and the Netherlands, Diogenes, was set up.

Within a year, the attack strategy had to be altered to a defensive operation. The ensuing air war over the Netherlands cost almost {{gaps|20|000}} airmen (Allied and German) their lives and 6000 planes went down over the country, an average of three per day during the five years of the war.

The Netherlands turned into the first line of western air defence for Germany and its industrial heartland of the [[Ruhrgebiet]], complete with extensive [[flak]], sound detection installations and later radar. The first German night-hunter squadron started its operations from the Netherlands.

Some {{gaps|30|000}} Luftwaffe men and women were involved in the Netherlands throughout the war.<ref>Vliegvelden in Oorlogstijd, Netherlands Institute for Military History (NIMH), The Hague 2009</ref>

=== Labour requirement ===
The Nazis had encouraged Dutch people to migrate to Germany for work since the late 1930s. These efforts continued early in the occupation, but the “labour requirement” (''arbeidsinzet'' in Dutch, ''[[arbeitseinsatz]]'' in German) was also instituted. At first, only the unemployed and specialized labourers were compelled to join the German war effort. 

Conscriptions of Dutch men into the [[Wehrmacht]] began in 1941. Facing an increasing demand for labor, on 29 April 1943, Germany announced that all former Dutch soldiers—300,000 men—were to be transported to Germany as prisoners of war. The Dutch population responded with the so-called “[[April–May strikes|milk strike]]” (so named for the refusal of milkmen to complete their deliveries), the largest strike against German occupation of the war and the largest in Dutch history. The strike in turn produced harsh German reprisals: 80 strikers were summarily executed, and dozens more were killed in related violence. In [[Opende]], a German truck opened fire without provocation against a group of gathered civilians.<ref name="Baron">{{Cite book |last=Baron |first=Sid |title=The Way It Was: Growing Up in Wartime Holland |publisher=Exxel Publishing Company |date=2007 |isbn=9780978558208}}</ref>{{rp|p=95}} Support for Dutch resistance rose sharply as a result of the reprisals.

On 4 May 1943, the ''arbeidsinzet'' was expanded to all Dutch men between 18 and 35.<ref name="Brief">{{Cite book |last=Mak |first=Geert |title=Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City |publisher=Vintage Books |date=2001 |isbn=9781860467899}}</ref>{{rp|p=271}} Many refused or hid, producing a fraction of the needed labour force; by 1944, Germany had expanded the age range to 16-40 and begun rounding up eligible men for deportation, sometimes raiding church services to do so.<ref name="Baron">{{Cite book |last=Baron |first=Sid |title=The Way It Was: Growing Up in Wartime Holland |publisher=Exxel Publishing Company |date=2007 |isbn=9780978558208}}</ref>{{rp|p=119}} A single roundup in Rotterdam in October 1944 gathered 50,000 men to be deported.<ref name="Audrey">{{Cite book |last=Matzen |first=Robert |title=Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II |publisher=GoodKnight Books |date=2019 |isbn=9781732273580}}</ref>{{rp|p=256}} In all, over 500,000 Dutch people—one third of the eligible population—ended up working in Germany in some capacity.

=== Atlantic Wall ===
[[File:Tankgracht door Den Haag in 1944.jpg|thumb|A 1944 aerial image of The Hague showing a massive tank canal bisecting the city near the beach.]]

The Netherlands was part of the [[Atlantic Wall]] series of fortifications against an Allied invasion, with civilian infrastructure replaced en masse with military defenses. The two most secured locations were at {{ill|Hoek van Holland|nl|Festung Hoek van Holland}} and [[IJmuiden]], defending the river approaches to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, respectively. The greatest civilian impact came in [[Scheveningen]] and [[The Hague]], where 135,000 residents were forcibly moved and their homes demolished<ref name="Arnhem">{{Cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Robert |title=A Street in Arnhem |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |date=2015 |isbn=9780711038288}}</ref>{{rp|p=34}} to allow construction of a massive water barrier. Dutch firms collaborated with the German army to build many defensive fortifications.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PDMR9Ll89U |title=The destruction of the Netherlands during WW-II in color, Part-2: The Hague (Den Haag) (1945) |author=Rick88888888 |date=Nov 2023 |website=YouTube |access-date=16 Jul 2024}}</ref> German facilities in [[IJmuiden]], [[Scheveningen]], and [[Terschelling]] are maintained at Atlantic Wall museums.

The [[Atlantic Wall]], a gigantic coastal defence line built by the Germans along the entire European coast from southwestern France to [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]], included the coastline of the Netherlands. Some towns, such as [[Scheveningen]], were evacuated because of that. In The Hague alone, 3200 houses were demolished and 2594 were dismantled. {{gaps|20|000}} houses were cleared, and {{gaps|65|000}} people were forced to move. The ''Arbeitseinsatz'' also included forcing the Dutch to work on these projects, but a form of [[passive resistance]] took place there with people working slowly or poorly.

=== Aerial battles ===
The Netherlands lies directly between the UK and many strategic targets in Germany, so Allied bombers were a common sight and sound in the sky for the duration of the war—typically British bombing raids at night and American raids during the day. High-altitude bombers were the first [[contrail]]s that many Dutch residents had ever seen. The Germans in turn installed anti-aircraft batteries throughout the country, which continually panned the sky at night with searchlights and opened fire with guns and [[flak]] upon spotting a plane.{{r|Hunger|loc=789}}

Aerial battles were spectacular sights on clear days, and flak debris, downed planes, and airmen (living or dead) rained down on Dutch soil.{{r|Baron|p=126}} [[Airstrike|Air raids]] sometimes targeted the Netherlands, such as an assault on the [[Philips]] factory in [[Eindhoven]] on 6 December 1942 which killed 148 civilians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec42.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070706011932/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/dec42.html |archive-date=6 July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ww2today.com/6th-december-1942-low-level-daylight-attack-on-the-philips-plant-holland|title=Low level daylight attack on the Philips plant, Holland |publisher=WWII Today |date=6 December 2012}}</ref> These became more intense during [[Operation Market Garden]]. An Allied raid on Arnhem on 17 September 1944 killed about 100 civilians{{r|Arnhem|p=57}}, while a Luftwaffe counterattack against Eindhoven on 19 September killed 227 civilians and wounded 800.{{sfn|Atkinson|2013|p=278}}{{sfn|Ambrose|2001|p=130}} In addition, patrolling fighter planes would sometimes strafe opposing ground forces when spotted, putting civilian traffic at risk.{{r|Baron|p=134}}

