The Museum of Modern Irrelevance (MoMI): August 2026

The Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum) tells the story of occupation and resistance in the Netherlands during the Second World War through the poignant personal stories of 100 Dutch people. The galleries take visitors through six periods between May 1940 and May 1945, with each gallery starting with a short contextual film on political and international events at the time. The museum's exhibits display authentic objects to show what life was like in the occupied Netherlands and the increasing tide of resistance as the war progressed. Importantly, the exhibits showcase the stories of both opponents and supporters of the German occupation to provide a balanced and honest view of how the Dutch people reacted. The Dutch Resistance Museum ultimately emphasises the dilemmas that people faced under Nazi rule, illustrating that resistance was not an easy choice and was often fraught with danger.

Photos taken 29 April 2026

The entrance to the Resistance Museum, located at 61 Plantage Kerklaan (Plantation Church Lane) in the Plantage neighbourhood of Amsterdam.

The ticket and information desk, with the gift shop and access to the museum galleries behind.

The first gallery, 'Adapt or Resist?', covers the period from May 1940 to February 1941. Throughout the museum, visitors can use their audio guides to activate touchpoints providing more information on the historical periods and the personal stories of the 100 people profiled across the six galleries.

The film played at the start of the 'Adapt or Resist?' gallery explains the conditions which gave rise to the Dutch National Socialist Movement (Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging, or NSB) under Anton Mussert, pictured on the screen giving the fascist salute. The film concludes with the German invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, during which 2,200 Dutch civilians were killed, including some 750 in the infamous bombing of Rotterdam, as well as approximately 2,200 Dutch and 2,100 German soldiers.

A display on Anton Mussert (1894-1946) and his Dutch National Socialist Movement (NSB). An admirer of Adolf Hitler, Mussert formed the NSB in 1931 and, in a speech in 1939, proclaimed that 'Whoever does not belong amongst our people, must go. From the Chinese to the Jews.' While many Dutch people detested the NSB, Mussert and his adherents enthusiastically welcomed the Nazis and expected to gain power in the Netherlands. The NSB's ranks swelled as thousands of new members joined the party. The Nazi occupiers in the Netherlands understood that cooperating closely with the NSB would not help to entice the Dutch populace to embrace national socialism and, while NSB members were given senior positions in the occupation government, Mussert failed to gain any real power. From January 1942, the NSB was the only party allowed in the Netherlands, with its membership reaching nearly 100,000 at its peak during the German occupation.

An identity document for NSB leader Anton Mussert, signed by Reichskommissar for the Netherlands Arthur Seyss-Inquart on 17 July 1944.

The insignia of the NSB, featuring a golden-yellow Dutch national lion rampant on top of a Prince’s Flag-style tri-colour, overlaying a red and black triangle bordered in yellow. The red and black represent blood and soil. A National Socialist Women's Organisation (NSVO) was led by NSB member Elisabeth Keers-Laseur, who worked to convince women to embrace national socialism. In January 1941, Keers-Laseur admonished women to 'fight for our People and our Fatherland...in our own feminine way' by raising a strong and racially pure nation. Unlike Mussert, Keers-Laseur believed that the Netherlands should become part of Germany. Even after being ousted from the NSB by Mussert, Keers-Laseur continued to fight for a more radical NSB and for her national socialist beliefs; she remained a committed national socialist until her death in 1997 at age 107.

The displays explain the rise of the NSB in the lead-up to the Second World War and the choice facing Dutch citizens of either cooperating with or resisting Nazi occupation of the Netherlands after the German invasion of May 1940.

A set of penny stamps issued by the Netherlands Union, founded in the summer of 1940 by Louis Einthoven, Johannes Linthorst Homan, and Jan de Quay. The Union wanted to collaborate with the German occupiers but maintain the Dutch identity, and was opposed to Mussert's NSB. The Netherlands Union grew quickly, with over 600,000 people joining its membership; however, when the German occupation authorities made demands, the Union acceded. Jewish members of the Union were told not to play an active role and Einthoven began having doubts as to whether the organisation was going too far. The stamps displayed here bear slogans such as, 'Salvation through unity in the Dutch Union', 'Remain a Dutchman in the Dutch Union', and 'One country, one people'.

Propaganda placards for the Netherlands Union, reading 'All in the Dutch Union'. Although Union leader Louis Einthoven was tempted to resign over his growing concern with the pro-German sentiment within the organisation, he realised that leaving would only deepen that bias. Despite stress causing him to step back from the leadership temporarily, Einthoven remained leader of the Netherlands Union until it was banned in 1941 on account of its insufficiently robust support of the Germans.

