Describes and illustrates the full range of Dutch resistance groups
and German and collaborationist counter-resistance groups during the
Nazi occupation in 1940-45.
The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands was a complex, varied and bloody
affair. Well- documented is the initial capture by the Gestapo of a
secret Dutch Special Operations Executive radio-operator who thereafter
lured several parachuted agents to their deaths, but, the actual scope
and complexity of the occupation was much greater than this. Large-scale
civil resistance against the occupation began as early as February 1941,
and 1943 saw assassinations, reprisals, and the development of various
resistance groups - the LKP National Assault Teams and some 'wild' armed
groups: the left wing RzV and the conservative OD. In addition, several
overlapping Dutch organizations amalgamated in September 1944 into the
NBS: 'Netherlands Interior Forces'. In return, the Germans created the
collaborationist Landwacht security force. From the start of September
1944, when Allied armies liberated the southern provinces of North
Brabant and Limburg, NBS shocktroop units were uniformed and armed by
both the British and US armies and assisted their further advance, while
a bloody underground struggle continued in the still occupied North
until final liberation in April 1945.
The Dutch authors of this title are long-time researchers of the
subject, with family connections to Resistance veterans, a large library
of hitherto untranslated local sources, and support from several museums
and private photo collections to fully document the groups and fighting
involved. Using detailed color illustrations of troops and fighters,
this volume provides a comprehensive and in-depth account of one of the
lesser-known occupations of WWII.