Later in the war, the Germans launched [[V1 flying bomb]]s from The Netherlands against both England and Belgium. The first sortie against [[Antwerp]] was launched from [[Delft]] on 3 March 1945.<ref name="Cooksley" >{{cite book |last=Cooksley |first=Peter G. |title=Flying Bomb |year=1979 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |isbn=978-0-68416-284-3}}</ref> These rockets flew as little as 900 meters overhead with a characteristic buzzing sound and often failed in flight, crashing in civilian areas—in one instance, twenty crashed in a single night.<ref name="Audrey">{{Cite book |last=Matzen |first=Robert |title=Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II |publisher=GoodKnight Books |date=2019 |isbn=9781732273580}}</ref>{{rp|p=275}}
<ref name="Baron">{{Cite book |last=Baron |first=Sid |title=The Way It Was: Growing Up in Wartime Holland |publisher=Exxel Publishing Company |date=2007 |isbn=9780978558208}}</ref>{{rp|p=132}}

==Holocaust==
{{Main|The Holocaust in the Netherlands}}
{{See also|History of the Jews in the Netherlands}}
[[File:Duitse_razzia_op_het_Jonas_Daniël_Meijerplein_te_Amsterdam.jpg|thumb|Germans arrest Jews in the Jonas Daniel Meijerplein in Amsterdam, February 1941]] 

The Jewish population of the Netherlands in 1939 was between {{gaps|140|000}} and {{gaps|150|000}}, {{gaps|24|000|–|34|000}} of whom were refugees from Germany and German-controlled areas. That year, the [[Committee for Jewish Refugees (Netherlands)#Westerbork Central Refugee Camp|Committee for Jewish Refugees]] established the [[Westerbork transit camp]] to process incoming refugees; in 1942 the German occupiers repurposed it to process outgoing Jews to labour and concentration camps. Over half of the total Jewish population—about {{gaps|79|000}}—lived in Amsterdam; this number increased as Germans forcibly moved Dutch Jews into the city in preparation for mass deportation.

Jews were deeply integrated into Dutch culture, and there was a popular belief that they could or would not be isolated as they had been in other occupied lands. However the German authorities required Dutch businesses to register almost immediately after occupation, and by the end of 1940 required all public officials to sign an "Declaration of Aryan Descent" or be dismissed. Jewish citizens were registered and identified, first with a "J" in their identity cards and later by a [[Yellow badge|Jewish star]]. 

Often with the participation of Dutch authorities, the German occupiers systematically stripped Jews of rights and property. In 1940, there were no deportations, and only minor measures were taken against the Jews. In February 1941, the Nazis deported a small group of Dutch Jews to [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp]]. The Dutch reacted with the [[February strike]], a nationwide protest against the deportations, unique in the history of Nazi-occupied Europe. Although the strike did not accomplish much—its leaders were executed—it was an initial setback for Seyss-Inquart. He had intended both to deport the Jews and to win the Dutch over to the Nazi cause.<ref name=Presser>{{cite book |title=Ashes in the Wind: the Destruction of Dutch Jewry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ix6SV7SCZJwC |first=Jacob |last=Presser |others=Arnold Pomerans (translation) |author-link=Jacques Presser |publisher=Wayne State University Press (reprint of 1968 translated edition) |date=1988 |isbn=9780814320365 |oclc=17551064}} {{page?|date=July 2024}}</ref>

Before the February strike, the Nazis had installed a [[Judenrat|Jewish Council]] (Dutch: ''Joodse Raad''). This was a board of Jews, headed by Professor [[David Cohen (historian)|David Cohen]] and [[Abraham Asscher]]. Independent Jewish organisations, such as the [[Committee for Jewish Refugees (Netherlands)|Committee for Jewish Refugees]]—founded by Asscher and Cohen in 1933—were closed.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Ambiguity of Virtue: Gertrude van Tijn and the Fate of the Dutch Jews |first=Bernard |last=Wasserstein |author-link=Bernard Wasserstein |publisher=Harvard University Press |oclc=861478330 |isbn=9780674281387 |date=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNaDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |pages=98–100}}</ref> The Jewish Council ultimately served as an instrument for organising the identification and deportation of Jews more efficiently; the Jews on the council were told and convinced they were helping the Jews.<ref name="enc"/>

In January 1942, the Jewish population was "evacuated" to the three Jewish districts of Amsterdam. In May of that year, Jews were ordered to wear [[Yellow badge|Star of David badges]]. The [[Catholic Church in the Netherlands]] publicly condemned the government's action in a letter read at all Sunday parish services. The Nazi government began to treat the Dutch more harshly, and notable socialists were imprisoned. Later in the war, Catholic priests, including [[Titus Brandsma]], were deported to concentration camps.<ref name="enc">{{cite book |first1=Robert |last1=Rozett |first2=Shmuel |last2=Spector |title=Encyclopedia of the Holocaust |date=2013 |page=119 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781135969509 |oclc=869091747}}</ref> 

===Deportations===
[[File:9 anne frank beeld - WLM 2011 - drobm.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Anne Frank]]'s diary has been translated into some sixty languages since its publication.]]

Large-scale deportations from The Netherlands began on 15 July 1942 and ultimately included 100,000 Jews, most of whom died or were killed in German concentration camps. About 25–30,000 Jews went into hiding as ''onderduikers'' (literally “under-divers”)—most famously [[Anne Frank]], who hid with her family in an Amsterdam house from July 1942 for over two years before being discovered.