An exhibit on the German occupation forces' registration of Dutch citizens. A personal identity card was designed which, due to the use of special ink, stamps, fingerprints, and three watermarks, was nearly impossible to forge. There was little public opposition to the introduction of the identity card, which everyone aged 15 and older had to carry. Later, the cards for Jews were stamped with a large 'J'. Thousands of Dutch officials assisted in implementing the registration system, which proved very useful to the Germans as a means of controlling the population and tracking down Dutch Jews.

Personal index cards held by the Registry Office. A black clip with a 'J' on it was attached to the cards for Jews, making it clear at a glance who was Jewish.

This form, introduced in October 1940, required that all Dutch public officials declare that they, their partner, and their parents were not Jewish. Of the 200,000 Dutch public officials, only a few dozen refused to sign the declaration, with many believing that a refusal would only create more problems with the German occupiers. A month after the registration period, Jewish officials were dismissed from their jobs. This prompted large protests at Leiden University and the Delft Institute of Technology, though it was too late for widespread resistance to the registration.

A proof of registration issued to Jews who registered themselves, as per Article 9, paragraph 1 of Regulation No. 6/1941, issued by the Reichskommmissar of the occupied Netherlands. This regulation, introduced in January 1941, obligated any persons of wholly or partially Jewish blood to register with the authorities. Punishments were threatened to anyone who refused to fill out the registration form or who made a false report. More than 160,000 Jews, including 140,000 full Jews, completed the registration form, while a few hundred did not.

Public officials in Amsterdam used the registration data to create this map at the request of the Nazi occupiers in May 1941. Each dot represented ten Jewish residents.

A cabinet displaying items of the 'pro-Orange' movement opposed to Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. the items include song lyrics and jokes poking fun at Hitler scribbled in a school notebook; cartoons about NSB leader Anton Mussert; photos of the Dutch royal family, a symbol of resistance, dropped from Allied aircraft; coins featuring Queen Wilhelmina; and a cigarette extinguisher made from a six-and-a-quarter cents coin ('Six-and-a-quarter' was the nickname of Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who walked with a limp).

A ceramic tile carrying the coat of arms of the House of Orange (the Dutch royal family) and the slogan Nederland zal herrijzen (The Netherlands will rise again!). 'O.Z.O.' is an abbreviation for Oranje Zal Overwinnen (Orange Will Triumph'). Following nationwide pro-Orange celebrations on Prince Bernhard's birthday, 29 June 1940, the German occupiers banned the public use of royal names and portraits and later re-named streets.

When folded along the lines, this sheet of paper reading 'Find the fifth pig', forms Hitler's face.

A short film introduces visitors to the propaganda effort directed at the Dutch by the German occupiers and the their Dutch fascist supporters.

The entrance to the second gallery, 'Growing Resistance', covering the period from February 1941 to July 1942.

Examples of propaganda posters created during the German occupation of the Netherlands. On the left, an appeal to Dutch people to donate to the Winter Relief street collection on 23-24 January. On the right, a recruitment poster for the Waffen-SS that raises the spectre of Bolshevism and employs the image of famous Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter under the slogan 'Show yourself to be a true Dutchman'.

More examples of Nazi propaganda in the Netherlands, targeting Jews and Bolshevism as threats to the nation and to European civilisation. The middle poster uses a smiling character, Koenraad, to encourage men to join the Labour Service.

These posters encourage 'tough guys' to join the Waffen-SS (left) and 'Be brave, become a stormer' (right). The poster in the middle seeks new members for the Germanic Land Service in the East.

A Dutch national socialist poster exclaiming, 'Our Nationalism your salvation / Our Socialism your future', which seeks to appeal to the martial instincts of men and the maternal instincts of women.

The 'Growing Resistance' gallery. The Dutch began to turn against the German occupiers as greater control was imposed over people's lives. The Germans required students to sign an Aryan Declaration to be eligible for academic scholarships and by late 1941 Jews were no longer allowed to be members of associations, a move that prompted almost all student associations to disband in protest. The Dutch communist party was banned by the occupation authorities in 1940 but continued to operate illegally, becoming the first organised resistance group in the Netherlands.

The Dutch Chamber of Culture, founded by the German occupation regime, required that artists register themselves using this form or be forbidden from working. Jewish artists were naturally excluded from membership. Ultimately, given the need to earn money to survive, 42,000 Dutch artists registered with the Chamber, with only a small minority refusing.

A display on the Winterhulp (Winter Aid) charity, under the control of the German occupiers. When a Winter Aid collector came to her door, Hague resident Jacoba Blom-Schuh angrily refused to donate money on the grounds that the proceeds were destined for the Germans and Dutch national socialist party members. The Winter Aid collector filed a report and Jacoba was sent to prison for two months. The Winter Aid campaign was a failure, as most Dutch people did not donate any money.

