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01:30The Dutch just still don't want to admit really that a lot of them did things which were wrong.
01:40I just didn't know really until much later how bad there were some of them.
01:46So why did Anton Musa choose to side with the Nazis?
01:51Was he simply weak, naive, a dupe for Hitler?
01:55Or was he just an evil and pernicious collaborator?
02:00Anton Musa was born in 1894 into a peaceful and prosperous country.
02:15Holland had not been involved in any major war for over 140 years and had been neutral ever since.
02:23From an early age, Musa showed he had an analytical mind and studied civil engineering.
02:31He worked for the Utrecht Council, helping to design and build roads, rail and canals.
02:41He was also a strong patriot.
02:46In the 1920s, he became active in several extreme right organisations.
02:50The emergence of extremism was seen as highly unusual in what had long been a harmonious society.
02:58But then came an event that would breathe life into his extremist beliefs.
03:09In 1929, banks and stock markets in New York crashed.
03:14The fallout spread like wildfire around the world, causing governments to collapse and businesses to fold.
03:29Thousands lost their jobs and began to starve.
03:33The economic depression was deeper and longer in the Netherlands than anywhere else in Europe,
03:38in part due to disastrous decisions by the Dutch government.
03:44With that government seemingly unable to cope,
03:47Holland's population sought out radical solutions.
03:51Communism or fascism.
03:56Anton Musa saw his chance.
04:00On 14th December 1931, he founded the National Socialist Movement, or NSB.
04:07Musa was modelled on Hitler's Nazi party in Germany.
04:16It shared the Nazi beliefs of love of nation, a willingness to work, and in strength of leadership.
04:24As Hitler was soon to be the Führer, or leader of Germany,
04:35as Hitler was soon to be the Führer, or leader of Germany,
04:37Musa wanted to be the Führer, or de Leder, of Holland.
04:43Hitler had his brown-shirted thugs to reinforce his message.
04:46Musa formed his own strong-armed squad, called the Musaert Guard.
04:56But the NSB had two key differences from the Nazis.
05:01It tolerated religion, and it was not anti-Semitic.
05:07Musaert even declared,
05:08Every good Dutch Jew is welcome in our party.
05:13As the Great Depression sank deeper,
05:15Musaert sold himself as the saviour of Holland.
05:22And he appeared to be hugely popular, addressing record crowds.
05:27Fear of communism was what drove most to the party.
05:32Musaert, or Moscow, became the NSB battle cry.
05:35The party membership grew quickly, to over 6,000.
05:43Just five years after its formation,
05:45Musaert's NSB was such a success,
05:48it caught the attention of Hitler himself.
05:57Musaert was invited to meet the Führer in Berlin in late 1936.
06:01There he pledged his future co-operation in the fight against communism.
06:12Filled with pride, Musaert unleashed his party in a general election.
06:17But it won only 4% of the vote.
06:22It did even worse in local elections in 1939.
06:24The utter failure looked like the last straw for the NSB.
06:32But these would be the final elections they would fight.
06:36The Nazis would see to that.
06:39In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
06:53The Second World War had begun.
07:01Musaert thought his time had come.
07:03Seizing the moment, the NSB leader made contact with German military intelligence,
07:09the Abwehr, to discuss the Nazi annexation of Holland.
07:15He agreed to embark on a secret plot
07:17to kidnap the Dutch queen, Wilhelmina.
07:23The man who claimed to be a staunch patriot
07:25was plotting an act of high treason.
07:27It would be the first of many betrayals of his people.
07:36But the plot was discovered,
07:38and several NSB members were arrested,
07:41though Musaert himself escaped and fled into hiding.
07:45But he wouldn't have to stay there for long.
07:47On the 10th of May, 1940, Germany invaded Holland.
08:10Hitler's blitzkrieg, or lightning war,
08:13took the Dutch completely by surprise.
08:1716,500 airborne troops were parachuted into the country.
08:27In the coastal town of Heimstader
08:29lived Hans Oppenheimer and his wife Rita.
08:32They had three children.
08:35The Oppenheimers were German Jews
08:37who had travelled to Holland via England
08:39in search of a better life.
08:42Nine-year-old Rudy had no idea what lay in store for his family.
08:47The Dutch were, of course, shooting at the planes,
08:49and you could see these little puffs.
08:51In the end, you could see them hitting them.