Concentration camps were built at [[Herzogenbusch concentration camp|Vught]] and [[Amersfoort concentration camp|Amersfoort]] as well. Eventually, with the assistance of Dutch police and civil service, the majority of the Dutch Jews were deported to concentration camps.<ref name="Stone">{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Dan |title=Histories of the Holocaust |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xs0UDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year=2010 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-956680-8 |page=42}}</ref>

Following the last major round-ups and deportations, Amsterdam—the last Jewish population center—was declared “''judenrein''” (“Jew-free”) in November 1943.{{r|Auschwitz|p=138}}

===Survival rates and causes===
Some 75% of the Dutch-Jewish population was killed in the Holocaust, an unusually high percentage compared to other occupied countries.<ref name=jblo>{{cite journal |author=JCH Blom |title=The Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands: A Comparative Western European Perspective |doi=10.1177/026569148901900302 |journal=[[European History Quarterly]] |date=July 1989 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=333–351|hdl=20.500.11755/1ab16853-ae62-4a30-a677-0e0d31c6f9f5 |s2cid=143977907 |url=https://pure.knaw.nl/ws/files/640230/14275.pdf }}.</ref><ref>For more recent publications, see: Pim Griffioen and Ron Zeller, "Comparison of the Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands, France and Belgium, 1940–1945: Similarities, Differences, Causes", in: Peter Romijn et al., ''The Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands, 1940–1945. New Perspectives''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press/Vossius Pers/NIOD, 2012, 55–91. Pim Griffioen and Ron Zeller, "Anti-Jewish Policy and Organization of the Deportations in France and the Netherlands, 1940–1944: A Comparative Study", ''Holocaust and Genocide Studies'' 20 (3), Winter 2006, 437–473.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tammes|first=Peter|date=1 July 2017|title=Surviving the Holocaust: Socio-demographic Differences Among Amsterdam Jews|journal=European Journal of Population|language=en|volume=33|issue=3|pages=293–318|doi=10.1007/s10680-016-9403-3|pmid=28725097|issn=0168-6577|pmc=5493707}}</ref> 

By 1945, the Dutch Jewish population was about a quarter of what it had been (about {{gaps|35|000}}). Of that number, about 8,500 escaped deportation by being in a [[Exogamy|mixed marriage]] to a non-Jew; about 16,500 hid or otherwise evaded detection by German authorities; and 7000–8000 escaped the Netherlands for the duration of the occupation. The Dutch survival rate is much lower than in neighbouring Belgium, where 60% of Jews survived, and France, where 75% survived.<ref name=Croes>{{cite journal |title=The Holocaust in the Netherlands and the Rate of Jewish Survival |first=Marnix |last=Croes |journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |volume=20 |number=3 |date=Winter 2006 |pages=474–499 |url=http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/languages/dutch/pdf/article_croes.pdf |doi=10.1093/hgs/dcl022|s2cid=37573804 }}</ref> Historians have offered several hypotheses for the low survival rate, including:
* The Netherlands included religion in its national records, which reduced the opportunity for Jews to mask their identity.
* Dutch authorities and the Dutch people were unusually co-operative with German authorities.
* The flat, unforested Dutch landscape deprived Jews of potential hiding places.

Marnix Croes and Peter Tammes examined the survival rates among the different regions of the Netherlands. They conclude that most of the hypotheses do not explain the data. They suggest that a more likely explanation was the varying "ferocity" with which the Germans and their Dutch collaborators hunted Jews in hiding in the different regions.<ref name=Croes /> In 2002, [[Ad van Liempt]] published ''Kopgeld: Nederlandse premiejagers op zoek naar joden, 1943'' (Bounty: Dutch bounty hunters in search of Jews, 1943), published in English as ''Hitler's Bounty Hunters: The Betrayal of the Jews'' (2005). He found in newly-declassified records that the Germans paid a bounty to police and other collaborators, such as the [[Colonnie Henneicke]] group, for tracking down Jews.<ref name="Cole"/>

A 2018 publication, ''De 102.000 namen'', lists the {{gaps|102|000}} known victims of the persecution of Jewish, Sinti, and Roma people from the Netherlands; the book is published by Boom, Amsterdam, under the auspices of the Westerbork Remembrance Center.<ref>''De 102.000 namen''; Amsterdam: Boom, 2018. {{ISBN|9789024419739}}. Reviewed in {{cite web|url=https://historiek.net/de-102-000-namen-boek-met-alle-namen-van-vermoorde-joden-sinti-en-roma/75006/|website=Historiek.nl|access-date=31 January 2018|date=26 January 2018|title=De 102.000 Namen – Boek met alle namen vermoorde Joden, Sinti en Roma|language=nl}}</ref>

==Dutch resistance==
{{Main|Dutch resistance}}

The Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War II developed relatively slowly, but its counterintelligence, domestic sabotage, and communications networks provided key support to Allied forces beginning in 1944 and through the liberation of the country. Discovery by the Germans of involvement in the resistance meant an immediate death sentence.

[[File:101st with members of dutch resistance.jpg|thumb|left|Members of the [[Dutch Resistance]], identified by their cloth armbands, with American paratroopers of the [[101st Airborne Division]] in [[Veghel]], September 1944]]

The country's terrain, lack of wilderness and dense population made it difficult to conceal any illicit activities, and it was bordered by German-controlled territory, which offered no escape route except by sea. Resistance in the Netherlands took the form of small-scale decentralised cells engaged in independent activities. The [[Communist Party of the Netherlands]], however, organised resistance from the start of the war, as did the circle of liberal democratic resisters who were linked through Professor Dr. Willem or [[Wim Schermerhorn]] to the Dutch government-in-exile in London, the LKP ("Nationale Knokploeg", or National Force Units, literal translation "Brawl Crew"). This was one of the largest resistance groups, numbering around 550 active participants; it was also heavily targeted by Nazi intelligence for destruction due to its links with the United Kingdom. Some small groups had absolutely no links to others. These groups produced forged ration cards and counterfeit money, collected intelligence, published [[Underground media in Nazi-occupied Europe|underground newspapers]], sabotaged phone lines and railways, prepared maps, and distributed food and goods. After 1942 the National Organisation (LO) and National Force Units (LKP) organised national coordination. Some contact was established with the government in London. After D-day the existing national organisations, the LKP, the OD and the Council of Resistance merged into the internal forces under the command of [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld|Prince Bernhard]].<ref>Abraham J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit, ''History of the Holocaust: a handbook and dictionary'' (1994) p. 411</ref>