Pins given to those who donated money to the Winter Aid campaign set up by the German occupiers. The pins were part of a series and often depicted the 'Germanic' history of the Netherlands.

A display on the resistance activities of Dutch colonial subjects from Indonesia, Suriname, and the Dutch Caribbean who were in the Netherlands when the Nazis invaded. There were tens of thousands of people of mixed Dutch-Indonesian descent, between 800 and 1,000 Indonesians, and few thousand Surinamese and Dutch Caribbean subjects living in the Netherlands in 1940 when the Germans invaded. While people of colour were seen as inferior by the Nazis, they were not actively persecuted. Dutch colonial subjects in favour of the independence of their homelands were faced with a difficult choice of fighting alongside what they saw as an oppressive colonial regime against the Nazi occupiers. Still, many did actively participate in the Dutch resistance as they reasoned that the Dutch people were now themselves being oppressed and would understand the struggle for independence in the colonies. The Dutch East Indies were attacked by Japan in January 1942, a move that came as a shock to the Netherlands. Dutch forces in the East Indies capitulated on 8 March 1942, making contact between the Netherlands and the colony nearly impossible for the mixed Dutch-Indonesian population living in the Netherlands and the many white Dutch people with friends and family in the colony. While the Dutch colony of Suriname, on the northern coast of South America, was not occupied during the war, the country's bauxite was important for Allied aircraft production. As such, US troops were sent to Suriname at the end of 1941 to guard the bauxite mines, causing Dutch fascist leader Anton Mussert to accuse the United States of having invaded the colony. Dutch communists, who opposed colonialism, argued that Suriname belonged to neither the US nor the Netherlands and that the Surinamese people had the right to independence. The poster on the right laments the perceived abandonment of the Dutch colonies, asserting that what was 'once won with blood and sweat for our people' is 'now betrayed and squandered' and that 'no true Dutchman will accept this shameful act'.

A display of items of propaganda produced by the Allies (left), the German occupiers (middle), and members of the Dutch resistance (right). The Allies spread propaganda in the Netherlands using the phrase 'V for Victory'. This was appropriated by the Germans, who spread their own propaganda arguing that 'V = Victory because Germany wins for Europe on all fronts'. The Dutch resistance mocked the German 'V' campaign through pamphlets it printed and distributed, such as one that reads 'Germany is drowning on all fronts'.

A display on the illegal press in the Netherlands during the German occupation. The large printing press seen here was located in the Haarlem printing shop of Joop Hoogendoorn. Joop and his 17-year old son, Ad, printed anti-Nazi posters, brochures, and illegal newspapers. The work was dangerous and, when a member of the Dutch resistance mentioned Joop's name after being severely beaten, Joop and Ad were arrested. Joop was executed by the Germans in 1944, while Ad remained imprisoned in Germany until the liberation. Approximately 70 people involved in printing materials for the Dutch resistance were killed during the war. The illegal newsletter Het Parool (The Password) began circulating in 1940 and grew into an important resistance newspaper. Its publisher, Arie Addicks, was arrested in 1941 and sentenced to death by the Germans; although he pleaded for his life, Arie was executed by firing squad on 8 October, aged 25.

A display on resistance broadcasting. Although radio in the Netherlands was under German control, there was 15 minutes of broadcasts each day from the Dutch government in exile in London on Radio Orange. Jetty Paerl, a 20-year old Jewish woman who had fled to London with her parents in 1940, sang songs mocking the German occupiers. Jetty always sang extra clearly, as the Germans would disrupt the broadcasts with electronic jamming. The interference could be filtered out with a homemade 'Kraut sieve', the cross-shaped contraption seen in front of the radio in the display.

A short hallway leads to the next gallery. Displays on either side tell stories of individual Dutchmen who fought with the Allies (left) and with the Germans (right).

A display on two men who decided to join the Allies fighting Germany: Carol Steensma and Jan Beelaerts van Blokland. Steensma set out for Britain in a small boat one night but was wounded in the leg by a hail of German bullets and arrested; he survived multiple concentration camps but had his wounded leg amputated at the Natzweiler camp. In prison, Steensma made the Christmas tree seen in the display case out of cardboard covering his cell window, with the snow being made from the bandage on his gunshot wound and the tinsel from silver foil on his medicines; he sang carols by the tree on Christmas Eve, being joined by the prisoners in adjoining cells. Beelaerts van Blokland and several others stole a German seaplane and, using only a handheld army compass to navigate, flew to Britain. Although the plane was shot at by British anti-aircraft guns, the Dutch escapees landed safely, holding up a Dutch flag and shouting 'Don't shoot, we are Dutch!' Beelaerts van Blokland became a commander in the Dutch army's Princess Irene Brigade, fighting in Normandy and the Battle of Arnhem in 1944 and surviving the war. Approximately 2,000 Dutch people reached Britain to join the Allied cause, though over 200 others were killed making the attempt. Most of these escapees travelled via the North Sea in 1941 and through neutral Sweden or Spain in 1942 and 1943. In contrast, many Dutch were impressed by propaganda posters for the German Waffen-SS and saw Soviet communism as a great danger to Europe. Around 25,000 Dutch volunteers joined the German Waffen-SS, with around 5,000 being killed. Gerard Mooyman signed up with the Waffen-SS at age 17 and was the first non-German to be awarded the Knight's Cross after destroying 13 Russian tanks during an attack; although he was immensely proud of his service at the time and feted as a hero, being used by the Germans to recruit new Dutch SS members, Mooyman later came to regret his decision to fight for the Nazis.

