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The Netherlands We Are the Good Ones In the first fifteen years after the War the idea prevailed in the Netherlands that a merciless, cruel occupation force had attacked an innocent people. "The Dutch people" as a player on the stage of history also dominated the second phase of historiography. The principal advocate of this view is Lou de Jong. His influence on the general public as to the interpretation of the occupation period in the post-War years can hardly be overestimated. De Jong pursues his historiography from an interpretive perspective, in the interest of morality, as he said himself. From this perspective actions and behaviour during the occupation appeared more or less implicitly moral. Individuals, authorities and institutions were tacitly categorized as "good" and "evil". According to de Jong's analysis, the majority of the population were "good" during the exceptional historical period of the occupation. He is reserved and evasive about equivocal cases. In its self-perception the Netherlands was a courageous and steadfast country. |
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Twenty-one episodes of the series "De Bezetting" (The Occupation) were broadcast on television between May 1960 and May 1965. For most of the Dutch the series determined their image of the War for a long period of time. The fragmentary, individual recollections were formed into a national history for the first time. Everything is summed up in "De Bezetting": the defeat, the pressure and "our" resistance. The spoken word was of first importance in the series, whereby the interviews with eyewitnesses were illustrated by film sequences. The eyewitnesses, who for the most part carried a certain weight in society, were given plenty of room for their recollections and opinions. There was no generally formulated criticism of the Dutch authorities or population with regard to collaboration and passivity in "De Bezetting". The initial reaction was positive: the series soon achieved the status of a national memorial. The exhibition panel shows Lou de Jong on the production set. |
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