One of the riskiest activities was hiding and sheltering refugees and enemies of the Nazi regime, Jewish families, underground operatives, draft-age Dutch, and others. Collectively these people were known as ''onderduikers'' ('under-divers'). Later in the war, this system of people-hiding was also used to protect downed Allied airmen. Reportedly, resistance doctors in [[Heerlen]] concealed an entire hospital floor from German troops.<ref>Mark Zuehlke, ''On to Victory: The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands'', (2010) p. 187</ref>

In February 1943, a Dutch resistance cell rang the doorbell of the former head of the Dutch general staff and now-collaborating [[Lieutenant general]] [[Hendrik Seyffardt]] in the Hague. Seyffardt commanded the campaign to recruit Dutch volunteers for the ''Waffen-SS'' and the German war effort on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]. After he answered and identified himself, he was shot twice and died the following day. The assassination of the high-level official triggered a harsh reprisal from ''SS'' General [[Hanns Albin Rauter]], who ordered the killing of 50 Dutch hostages and a series of raids on Dutch universities. On October 1 and 2, 1944, the Dutch resistance attacked German troops near the village of [[Putten]], which resulted in war crimes on behalf of the occupying Germans. After the attack, part of the town was destroyed, and seven people were shot in the [[Putten raid]]. The entire male population of Putten was deported and most were subjected to forced labour; 48 out of 552 survived the camps. The Dutch resistance attacked Rauter's car on March 6, 1945, unaware of the identity of its occupant, which in turn led to the killings at [[Woeste Hoeve]], where 116 men were rounded up and executed at the site of the ambush and another 147 [[Gestapo]] prisoners executed elsewhere.<ref>{{cite book|last=Van der Zee|first=Henri A.|title=The hunger Winter: Occupied Holland, 1944–1945|year=1998|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln|isbn=0-8032-9618-5|page=182|edition=1st}}</ref>

==Dutch government and army in exile==
{{See also|Dutch government-in-exile|Free Dutch Forces}}
The Dutch army's successful resistance in the [[Battle for The Hague]] gave the royal family an opportunity to escape. Several days before the surrender, Princess Juliana, Prince Bernhard and their daughters (Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene) travelled from The Hague to London. On 13 May, [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]] and key members of the Dutch government followed. The royal family were guests at [[Buckingham Palace]], where Irene was christened on 31 May. Juliana later took Beatrix and Irene to Canada, where they remained for the duration of the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/abdicating-dutch-queen-was-a-wartime-ottawa-schoolgirl-1.1315871 |title=Abdicating Dutch queen was a wartime Ottawa schoolgirl |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|author=Janet Davison| date=April 29, 2013}}</ref>

Shortly after the German victory, the Dutch government, led by Prime Minister [[Dirk Jan de Geer]], was invited by the Germans to return to the country and to form a pro-German puppet government, as the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] had agreed to do in France. De Geer wanted to accept that invitation, but the Queen refused it and dismissed him in favour of [[Pieter Gerbrandy]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Dutch East Indies and war in the Far East==
{{Main|Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies|Indonesian National Revolution}}
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Indonesische jongens tijdens hun soldatentraining door de Japanners TMnr 10001989.jpg|thumb|Indonesian youths being trained by the Japanese Army]]
On 8 December 1941, the Netherlands declared war on the [[Empire of Japan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411208c.html|title=The Kingdom of the Netherlands Declares War with Japan | publisher=ibiblio|access-date=2009-10-05}}</ref> On 10 January 1942, the Japanese invaded the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Indonesia]]).

Dutch naval ships joined forces with the Allies to form the [[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command|American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Fleet]], commanded by Dutch [[schout-bij-nacht|Rear Admiral]] [[Karel Doorman]]. On February 27–28, 1942, Doorman was ordered to take the offensive against the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. His objections on the matter were overruled. The ABDA fleet finally encountered the Japanese surface fleet at the [[Battle of the Java Sea]] at which Doorman gave the order to engage. During the ensuing battle, the Allied fleet suffered heavy losses. The Dutch cruisers ''[[HNMS Java|Java]]'' and ''[[HNLMS De Ruyter (1935)|De Ruyter]]'' were lost, together with the destroyer ''[[HNLMS Kortenaer (1927)|Kortenaer]]''. The other Allied cruisers, the Australian ''[[HMAS Perth (D29)|Perth]]'', the British ''[[HMS Exeter (68)|Exeter]]'', and the American ''[[USS Houston (CA-30)|Houston]]'', tried to disengage but were spotted by the Japanese in the following days and were eventually all destroyed. Many ABDA destroyers were also lost.<ref>L. Klemen, ''Forgotten Campaign. The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942'' (1999). </ref>

After Japanese troops had landed on [[Java (island)|Java]], and the [[Royal Netherlands East Indies Army]] had been unsuccessful in stopping their advance because the Japanese could not occupy a relatively-unguarded airstrip, the Dutch forces on Java surrendered on 7 March 1942. Some {{gaps|42|000}} Dutch soldiers were taken prisoner and interned in labour camps, but some were executed on the spot. Later, all Dutch civilians (some {{gaps|100|000}} in total), were arrested and interned in camps, and some were deported to Japan or sent to work on the [[Death Railway|Thai-Burma Railway]]. During the Japanese occupation, between 4 and 10 million Javanese were forced to work for the Japanese war effort. Some {{gaps|270|000}} [[Java]]nese were taken to other parts of [[Southeast Asia]]; only {{gaps|52|000}} of those survived.