Visitors watch the short film introducing the next gallery, 'July 1942 - April 1943: Help?' As the Germans began constructing the Atlantic Wall defences to fortify the coast against Allied invasion, some 350,000 Dutch people were forced to leave their homes, with 15,000 homes being demolished. Most of the displaced people found shelter with family or friends, but around 30% had to be housed with host families they did not know.

After the German occupation, imports from overseas stopped and shops were forced to sell substitutes for coffee, tea, spices, soap, and tobacco. Seen here are two brands of coffee 'surrogate'. The label on the Neimeijer's brand coffee substitute says it can be consumed pure or mixed with coffee.

Tea substitutes. The box on the left notes that the product has been prepared according to the authorisation of 7 August 1942, No. 244, and is made from acorns, hawthorn leaves, blackberry leaves, and artificial dye.

A poster condemning the black market trade in food in the Netherlands, asserting that 'Due to the illicit trade in meat, your plate remains empty'. To distribute scarce products fairly, a ration system was introduced in the Netherlands. More and more products could only be purchased with ration coupons, with customers having to pay for the product and present the associated coupons.

A display telling the story of the 27 March 1943 attack on the Amsterdam Registry Office by the homosexual artist Willem Arondéus and several friends. The Registry Office held the files used to confirm whether a person's identity card was genuine or fake and the plan to attack the office took five months of careful preparation. Equipped with a map of the building, the guards' schedule, explosives, and police uniforms as a disguise, Arondéus and his colleagues carried out the attack; however, not all of the registration cards were destroyed and the attack came too late for the many Dutch Jews already deported to concentration camps. The 11 co-conspirators were betrayed, arrested, and shot. Although the Nazis imprisoned 10,000-15,000 German homosexuals in concentration camps, there was only limited persecution of homosexuals in the Netherlands, with only one Dutch man known to have been sent to a camp for being gay.

A display on the forgery of identity cards. Wanting to help those being persecuted by the Germans, both Jews and resistance members, sculptor Gerrit van der Veen (pictured) decided to forge documents. With five friends, van der Veen established the 'Central Office for Identity Cards' in June 1942 and commenced forging a wide range of documents, including a large number of identity cards. The green boxes on the right side of the display contain hundreds of fake municipal stamps. Van der Veen was arrested following a failed attempt to help friends escape from an Amsterdam prison and was executed on 10 June 1944.

A display of forgery tools, including a brass case to remove the seal on an identity card with acetone without affecting the print; fake stamps; a hinged arm to put the stamp in exactly the right place on a forged identity card; and enlarged photos which allowed complex patterns to be recreated and then sized down for forgeries. The head of the Amsterdam Registry Office, Piet Landweer, was eager to help Jews and advised them to report their identity cards as lost, after which they were issued new cards without the required 'J' marker. Landweer and his colleagues developed increasingly ingenious techniques for forging documents, using personal details of deceased Amsterdam residents to create new forged identity cards. Given the chaos following the March 1943 attack on the Registry Office, it became easier to alter documents. Landweer's forgeries were eventually discovered and he and five colleagues were arrested and executed in the summer of 1944.

A display dedicated to the effort to hide those being hunted by the German occupiers, as well as those Dutch people who refused to put themselves at risk of punishment if caught harbouring targeted individuals. Those who took in Jews or resistance members worried whether their neighbours would hear anything and betray them and how those being sheltered would get enough food since people in hiding did not receive ration coupons. When families could not be sheltered together, parents were forced to make the agonising decision to part with their children in the hope of being reunited after the war. As a country that respected authority, there were several Dutch villages that hid large numbers of people under the influence of pastors and ministers. Between 500 and 800 Jewish children in Amsterdam who would otherwise have been deported to the camps were smuggled out of the nursery where they were held and survived the war in hiding.

