Early in the morning on 10 May 1940 German troops in vaded the Netherlands. On the evening of 14 May the Dutch army capitulated after the German Luftwaffe had bombed the city centre of Rotterdam that same day. Dur ing these five days of war some 2,000 Dutch soldiers fell in battle, the death toll among civilians was about 2,500. The speedy surrender, signed by the Commander-in Chief general Henri Winkelman, was not expected. The ministers of the Dutch Cabinet and Queen Wilhel mina escaped disorderly on 13 May to England without parliamentary consent. The ministers left their families behind in the Netherlands. After the war, the Minister of Economic Affairs of the London Government-in-exile, Max Steenberghe, considered this during a session of the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (PEC) as, ‘a com pletely wrong decision.’ ‘One was never fully concen trated because you had unremittingly fears about your family in the Netherlands. Added to this, one imagined of course, that those families were much more vulnerable than was the case in reality.’12 The Queen had decided differently, her daughter and grandchildren fled to Can ada. Before the occupation the Dutch Government had put in safety almost all the gold of the Central Bank in Amster dam, and the ships of the Dutch Navy. Also nearly 500 vessels of the mercantile marine had been successfully evacuated. In April 1940 Dutch Parliament had passed a bill enabling companies to transfer their registered office to the Dutch East or West Indies.
Today we talk about A No-Go-Area in Dutch History, a book by Jurrie Reiding published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Jurrie Reiding to get to know him better, what was the moment that brought him to the writing of his book A No-Go-Area in Dutch History, as well as how he chose the title of his book.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What is the moment that brought you to the writing of your book?
More than ten years ago I started the writing of my biography on the famous Dutch physicist and chemist Peter J. W. Debye who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1936. In 2006 Debye’s reputation was in danger because of unfounded accusations of collaboration with the Nazis during his scientific career in Germany in the thirties of the last century. The discussion in the Dutch and international media triggered by this incident was many times devoid of any knowledge of Dutch collaboration during the German occupation (1940-1945). Initially, one chapter of the biography was intended to be dedicated to Dutch collaboration, but this chapter extended to a book. This decision was made some four years ago.
- What are the crucial themes of your book?
The current narrative of the German occupation of the Netherlands is not so much reliable history but collective memory, fabricated in order to conceal the collaboration of the Dutch ruling class. In 1940 the Dutch Government was divided into two parts: all the ministers in exile in London and the rest of the administration in The Hague. Apparently, there had been concluded a secret agreement between the two sections: ‘London’ supporting the Allied forces, while ‘The Hague’ flattering the Germans in order to safeguard for the Netherlands a favorable place in the “New Europe” after a German victory. Till the beginning of 1943 there was a widely belief that Germany was capable of winning the war. This policy of ‘backing two horses’ had to be abandoned when the prospect of an Allied victory became more certain. In the meantime, a substantial part of the Dutch Jews had already been deported with the help of the Dutch administration in The Hague.
- What is the message you want to communicate to your readers?
The book was written in order to warn current and future generations to be sincere and upright about painful episodes of the country’s history. Trying to conceal these episodes in favor of preserving national unity is of no avail and even night arouse national trauma. At the same time concealing painful history might cause more wrongdoing in the future.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
There are two titles of the book. The first one, A No-Go-Area in Dutch History, was chosen because of the almost complete neglect of Dutch policy in the historiography of the occupation. Governments enjoin oblivion concerning detrimental events in the past for the sake of national unity. The sub-title provides the substance of the No-Go-Area.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
No, I have not started a new writing project and will not do so in the future. The main reason is my poor health. I am 81 now and nearly two years ago I suffered three times from heart failure. The hospital had to put an ICD in my breast. Even more serious is, possibly, my eye sight. I have to write this mail in huge letters and then reduce it before sending. Only remains the concept of my Debye-biography which was sent last year to a publisher with experience in scientific works. We are still waiting for an answer.
Europe Books thanks the author Jurrie Reiding once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book A No-Go-Area in Dutch History. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, I hope that this book interests you, captures you and answers questions about sad historical events and allows you to discover and not to forget what happened.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!