A Dutch government study described how the Japanese military forcibly recruited women as prostitutes in the Dutch East Indies<ref>{{Harvnb|Ministerie van Buitenlandse zaken|1994|pp=6–9, 11, 13–14}}</ref> and concluded that among the 200 to 300 European women working in Japanese military brothels, "some sixty five were most certainly [[comfort women|forced into prostitution]]".<ref name="AWF">{{cite web |title=Women made to become comfort women – Netherlands |publisher=Asian Women's Fund |url=http://www.awf.or.jp/e1/netherlands.html}}</ref> Others, faced with starvation in the refugee camps, agreed to offers of food and payment for work, the nature of which was not completely revealed to them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Japan's 'Comfort Women' |first=Chunghee Sarah |last=Soh |author-link=Chunghee Sarah Soh |publisher=International Institute for Asian Studies |url=http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/18/regions/e3.html |access-date=2013-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106001455/http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/18/regions/e3.html |archive-date=2013-11-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan |page=22 |first=Chunghee Sarah |last=Soh |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-226-76777-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIHcaFVxXf0C&pg=PA22}}</ref><ref name="AWF"/><ref>Poelgeest. Bart van, 1993, Gedwongen prostitutie van Nederlandse vrouwen in voormalig Nederlands-Indië 's-Gravenhage: Sdu Uitgeverij Plantijnstraat. [Tweede Kamer, vergaderjaar 93-1994, 23 607, nr. 1.]</ref><ref>Poelgeest, Bart van. "[http://www.awf.or.jp/pdf/0205.pdf Report of a study of Dutch government documents on the forced prostitution of Dutch women in the Dutch East Indies during the Japanese occupation.]" [Unofficial Translation, January 24, 1994.]</ref>
[[File:73-Japanse kampen in Nederlands-Indië.jpg|thumb|Liberated Dutch prisoners in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) in 1945]]

The Dutch submarines escaped and resumed the war effort from bases in [[Australia]] such as [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]]. As a part of the Allied forces, they were on the hunt for Japanese tankers on their way to Japan and the movement of Japanese troops and weapons to other sites of battle, including [[New Guinea campaign|New Guinea]]. Because of the significant number of Dutch submarines active in the Pacific Theatre of the war, the Dutch were named the "Fourth Ally" in the theatre, along with the Australians, the Americans, and the [[New Zealand]]ers.

Many Dutch Army and Navy airmen escaped and, with aeroplanes provided by the Americans, formed the [[Royal Australian Air Force]]'s [[No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF|Nos. 18]] and [[No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF|120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadrons]], equipped with [[B-25 Mitchell]] bombers and [[Curtiss P-40|P-40 Kittyhawk]] fighters, respectively. No. 18 Squadron conducted bombing raids from Australia to the Dutch East Indies. Both squadrons eventually also participated in their recapture.

Gradually, control of the Netherlands East Indies was wrested away from the Japanese. The largest Allied invasion of the Pacific Theatre took place in July 1945 with Australian landings on the island of [[Borneo]] to seize the strategic oil-fields from the Japanese forces, which were now cut off. At the time, the Japanese had already begun independence negotiations with Indonesian nationalists such as [[Sukarno]], and Indonesian forces had taken control of sizeable portions of [[Sumatra]] and Java. After the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Japanese surrender]] on 15 August 1945, Indonesian nationalists, led by Sukarno declared Indonesian independence, and a [[Indonesian National Revolution|four-year armed and diplomatic struggle]] between the Netherlands and the Indonesian nationalists began.

Dutch civilians, who suffered greatly during their internment, finally returned home to a land that had greatly suffered as well.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Christina |last=Twomey |title=Double Displacement: Western Women's Return Home from Japanese Internment in the Second World War |journal=Gender and History |year=2009 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=670–684 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0424.2009.01566.x |s2cid=143970869 }}</ref>

==Final year==
{{Campaignbox Liberation of the Netherlands}}
[[File:Sherman tanks advancing through Valkenswaard.jpg|thumb|right|British [[Sherman tank]]s liberate [[Valkenswaard]] during [[Operation Market Garden]], September 1944.]]
After the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Normandy Landings|landing in Normandy]] in June 1944, the Western Allies rapidly advanced in the direction of the Dutch border. Tuesday, 5 September, is known as ''[[Dolle dinsdag]]'' ("Mad Tuesday") since the Dutch began celebrating and believed that they were close to liberation. In September, the Allies launched [[Operation Market Garden]], a failed attempt to advance from the Dutch-Belgian border across the rivers [[Meuse (river)|Meuse]], [[Waal (river)|Waal]] and [[Rhine]] into the north of the Netherlands and Germany. However, the Allied forces did not reach the objective because they could not capture the Rhine bridge at the [[Battle of Arnhem]]. During Market Garden, substantial regions to the south were liberated, including [[Nijmegen]] and [[Eindhoven]]. A subsequent [[Battle of the Nijmegen salient|German counterattack against the Nijmegen salient]] (the Island) was defeated in early October.

Parts of the southern Netherlands were not liberated by Operation Market Garden, which had established a narrow salient between Eindhoven and Nijmegen. In the east of [[North Brabant]] and in [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]], British and American forces during [[Operation Aintree]] managed to defeat the remaining German forces west of the Meuse between late September and early December 1944 by destroying the German bridgehead between the Meuse and the Peel marshes. During the offensive, the only tank battle ever fought on Dutch soil took place at [[Overloon]].