Some of those avoiding arrest and deportation to concentration camps developed elaborate hiding places and practiced hiding quickly should the authorities arrive. Jewish resistance fighters and sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper sought a hiding place with family and others in a secluded villa in Naarden, though the danger of being discovered was ever present. A Chinese vase placed in the window served as a signal: if it was gone, it meant that the fugitives had to flee. One day the vase was missing, but Janny still went after her son, Rob, who had entered the house. Officials were inside and found all of the fugitives, taking them away to prison and clearing out the house. The clock displayed here was the only item that survived the war. While Janny and Lien survived the concentration camps, their parents and brother died in captivity. A relatively large number of Jews joined the Dutch resistance, while 28,000 Jews went into hiding; approximately one-third were found and arrested.

Given wartime shortages, Dutch people had to find creative ways to repair broken items. This bicycle has been fitted with a front tire from a baby carriage, while the rear tire has been made of wood.

The sizable exhibit devoted to telling the story of the persecution of Dutch Jews under the wartime German occupation of the Netherlands. The displays recount the actions of both German collaborators who assisted the German authorities and those who opposed the persecution and deportations. Around 4,000 Dutch Jews fled the Netherlands, though approximately half were caught. In 1940-41, just under 1,000 Dutch Jews were able to legally emigrate abroad.

Addressing those Dutch officials who followed German orders, this display profiles policeman Jo Karelse, who was assigned the task of detaining Jews, checking the number of family members and their luggage, and locking up their homes. Fearing the loss of his job or worse, Karelse complied but was deeply conflicted. When the Dutch police were required to swear an oath to Hitler in 1943, Karelse refused and joined the Dutch resistance. Nevertheless, for the rest of his life, Karelse blamed himself for following the German orders. While Dutch police often used their position to help the resistance, over 300 were killed for collaborating with the resistance movement.

A sign reading 'Forbidden for Jews' and reproductions of the yellow Star of David patches marked Jood (Jew) that Dutch Jews were forced to wear to identify themselves under German occupation. From the beginning of 1941, Jews had to announce and partly implement anti-Jewish measures via a Jewish Council. The chairman of the Amsterdam branch of the Jewish Council was instructed to assist in the deportation of Jews from the city, with the German authorities threatening harsh repercussions for anyone who refused to cooperate. The members of the Jewish Council were themselves deported to concentration camps along with the last of the Jews on 29 September 1943.

A reproduction of a sign at the Westerbork transit camp in the northeastern Netherlands and a photo of the camp. At the bottom of the display are photos of Nora Susan-Levie and her two children, who were incarcerated at Westerbork. Dutch Jews were collected at Westerbork and from there sent by train to concentration camps in Eastern Europe. A train departed Westerbork every Monday night, with the names of deportees only being announced at the last minute, which caused great anxiety and emotional reactions. Nora and her children were sent to Auschwitz in November 1943, where they were murdered. Of the 140,000 Jews in the Netherlands, 107,000 were deported to concentration and extermination camps, with the majority transiting through Westerbork; 102,000 were murdered in the camps.

A display of letters addressed to family and friends, thrown by Dutch Jews from the trains deporting them to the concentration camps in the east.

An exhibit on the German use of forced labour. Between 500,000 and 630,000 Dutch people were forced to labour for the Germans, around 30,000 of whom died. Approximately 300,000 Dutch men went into hiding to avoid forced labour. Passing a physical examination was required, with Dutch fascist party doctors declaring men fit for work in Germany if they had a normal head and arms and legs. Forced labourers in Germany endured bad food and long workdays, as well as Allied aerial bombing. Meanwhile, Moroccan soldiers captured from the defeated French Army were employed as forced labourers to build the Nazis' Atlantic Wall defences in the Dutch region of Zeeland. On the right, within the barbed wire display, is a profile of Red Cross volunteer Loes van Overeem, who worked to help detainees in the Dutch concentration camps. Using her powers of persuasion, van Overeem was granted permission from high-ranking Nazis to enter the camp at Vught, where her visits boosted morale among the detainees and led to improvements in the conditions in the camp. Van Overeem was praised and criticised after the war for her interactions with the occupation authorities, with critics arguing that it was inappropriate and pointless to negotiate with the enemy.

Karl Berg was a member of the SS and the commandant of the Amersfoort concentration camp in the Netherlands. A harsh and unaccommodating man, Berg repeatedly rejected requests from Red Cross volunteer Loes van Overeem to deliver food parcels to political detainees at the camp, arguing that they were 'not entitled to any care whatsoever'; however, he eventually relented, likely due to van Overeem's contacts with high-ranking Nazi officials. In the autumn of 1943, van Overeem was given permission to deliver her food parcels. Later, with the liberation of the Netherlands imminent, Berg turned the camp over to van Overeem on 19 April 1945. He was arrested after the occupation ended, sentenced to death, and shot on 22 November 1949.

