Dutch resistance

  • There is one myth about Audrey Hepburn I have to dispel: she was not British-Belgian. In Belgium, as in many other European countries, you don’t automatically obtain citizenship just because you’re born there. You typically inherit the nationality of your parents, usually that of the father or, in some cases, the mother. Audrey was born…

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  • Nico Peeters was born on 12 April 1893 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and lived in The Hague. He grew up with his brothers and sister in a family with deaf parents. He was an entrepreneur and resistance member. Nico owned a cigar factory with his brother Ben. The Peeters family was idealistic and active in the resistance.…

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  • Below is an estimate of the number of people who died as a result of the war, the occupation, and the persecution during the years 1940–1945.The total number of Dutch people who died lies between 225,000 and 280,000. At that time, the population of the Netherlands was 9 million. Mathilde Adrienne Eugènie Verspijck was just…

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  • The below story was brought to my attention by a friend, he also published it in a local Athens-Alabama newspaper. THE OWL’S EYE Equal justice under the law Some may believe an event both a continent and 76 years away of little interest to our Athens- Limestone County. Let this flight of recollection help. We…

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  • I do despair at times when I see how many of my fellow Dutch citizens were so willing to help the Nazi regime. I know it is easy (for me) to judge because I was never put in a similar situation. But it is still a puzzle to me that a nation known for its…

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  • Martin Haas was born Martijn Haas, at the end of 1936 in Breda, a small city in the south of the Netherlands. Just before the war started, about two hundred Jews lived in Breda. Martin survived because his parents kept him safe in hiding. His parents and 2 of his siblings did not survive. His…

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  • This is a first; this will be the first time I do a blog in two languages, English and Frisian. The reason why? Firstly it is to acknowledge my heritage from my mother’s side, she was Frisian. Secondly, and more importantly to honor a hero of mine. Father Titus Brandma who was also Frisian, Now…

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  • Ankie Stork was a Dutch resistance fighter during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She saved thirty-five Jewish children from the Nazis by hiding them in several locations in the town of Nijverdal during World War II. She acted as part of Utrecht’s Kindercomité (Utrecht Children Committee), a Dutch resistance group based in Utrecht. Louis…

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  • Bert Jan Flim, a noted Dutch historian who has researched the rescue of Jewish children during the Holocaust in the Netherlands. His father and paternal grandparents were recipients of the Righteous Among the Nations award for their part in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. Herman Flim, a baker from Nijverdal. During World War II, Herman…

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  • On February 25, 1941, the Dutch decided that enough was enough. No longer would they stand idly by to see the treatment of their Jewish neighbors. The first 8 months of the Nazi occupation did not see that much change to the Dutch. The changes were all gradual. However, there were increased tensions. The WA(Weerbaarheidsafdeling-defense…

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