At the same time, the Allies also advanced into the province of [[Zeeland]]. At the start of October 1944, the Germans still occupied [[Walcheren]] and dominated the [[Scheldt]] estuary and its approaches to the port of [[Antwerp]]. The crushing need for a large supply port forced the [[Battle of the Scheldt]] in which [[First Canadian Army]] fought on both sides of the estuary during the month to clear the waterways. Large battles were fought to clear the [[Breskens Pocket]], [[Woensdrecht]] and the [[Zuid-Beveland]] Peninsula of German forces, primarily "stomach" units of the ''Wehrmacht'' as well as German paratroopers of Battle Group Chill. German units composed of convalescents and the medically unfit were named for their ailment; thus, "stomach" units for soldiers with ulcers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Cornelius |title=A Bridge Too Far |year=1995 |edition=First paperback |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bridgetoofar00ryan_0/page/26 26, 39] |isbn=0-684-80330-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bridgetoofar00ryan_0/page/26 }}</ref>

By 31 October, resistance south of the Scheldt had collapsed, and the [[2nd Canadian Infantry Division|Canadian 2nd Infantry Division]], [[British 52nd (Lowland) Division]] and 4th Special Service Brigade all made attacks on Walcheren Island. Strong German defences made a landing very difficult, and the Allies responded by bombing the dikes of Walcheren at [[Westkapelle, Netherlands|Westkapelle]], [[Vlissingen]] and [[Veere]] to flood the island. Though the Allies had warned residents with pamphlets, 180 inhabitants of Westkappelle died. The coastal guns on Walcheren were silenced in the opening days of November and the Scheldt battle declared over. No German forces remained intact along the {{convert|64|mi|km|abbr=on}} path to Antwerp.

After the offensive on the Scheldt, [[Operation Pheasant]] was launched in conjunction to liberate [[North Brabant]]. The offensive after some resistance liberated most of region; the cities of [[Tilburg]], [['s-Hertogenbosch]], [[Willemstad, North Brabant|Willemstad]] and [[Roosendaal]] were liberated by British forces. [[Bergen Op Zoom]] was taken by the Canadians and the [[1st Armoured Division (Poland)|Polish 1st Armoured Division]] led by General [[Stanisław Maczek|Maczek]] liberated the city of [[Breda]] without any civilian casualties on 29 October 1944. The operation as a whole also broke the German positions that had defended the region along its canals and rivers.

The Dutch government had not wanted to use the old water line when the Germans had invaded in 1940. It was still possible to create an island out of the Holland region by destroying dikes and flooding the [[polder]]s, which contained the [[Randstad|main cities]]. The Dutch government had decided that too many people would die to justify the flooding. However, Hitler ordered for Fortress Holland (German: ''Festung Holland'') to be held at any price. Much of the northern Netherlands remained in German hands until the Rhine crossings in late March 1945.

===Hunger Winter===
[[File:BC856 HUI-2004.jpg|thumb|Malnourished Dutch child in [[The Hague]]]]
{{Main|Dutch famine of 1944–45}}
The failure of Operation Market Garden created a wave of refugees from the battlefield—some 100,000 from [[Arnhem]] alone—and ensured that the territory still under German control would endure the winter of 1944-45 with virtually no material support. In response to a general railway strike ordered by the Dutch government-in-exile near the end of 1944, the Germans cut off all food and fuel shipments to the western provinces in which 4.5 million people lived.

The winter in Europe was one of the coldest in a hundred years, causing a shortage of water as well as food. The resulting famine is commonly known as the ''Hongerwinter'' (literally, "hunger winter"). Trees began to be chopped down en masse for cooking fires, which caused the Germans to close many public parks. Efforts were made to tow blocks of ice down the rivers into the cities for melting. "Hunger journeys" were common as people roamed the country to scavenge or trade for food. As the end of 1944 approached, supplies had diminished until the only ration cards issued were for one [[Dutch pound]] (500 grams) of bread per person per day. Even this was not always attainable, and residents lined up overnight at bakeries in hopes of bread in the morning.{{r|Hunger|loc=2352–2360}} By the onset of winter, some three million Dutch residents were facing starvation. The famine ultimately caused up to {{gaps|30|000}} casualties of starvation, exhaustion, cold, and disease, and {{gaps|18|000}} people starved to death.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

Relief came at the beginning of May 1945.<ref>{{cite journal |first=C. |last=Banning |title=Food Shortage and Public Health, First Half of 1945 |journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |volume=245 |issue=The Netherlands during German Occupation |year=1946 |pages=93–110 |jstor=1024809 |doi=10.1177/000271624624500114|s2cid=145169282 }}</ref>

=== Bombing of the Bezuidenhout ===
{{Main|Bombing of the Bezuidenhout}}
On 3 March 1945, the British [[Royal Air Force]] mistakenly [[Bombing of the Bezuidenhout|bombed the densely populated Bezuidenhout neighbourhood]] in the Dutch city of [[The Hague]]. The British bomber crews had intended to bomb the [[Haagse Bos]] ("Forest of the Hague") district where the [[Nazi Germany|Germans]] had installed [[V-2]] launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities. However, the pilots were issued with the wrong coordinates, so the navigational instruments of the bombers had been set incorrectly. Combined with fog and clouds which obscured their vision, the bombs were instead dropped on the [[Bezuidenhout]] residential neighbourhood. At the time, the neighbourhood was more densely populated than usual with evacuees from The Hague and [[Wassenaar]]; 511 residents were killed and approximately {{gaps|30|000}} were left homeless.

===Liberation===
[[File:The_Liberation_of_Eindhoven,_Holland,_20_September_1944_TR2369.jpg|thumb|Civilians dancing in the square of [[Eindhoven]], the first major town in Netherlands to be liberated. Eindhoven was later bombed by the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]''.]]
After crossing the [[Rhine]] at [[Operation Plunder|Wesel and Rees]], Canadian, British and Polish forces entered the Netherlands from the east and liberated the eastern and the northern provinces. Notable battles during the movement are the [[Battle of Groningen]] and the [[Battle of Otterlo]], both in April 1945.