A poster announcing the death sentences issued by the Overijssel Police Martial Court and carried out against Frederik Martinus Loep and Antonius Hasenbekke. Loep was an industrial engineer at the Stork machinery factory in Hengelo and was arrested following the April-May 1943 strike, a spontaneous nationwide work stoppage by up to 500,000 Dutch industrial workers, miners, and farmers to protest against the German occupation. The strike began at the Stork factory and Loep's arrest was merely based on his absence from work on a day during the strike. Under interrogation, Loep admitted to sympathising with the strikers but claimed that he had taken a day off work, pointing to the official request had had submitted. This explanation did not matter to the Germans, who needed to make an example of someone in a senior job at Stork as a deterrent to others. Loep was shot and buried at an undisclosed location, with his family being given an envelope with the contents of his pockets (displayed here) when arrested. A total of 80 people were arrested, shot, and secretly buried as a consequence of the April-May strikes; 50 of those bodies have never been found.

A large screen shows the locations of assault groups of the National Organisation for Helping People in Hiding, while displays below contain artefacts linked to each of the resistance members profiled.

A radio receiver in a metal Laurens cigarette tin. After the April-May 1943 nationwide strike, all Dutch people were ordered to hand in their radios. Many people made their own small radio receivers and hid them.

A hollowed-out book used to hide a small pistol, just one of many ingenious disguises used by resistance members to avoid detection. As the Nazis were unlikely to be suspicious of mothers, maternity corsets and prams were often used to transport banned items, while a Jewish resistance group used a hollow chessboard to transport false documents.

A series of displays recounts the dark history of the persecution of Jews, other ethnic and religious minorities, and resistance members by Dutch collaborators of the Nazi regime.

A display on Wim Henneicke, a fervent antisemite and 'Jew hunter' who led a team of men to uncover Jews in hiding and turn them over to the German occupation regime. Every Jew turned into the authorities was worth at least 7.50 guilders and Henneicke and his men were ruthless, using deceit and threats of violence to track down Jews. Henneicke also threatened his own men if they tried to leave his team. After six months of work, Henneicke's team was disbanded, having completed its task by capturing between 8,000 and 9,000 Jews. As the liberation of the Netherlands neared, Hennneicke switched sides and joined the resistance but was not trusted by everyone. Henneicke's execution by the Dutch resistance in late 1944 was announced in the illegal resistance newspaper De Vrijheid (Freedom). In total, the various Jew hunters across the Netherlands captured around 15,000 Jews in hiding.

A display on Anton van der Waals, who joined the German Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service), the intelligence agency of the Nazi Party and the SS and became one of the deadliest traitors in the Netherlands. A common trick employed by van der Waals was to warn resistance groups that they were in danger of being arrested and to offer to help them flee to Britain; the resistance members would then be arrested shortly before making their escape, with van der Waals also being arrested to maintain his cover. The resistance began hunting van der Waals in 1943, with his photo on the list of traitors displayed in the case; van der Walls is shown on the bottom row, first photo on the right. However, thanks to his use of disguises and pseudonyms, van der Waals's identity was never revealed. During his time with the Sicherheitsdienst, van der Waals played a role in capturing 83 resistance members, of whom 38 were executed. In 1950, van der Waals was sentenced to death and shot. He was just one of dozens of Dutch traitors who infiltrated resistance groups, with captured Jews and resistance fighters sometimes being pressured into betraying their comrades.

A shirt worn by Dutch resistance member Co Dankaart, who was arrested in July 1943 and shot and wounded in the process. Also displayed (above the photo) is a poison-filled capsule like the one that Dankaart kept on his person at all times. He was adamant that he would rather die than be tortured into betraying others and, after being arrested, he surreptitiously popped the pill in his mouth. As he was being beaten by the German prison interrogator, Dankaart swallowed the pill but forgot to bite it in half first. He survived the severe beating without giving the Germans any names other than his own and was sent to a hospital where he was rescued by his friends in the resistance. Dankaart went into hiding, continuing to work for the resistance, and survived the war.

A cell door from the Weteringschans prison in Amsterdam.

The fifth gallery, 'Playing Hardball' covers the final phase of the war, from September 1944 to April 1945. By this time, many resistance groups had joined the army of the Dutch resistance, the Binnenlandse Strijkrachten (BS, or Interior Forces). The BS was an amalgamation of the Landelijke Knokploegen (National Fighting Squads, with many Christian members); the Raad van Verzet (Council of Resistance, which included many communists); and the Ordedienst (Order Service, mostly consisting of former members of the Dutch military). BS members wore overalls and an armband with 'ORANJE' ('ORANGE') on it. While the groups within the BS harboured suspicions of each other, they did sometimes cooperate effectively. As the Allied campaign moved onto the continent, the bombing offensive against German targets increased, including in the Netherlands. Around 10,000 Dutch citizens were killed by Allied bombs. Some of these casualties occurred as a result of the bombing of German military targets in the Netherlands, while in other cases Dutch cities near the border with Germany were sometimes mistaken for German ones. Some 600 crewmen from downed Allied bombers were smuggled out of the Netherlands by resistance groups, while at least 145 Allied soldiers were transported back to friendly lines by resistance members following the Battle of Arnhem.