08:53Those planes were burning, spiraling out of control,
08:57then sort of making a pirouette
08:58and dropping in the meadows which surrounded Heimstader.
09:01So, with my friends, we cycled there to have a look at this,
09:08and we managed to get into the meadows
09:10and see all this junk lying there, really,
09:14when collected souvenirs, took it back to school,
09:17and at a great time, we swapped it.
09:19The Germans made rapid progress,
09:25but faced pockets of stiff resistance,
09:28particularly in the city of The Hague
09:31and outside the port of Rotterdam.
09:35Rotterdam was Holland's second-largest city
09:37with half a million people.
09:40Capture of its huge North Sea port
09:42was seen by Hitler as vital to his plans
09:44for the conquest of Europe.
09:54On the 14th of May,
09:56the Germans served the Dutch commanders in Rotterdam
09:58with an ultimatum,
10:00surrender or be destroyed.
10:05No reply was received,
10:08and at 1.20 in the afternoon,
10:10the bombers came.
10:11The Rotterdam Blitz levelled almost the entire city.
10:2725,000 homes were destroyed.
10:3280,000 were made homeless.
10:41Rotterdam surrendered.
10:45The next day,
10:47Holland conceded defeat.
10:55Despite being married to a German prince,
10:58Dutch Queen Wilhelmina,
11:00fearing for her life,
11:02fled to London.
11:02After an heroic struggle,
11:08my nation,
11:10that has attempted everything
11:12to maintain peace,
11:15is being overpowered
11:17by sheer superiority of force.
11:24But morally,
11:25we can never be conquered.
11:28Our spirit will remain unbroken
11:31because our conscience is clear.
11:41With Holland now in his possession,
11:43Hitler needed someone to take charge.
11:46So he appointed Viennese lawyer,
11:48Arter Sears Ingvarth,
11:49as his leader in the Netherlands.
11:53Sears Ingvarth had form.
11:55He'd been in charge of the Nazification of Austria in 1938.
12:04As a sign of his goodwill,
12:06he ordered the release of all Dutch prisoners of war.
12:09Then he dissolved Parliament
12:11and began plans to Nazify Holland.
12:14He addressed the Dutch people on the 29th of May,
12:22calling for cooperation of
12:24two Germanic peoples of the same blood.
12:28His aim was to unite the Dutch behind the Nazis.
12:33He then made overtures to the NSB.
12:36Anton Musert came out of hiding
12:41and gathered his NSB supporters together.
12:47If Musert was not actually Prime Minister,
12:50he was at least now
12:51the most powerful Dutch politician
12:53remaining in the country.
12:54Grabbing this opportunity,
13:00Musert presented Sears Ingvarth
13:01with a bold plan.
13:04He suggested taking over
13:05Queen Wilhelmina's vacant role
13:07as head of state
13:08to become de Leda of Holland.
13:14Sears Ingvarth treated the idea with courtesy
13:16and Musert was invited to meet Hitler
13:19on the 23rd of September 1940.
13:24Musert presented the Führer
13:26with a plan to create
13:27a League of Germanic Peoples in Europe.
13:31This so-called Nordic Federation
13:33would have Hitler as its leader,
13:35but individual countries
13:36would also have separate leaders.
13:39Musert proposed himself
13:40as the leader of Holland.
13:46Hitler cleverly threw the ball back to Musert
13:48by suggesting that first his country
13:50must embrace National Socialism
13:51and should be what he called
13:53re-educated.
13:59Musert agreed,
14:00seeing it as an opportunity
14:01for the rebirth of his beloved Holland.
14:06It was the first time
14:07that the Nazis would take advantage
14:09of Musert's naivety.
14:10Musert had a series of NSB rallies
14:20asking the Dutch people to follow him.
14:36He told them he would be their leader
14:39and promised them a safer,
14:41stronger Holland.
14:45The Dutch people,
14:47my people,
14:49and I repeat the words
14:51of their hopes,
14:52to knock on Hitler's door
14:54and ask for a place
14:56in the new Europe.
14:57a new Europe,
14:58a Europe controlled by Hitler
15:01and Mussolini,
15:02a place according to their virtues
15:04and their abilities.
15:12Musert appeared to be getting
15:14what he wanted,
15:15but then the true face
15:17of Nazism was revealed.
15:19the Germans started to turn
15:23on Dutch Jews.