The western provinces were not liberated until the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands was negotiated on the eve of 5 May 1945 (three days before the general capitulation of Germany), in the [[Hotel de Wereld]] in [[Wageningen]]. Previously the Swedish [[Red Cross]] had been allowed to provide relief efforts, and Allied forces were allowed to airdrop food over the German-occupied territories in [[Operations Manna and Chowhound|Operation Manna]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Lance |last=Goddard |title=Canada and the liberation of the Netherlands, May 1945 |year=2005 |location=Toronto |publisher=Dundurn Group |isbn=1-55002-547-3 }}</ref>

During [[Operation Amherst]], Allied troops advanced to the [[North Netherlands]]. To support the advance of the [[II Canadian Corps (World War II)|II Canadian Corps]], [[France|French]] paratroopers were dropped in [[Friesland]] and [[Drenthe]] who were the first Allied troops to reach Friesland. The French successfully captured the crucial [[Stokersverlaatbrug|Stokersverlaat Bridge]]. The region was successfully liberated shortly after.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Boersma|first=Bauke|title=Met Franse para's begon bevrijding van Fryslân|date=29 February 2020|work=Friesch Dagblad}}</ref>
[[File:Geallieerde vliegtuigen boven Nederland - Allied planes over Holland (4481068617).jpg|thumb|Dutch civilians waving to allied bombers during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945]]
On the island of [[Texel]], nearly 800 men of the [[Georgian Legion (1941–1945)|Georgian Legion]], serving in the German army as [[Ostlegionen|Osttruppen]], [[Georgian Uprising of Texel|rebelled]] on 5 April 1945. Their rebellion was crushed by the German army after two weeks of battle. 565 Georgians, 120 inhabitants of Texel, and 800 Germans died. The 228 surviving Georgians were forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union when the war ended.

After being liberated, Dutch citizens began taking the law into their own hands, like in other liberated countries, such as France. Collaborators and Dutch women who had relationships with men of the German occupying force, called ''"Moffenmeiden"'' were abused and humiliated in public, usually by having their heads shaved and painted orange.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

===Casualties===
By the end of the war, 205,901 Dutch men, women and children had died of war-related causes. The Netherlands had the highest per capita death rate of all Nazi-occupied countries in Western Europe (2.36%).<ref>See [[World War II casualties]]</ref> Over half ({{gaps|107|000}}) were Holocaust victims. There were also many thousands of non-Dutch Jews in the total, who had fled to the Netherlands from other countries, seeking safety, the most famous being [[Anne Frank]]. Another {{gaps|30|000}} died in the [[Dutch East Indies]], either while fighting the Japanese or in camps as Japanese [[POW]]s. Dutch civilians were also held in these camps.<ref>See [[World War II casualties#endnote Indonesia]]</ref>

==Postwar==
[[File:Kaalgeschoren moffenmeiden.jpg|thumb|Collaborators and ''{{lang|nl|moffenmeiden}}'' being rounded up and publicly humiliated by resistance members following the Liberation]]
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
After the war, some accused of collaborating with the Germans were lynched or otherwise punished without trial. Men who had fought with the Germans in the ''{{lang|de|Wehrmacht}}'' or ''Waffen-SS'' were used to clear minefields and suffered losses accordingly. Others were sentenced by courts for treason. Some were proven to have been wrongly arrested and were cleared of charges, sometimes after they had been held in custody for a long period of time.
[[File:Duitsch grondgebied zonder Duitschers.jpg|thumb|1945 Dutch propaganda poster, depicting maximalist demands for "German soil without Germans"]]
The Dutch government initially developed plans to annex part of Germany ([[Dutch annexation of German territory after the Second World War|the Bakker-Schut Plan]]), which would substantially increase the country's land area. The German population would be expelled or "Dutchified". The plan was dropped after an Allied refusal. Two small villages were added to the Netherlands in 1949 and returned in 1963. One successfully-implemented plan was [[Operation Black Tulip]], the deportation of all holders of German passports from the Netherlands, numbering several thousand.

The bank balances of [[Dutch Jews]] who were killed were still the subject of legal proceedings more than 70 years after the end of the war.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

The end of the war also meant the final loss of the Dutch East Indies. After the [[surrender of the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies]], Indonesian nationalists fought a [[Indonesian National Revolution|four-year war of independence]] against Dutch and at first [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces, which eventually led to the Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia under pressure of the United States. Many Dutch and Indonesians then emigrated or returned to the Netherlands.

World War II left many lasting effects on Dutch society. On 4 May, the Dutch commemorate those who died during the war, and all wars since. Among the living, there are many who still bear the emotional scars of the war from both the first and the second generation. In 2000, the government was still granting {{gaps|24|000}} people an annual compensatory payment although that also includes victims from later wars, such as the [[Korean War]].

In 2017, the [[Dutch Red Cross]] offered its "deep apologies" for its failure to act to protect Jews, [[Sinti]], [[Romani people|Roma]], and political prisoners during the war after the publication of a study that it had commissioned from the [[NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Diepe verontschuldigingen' van Rode Kruis| trans-title=Deep apologies of the Red Cross |website=[[De Telegraaf]]|date=2017-11-01|url=https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1004547/diepe-verontschuldigingen-van-rode-kruis|language=nl|access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Dutch Red Cross apologizes for failing Jews in WWII |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/dutch-red-cross-apologizes-for-failing-jews-in-wwii/ |access-date=2018-10-14 |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |agency=[[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] |date=1 November 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Netherlands}}
{{History of the Netherlands}}
* [[Netherlands in World War I]]
* [[Chronological overview of the liberation of Dutch cities and towns during World War II]]
* [[Dutch resistance]]
* [[Englandspiel]]
* [[List of Dutch military equipment of World War II]]
* [[Military history of the Netherlands during World War II]]
* [[Corrie ten Boom]]
* [[Jan de Hartog]]
* [[Philip Slier]]
* [[Maurice Frankenhuis]]
* [[Canada-Netherlands relations]]
* [[Liberation Day (Netherlands)]]
* [[Suicide in the Netherlands in World War II]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal
 | author = Ministerie van Buitenlandse zaken
 | date = January 24, 1994
| title = Gedwongen prostitutie van Nederlandse vrouwen in voormalig Nederlands-Indië [Enforced prostitution of Dutch women in the former Dutch East Indies]
 | journal = Handelingen Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal [Hansard Dutch Lower House]
 | volume = 23607
 | issue = 1
 | issn = 0921-7371
 | author-link1=Minister of Foreign Affairs
 | url = http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/nieuws/nieuws/dwangprostitutie.asp
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927023811/http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/nieuws/nieuws/dwangprostitutie.asp
 | url-status = dead
 | language=nl
 | archive-date=September 27, 2007
 }}