Approximately 200 Dutch people, most of them so-called 'England voyagers', were dropped into the Netherlands as secret agents. During the night of 5-6 January 1945, a British aircraft flew over the Netherlands and dropped guns, maps, cigarettes, and Agent Squeak. Squeak was the code name for 23-year old agent Sjoerd Sjoerdsma. Sjoerdsma's assignment was to establish contact between the resistance and the Dutch government in exile in London. Using a transmitter hidden in a suitcase, Sjoerdsma sent to Britain coded messages given to him by resistance couriers using bicycles. The bicycle couriers were usually women, as they were less likely to attract suspicion at German checkpoints and would not be put to work by the occupation authorities. Since the German authorities used trucks fitted with scanners to detect radio transmissions, Sjoerdsma never stayed in one location too long. The German counter-espionage operation, known as the England Game, resulted in the capture of 59 secret agents, 54 of whom were executed; in total, around 100 secret agents sent to the Netherlands were caught and executed. Sjoerdsma returned to Britain after three months but was again dropped into the Netherlands in late April 1945 and found himself in Rotterdam when the country was liberated by Allied forces.

A display profiling Herman Sterrenburg, a carpenter who was recruited into the resistance. Working for the espionage group Albrecht, Sterrenburg did odd jobs for the German occupation forces, sometimes on military sites. This work allowed him to collect information on German positions, which was added to detailed maps. These maps and associated reports were smuggled to Britain on microfilm. Sterrenburg did most of this dangerous espionage work during the day, but sometimes went out at night, during which he used the night-vision binoculars exhibited in the display case. Sterrenburg was never caught and survived the war.

A display on the illegal resistance press. The newspaper Het Parool (The Password) was printed by Amsterdam printer Johannes Jesse and his family beginning in 1944. Each week, 20,000 copies of the newspaper were typeset, printed, folded, counted, and packaged in Jesse's shop. When the electricity was cut in April 1945, the Jesse family printed Het Parool using a manual press, with each copy consisting of only two pages. The illegal newspaper Trouw (Loyalty) was distributed by student Jaap de Graaf using the train; de Graaf had false documents identifying himself as a Dutch Railway worker. When the September 1944 railway strike made distribution impossible, de Graaf arranged for Trouw to be printed in various locations. He used a variety of false names and fake occupations, each supported by forged documents, to travel around the country.

Both the German occupation authorities and the Dutch resistance groups carried out acts of violent retaliation. The Germans executed Dutch civilians in retaliation for acts of violence against German personnel, such as the 30 people shot after an SS officer was killed; the 30 bodies were left in the street as a warning to others. In another incident, in March 1945, the Germans killed 263 prisoners in retaliation for a resistance attack on a vehicle carrying Hanns Albin Rauter, the highest-ranking SS leader in the Netherlands. The Germans left the 263 bodies on the side of the road with a sign reading 'This is what we do to terrorists and saboteurs'. Ultimately, over 5,000 people, mostly prisoners, were killed by the German occupiers as retaliation for resistance activities. For its part, the Dutch resistance targeted traitors, NSB members, and Germans during the war, killing about 550 people. As resistance member Hannie Schaft said, 'Shooting traitors was a terrible thing. But it had to be done. After all, we couldn't put them in prison.' Despite employing disguises, Schaft was captured in March 1945 carrying a gun and illegal newspapers. She was interrogated and admitted her role in the resistance, being taken to the coastal dunes and shot without trial on 17 April, three weeks before the liberation of the Netherlands.

A display on the 'Hunger Winter', the famine in the Netherlands near the end of the war. By December 1944, there was nothing left to eat in Amsterdam and other cities and some 50,000 people walked daily into the countryside to try to trade their possessions for food. The farmers were unable to help all of those seeking aid and turned many away at the door. A massive rescue operation during the first months of 1945 saw approximately 40,000 malnourished Dutch children from the starving cities evacuated to the countryside. Ultimately, over 20,000 people in the western Netherlands died from hunger, cold, and disease during the Hunger Winter.

The sixth and final gallery, 'Joy and Frustration', examines the liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the Second World War in May 1945. Despite the great joy of being rid of the German occupiers, the struggle to liberate the Netherlands cost the lives of approximately 23,000 Dutch civilians.