15:25Musert
15:27In 1940,
15:32there were over 150,000 Jews
15:34living peacefully in Holland.
15:37The Germans had to move slowly,
15:39but gradually they imposed their will.
15:41They began by issuing the entire population
15:46with identity cards
15:48detailing their racial background.
15:51Then all Jews were dismissed
15:53from government jobs
15:54and banned from public places.
15:59We couldn't use public transport anymore.
16:02We couldn't buy in normal shops.
16:05We had to buy in the Jewish shops,
16:06which would only open for two hours a day.
16:09We also had a curfew.
16:11It was pretty rotten,
16:13to be a Jew, really.
16:14The worst, I suppose,
16:16was being home,
16:17to have to be in your flat
16:18at 8 o'clock in the evening
16:19in the summer.
16:26In Amsterdam,
16:27Dutch collaborators
16:28assaulted Jews in the street.
16:30But the Jews fought back.
16:32And when a Dutch Nazi was killed,
16:34the reprisal was swift.
16:35400 Jewish men
16:38were snatched off the street
16:39and disappeared.
16:45Musert,
16:46the self-styled leder,
16:48was outraged.
16:50He'd promised his people
16:51he'd protect them.
16:52Now,
16:53they were being persecuted.
16:58There was nothing he could do.
17:00So in protest,
17:01thousands marched
17:02through the centre of Amsterdam.
17:05It was the first sign
17:06that his authority was waning.
17:09For 48 hours,
17:10the workers of the city
17:11went on strike
17:12in support of the Jews.
17:15But the Germans
17:16didn't care.
17:20They shot and killed
17:21nine of the strikers.
17:24Fearing a bloodbath,
17:25the protest was abandoned.
17:27But faced with such opposition,
17:30the Germans
17:30hardened their approach.
17:34They sealed off
17:35the Jewish quarter
17:36of Amsterdam,
17:37turning it
17:38into a ghetto.
17:43Within just a few months,
17:44Musert's promise
17:45to protect his people
17:46was already ringing hollow.
17:47But his promise
17:50to re-educate his country
17:51was also ringing hollow
17:53to the Nazis.
17:56They thought
17:56the demonstrations
17:57showed that Musert
17:58lacked the stomach
17:59for a fight.
18:04So Seas Ingvarth
18:05began to undermine Musert
18:06by favouring
18:07other NSB members.
18:10The head of the Netherlands bank
18:12was Rost von Tonningen.
18:14He was a supporter
18:15of Nazification.
18:16Even wishing to see
18:18the Dutch language
18:19replaced with German,
18:21he was an unpredictable,
18:23rabid anti-Semite,
18:24and he frightened
18:25even Musert.
18:28Seas Ingvarth
18:29now appointed von Tonningen
18:30as a co-leader
18:31of the NSB.
18:35With his position
18:36as NSB leader
18:37under threat,
18:38Musert changed
18:39his moderate view
18:40on Jews.
18:42He agreed to expel
18:43Jews from the NSB
18:44and then launched
18:46a Jews Not Wanted
18:47campaign.
18:49It was yet another
18:50betrayal of his people.
18:53His dangerous game
18:53with the Nazis
18:54had taken a new,
18:56darker direction.
18:58And then came
18:58an opportunity
18:59to ingratiate himself
19:00with Hitler
19:01once again.
19:02In June 1941,
19:17Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
19:21Musert thought that Holland
19:22might ride on the back
19:23of Hitler's conquests,
19:25so he offered the Nazis
19:26his assistance.
19:27He launched a recruitment drive
19:32for young men
19:33to join a Dutch legion
19:34and fight for Germany.
19:42The legion was first sent
19:46to Germany for training.
19:47then almost 3,000
19:50were ordered
19:51to the Eastern Front
19:52at Stalingrad.
19:55They fought with courage
19:56and distinction,
19:57but suffered terrible losses.
20:02It would cause deep resentment
20:04in Holland.
20:11Musert then made another attempt
20:12to win back credibility
20:14by making a bold power play.
20:17He requested a further meeting
20:18with Hitler,
20:19at which he publicly
20:20swore an oath.
20:22He declared,
20:24I swear to you,
20:25Adolf Hitler,
20:26as Germanic Fuhrer,
20:27loyalty unto death,
20:29so help me God.
20:33In return,
20:35he'd asked to be installed
20:36as the deputy Fuhrer
20:37of the entire German Reich.