==Further reading==
* Bijvoet, Tom and Van Arragon Hutten, Anne. ''The Dutch in Wartime, Survivors Remember'' (Mokeham Publishing, Oakville, Ontario 2011–2017) [https://dutchreadz.com/product-category/english-language-books/dutch-in-wartime-series/ The Dutch in Wartime]
* {{cite journal|last=Croes|first=Marnix|title=The Holocaust in the Netherlands and the Rate of Jewish Survival'|publisher=Research and Documentation Center of the Netherlands Ministry of Justice|journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |volume=20|issue=3|pages=474–499|date= Winter 2006|url=http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/languages/dutch/pdf/article_croes.pdf|doi=10.1093/hgs/dcl022|s2cid=37573804}}
* De Zwarte, Ingrid. ''The Hunger Winter: Fighting Famine in the Occupied Netherlands, 1944–1945'' (Cambridge University Press, 2020) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NLjwDwAAQBAJ&dq=Netherlands+1944&pg=PR9 online].
* Dewulf, Jeroen. ''Spirit of Resistance: Dutch Clandestine Literature during the Nazi Occupation'' (Rochester NY: Camden House 2010)
* Diederichs, Monika. "Stigma and Silence: Dutch Women, German Soldiers and their children", in Kjersti Ericsson and Eva Simonsen, eds. ''Children of World War II: The Hidden Enemy Legacy'' (Oxford U.P. 2005), 151–64.
* Foot, Michael, ed. ''Holland at war against Hitler: Anglo-Dutch relations 1940–1945'' (1990) [https://www.amazon.com/Holland-War-Against-Hitler-Anglo-Dutch-ebook/dp/B00K1GW4Y8/ excerpt and text search]
* Foray, Jennifer L. "The 'Clean Wehrmacht' in the German-occupied Netherlands, 1940–5," ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 2010 45:768–787 {{doi|10.1177/0022009410375178}}
* Friedhoff, Herman. ''Requiem for the Resistance: The Civilian Struggle Against Nazism in Holland and Germany'' (1989)
* Goddard, Lance. ''Canada and the liberation of the Netherlands, May 1945'' (2005)
* [[Gerhard Hirschfeld|Hirschfeld, Gerhard]]. ''Nazi Rule and Dutch Collaboration: The Netherlands under German Occupation 1940–1945'' (Oxford U.P., 1998)
* Hirschfeld, Gerhard. "Collaboration and Attentism in the Netherlands 1940–41," ''Journal of Contemporary History'' (1981) 16#3, pp. 467–486. Focus on the "Netherlands Union" active in 1940–41 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/260315 in JSTOR]
* Hitchcock, William I. ''The Bitter Road to Freedom: The Human Cost of Allied Victory in World War II Europe'' (2009). Chapter 3 is "Hunger: The Netherlands and the Politics of Food", pp. 98–129
* Maas, Walter B. ''The Netherlands at war: 1940–1945'' (1970)
* {{cite book |last=Mark |first=Chris |title=Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II |publisher=De Alk b.v. |location=Alkmaar, Netherlands |isbn=9789060135228 |language=nl}}
* Moore, Bob. "Occupation, Collaboration and Resistance: Some Recent Publications on the Netherlands During the Second World War", ''European History Quarterly'' (1991) 211, pp. 109–118. [http://ehq.sagepub.com/content/21/1/109.full.pdf+html Online at Sage]
* Sellin, Thorsten, ed. "The Netherlands during German Occupation", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' Vol. 245, May 1946, pp. i–180 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/i242853 in JSTOR], 18 essays by experts; focus on home front economics, society, Resistance, Jews
* van der Zee, Henri A. ''The hunger winter: occupied Holland, 1944–1945'' (University of Nebraska Press, 1998) [https://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Winter-Occupied-Holland-1944-1945/dp/0803296185/ excerpt and text search]
* Warmbrunn, Werner. ''The Dutch under German Occupation 1940–1945'' (Stanford University Press, 1963)
* Zuehlke, Mark. ''On to Victory: The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 – May 5, 1945'' (D & M Publishers, 2010.)

==External links==
{{Commons category|Liberation of the Netherlands}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://wwii.ca/page52.html Canada and Holland] The liberation of the Netherlands with photos and video footage.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051220045732/http://warmuseum.ca/cwm/newspapers/operations/netherlands_e.html Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War – The Liberation of the Netherlands, 1944–1945]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040124052455/http://www.geocities.com/capitolHill/rotunda/2209/Netherlands.html |date=January 24, 2004 |title=Administrators of the German occupied Netherlands during WW II }}
* [http://www.waroverholland.nl The invasion of the Netherlands in 1940]
* [http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/en/museum Dutch Resistance Museum]
* [http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/net/w2n-ar.html World War II: Dutch aftermath and recovery]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140912194153/http://www.beeldbankwo2.nl/index.jsp?action=setlocale&lang=en Beeldbankwo2 (Photobank WWII)], a project led by the Dutch National Archives
* [http://archief.ntr.nl/deoorlog/ De Oorlog – A NPS Documentary series about World War II and the Netherlands]
* [http://dutchinwar.com The Dutch in Wartime, survivors remember – Dutch immigrants to Canada and the USA share their memories of war and occupation]
* [https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canada-netherlands Liberation of the Netherlands]

{{WWII history by nation}}
{{World War II}}
{{Nazi Germany occupations}}
{{Netherlands topics}}
{{Collaboration with Axis Powers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of the Netherlands (1939-1945)}}
[[Category:Netherlands in World War II| ]]
[[Category:Jewish Dutch history]]
[[Category:Politics of World War II]]
[[Category:World War II occupied territories|Netherlands]]