Dutch Under German Occupation: 1940-1945

The history of the German occupation of the Netherlands, the first in English, focuses upon the origins and nature of the Dutch reaction to the German regime. Although most of the published material on occupied Europe has been concerned with extremes of behavior - political collaboration and organized resistance - the real life of the people lay between these two extremes. Most people, against their wills were caught in a social system which of necessity continued to function under the occupation, to some extent to the advantage of the German war economy. Unwilling adjustment was the rule - intentional resistance the exception.