A pair of hair clippers used to shave the heads of Dutch women who fraternised with soldiers and officials of the German occupation forces following the liberation of the Netherlands by Allied forces. Mixed with the joy of liberation was hatred of those women who had consorted with the enemy, with the act of shaving the head designed to humiliate and shame collaborators. Male and female collaborators were dragged from their homes by screaming mobs who broke windows and confiscated belongings, with many of those seized being confined in prison camps. Between 120,000 and 150,000 Dutch people were arrested after the war for serving the German occupation regime, with about 66,000 of them being formally convicted.

The camp chest lid and striped camp coat belonging to political prisoner Pim Boellaard, who was an inmate of the concentration camp at Dachau in Germany; the red triangle on the coat is the symbol for political prisoners. Dachau was liberated on 29 April 1945 but the Netherlands did not follow other countries and send representatives to the camp to repatriate their countrymen. Boellaard was outraged at the Dutch prisoners' continued stay at Dachau, accusing the Dutch government of failing in its duty to its people. Finding support from Prince Bernhard, son-in-law of Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, Boellaard arranged a transport to take the Dutch survivors home to the Netherlands. Dutch Jews liberated from concentration camps and returned to the Netherlands often found their former homes occupied by strangers and confronted cruel administrative obstacles, such as being required to pay taxes on property that had been stolen from them.

A display on the liberation of the Dutch East Indies following the defeat of Japan and the subsequent post-war struggle for Indonesian independence from the Netherlands. The wartime poster in the background demands that the Dutch East Indies must be free from Japanese control and calls on people to work and fight for this objective. Independence campaigners declared the Republic of Indonesia in August 1945 but fought both Dutch forces and internal power struggles until the Netherlands recognised full Indonesian sovereignty on 27 December 1949. Estimated casualties suffered in Indonesia between 1942 and independence in 1949 comprised 13,000 civilians in internment camps during the Japanese occupation, 8,200 prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation, 400,000 Indonesian forced labourers, 12,000 executed for anti-Japanese resistance or died in captivity, 2 million victims of the famine in Java, 6,000 Dutch and Indonesian citizens in the period after the Japanese surrender, 100,000 Indonesian civilians and troops during the independence struggle from 1945 to 1949, and 5,300 Dutch troops.

A display on the 'National Celebration Skirt', thought up by Mies Boissevain-van Lennep after the war. Boissevain-van Lennep lost her husband and two of her sons during the occupation due to their involvement with the Dutch resistance and herself survived the Ravensbrück concentration camp. The National Celebration Skirt was intended to celebrate the liberation and remember the war. The Dutch government encouraged every woman to make one of these patchwork skirts from old rags and to embroider them with important dates. Despite the widespread post-war poverty in the Netherlands, such skirts made from rags was something anyone could make to demonstrate national unity. Thousands of Dutch women made and wore celebration skirts in the years immediately after the war.

A copy of the 7 May 1945 edition of the resistance newspaper Rood-Wit-Blauw (Red-White-Blue), welcoming British and Canadian liberators on behalf of the people of Amsterdam. The 170,000 Canadian soldiers who were part of the Allied forces that liberated the Netherlands spent months in the country after V-E Day as they awaited transport home. During this time, the Canadians proved very popular with the local Dutch girls, with 2,000 marriages taking place and 7,000 children being fathered by Canadian soldiers. The 2,000 Dutch war brides joined over 40,000 other war brides who moved to Canada with their new husbands after the war.

A colander and pot fashioned out of the abandoned helmets of German soldiers due to metal shortages in the Netherlands at the end of the war.

A bust of Adolf Hitler desecrated by Dutch citizens following the retreat of German forces and liberation by the Allies.

An Allied food parcel from 1944, containing such items as minced beef and vegetables, condensed milk, dried whole eggs, powdered eggs, and vanilla caramels. Such food parcels were a godsend to the starving Dutch people liberated by Allied forces.

A poster welcoming Allied soldiers liberating the Netherlands. The Allied forces lost an estimated 12,642 personnel killed in fighting in the Netherlands, including 6,700 British, 4,100 Canadians, 1,135 Americans, 630 Poles, and 77 other Allied troops. Between 15,000 and 20,000 German troops also died. Over the course of the war, the Dutch suffered over 275,000 casualties: 104,000 Jews, 215 Roma and Sinti, 150 'anti-social' individuals, 130 Jehovah's Witnesses, 9,000 people executed for resistance activities or died in captivity, 140 members of the Dutch army's Princess Irene Brigade, 2,200 Dutch troops killed during the May 1940 German invasion, 300 prisoners of war, 1,600 merchant seamen, 30,000 forced labourers, 20,000 victims of the Hunger Winter, 50,000 victims of poor public health conditions, 53,000 civilian casualties of war, and 5,000 Dutch members of the SS.

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02 August 2026

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Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam

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