20:40Hitler refused,
20:41but Musert's position
20:43was then undermined again
20:44by events
20:45on the other side
20:46of the world.
20:54The Dutch East Indies colony,
20:57modern-day Indonesia,
20:58was the jewel
20:59in the Dutch imperial crown.
21:03Further evidence
21:04of the development
21:05of the Netherlands East Indies,
21:07a typical washing day
21:07seen in Bedavia canals
21:09goes side by side
21:10with a busy scene
21:11in the harbour.
21:16And in the towns,
21:17there were fine modern buildings
21:18vying with beautiful examples
21:20of old Dutch architecture.
21:31The Dutch East Indies
21:33was also a huge producer of oil.
21:35Japan,
21:37the Nazis' allies,
21:39had no oil of its own,
21:41and it was just waiting
21:42for an excuse to invade.
21:49On the 7th of December 1941,
21:52the Japanese attacked
21:53the US naval base
21:54at Pearl Harbour,
21:55and the US declared war
21:56on Japan.
21:57in response,
22:13Queen Vilhelmina
22:14also declared war
22:15on Japan.
22:16This gave the Japanese
22:18the excuse they needed.
22:22Nine days later,
22:24Japanese forces
22:25invaded the Dutch East Indies.
22:32These, then,
22:33were the islands
22:34which acted as a magnet
22:35to the greedy
22:35little men of Nippon.
22:37And with the fall of Singapore,
22:38they advanced swiftly
22:39upon Java and Sumatra.
22:43The Dutch rose up
22:45and set the country's
22:45oil stores ablaze
22:47to prevent the Japanese
22:48getting their hands on them.
22:49But it was hopeless.
22:54By March 1942,
22:55the Japanese
22:55had overrun the islands.
23:002,000 Dutch were killed
23:02and 60,000 captured.
23:09Mussert begged his Nazi friend
23:11to stop the Japanese,
23:12but Hitler ignored him.
23:17For Mussert,
23:17it was another disaster.
23:20His own citizens
23:21had been slaughtered
23:22by Hitler's allies.
23:24Mussert's promise
23:25to protect his people
23:26had been completely undermined.
23:30With Mussert humiliated
23:31by Hitler,
23:32his rivals in the NSB
23:34moved against him.
23:39Soon after invasion,
23:41the Germans set up an arm
23:42of their security police,
23:44the Dutch SS.
23:46It even incorporated
23:47the Mussert Guard.
23:49Its head,
23:50one of Mussert's
23:51principal lieutenants,
23:53was Hendrik Feldmayer.
23:55Now, under pressure
23:56from the Nazis,
23:57Feldmayer demanded his men
23:59take their future orders
24:00from Hitler.
24:04Mussert reluctantly agreed.
24:07So on the 17th of May, 1942,
24:10600 Dutch SS
24:11swore an oath of allegiance
24:12not to Holland,
24:13but Hitler.
24:17It was even renamed
24:18the Germanic SS
24:19in the Netherlands,
24:20and soon they would become
24:21involved in the Nazis'
24:22most terrible crime.
24:30Of all the Nazi-occupied countries
24:32of Western Europe,
24:33the Netherlands
24:34had the highest proportion
24:35of Jews.
24:36Consequently,
24:37it was there that the Nazi solution
24:40to the Jewish problem
24:41was most drastic.
24:44In June 1942,
24:46the round-up began.
24:49For the Jews,
24:50there was no way out.
24:51The country was surrounded
24:52by hostile territory.
24:55There was nowhere to run.
24:57They were trapped.
24:58Before we moved to Amsterdam
25:01in April 1942,
25:03they introduced this Jewish star.
25:05You know,
25:05I had to wear a Jewish star.
25:07And here you can see
25:07one of my stars,
25:09which I wore.
25:12The star always had to be visible
25:13on the left-hand side.
25:15So you had lots of them.
25:16You had one on your coat,
25:17one on your blazer,
25:18one on your pullover,
25:19one on your shirt.
25:20Whenever you took anything off,
25:22it was still visible.
25:24But we didn't mind
25:25really wearing them
25:26at the time,
25:27because I recall
25:28we had the craze
25:30in those days
25:30that kids liked wearing
25:32as many badges
25:32as possible.
25:36Of course,
25:37ten-year-old Rudy Oppenheimer
25:38had no idea
25:39that the star was a way
25:40for the Nazis
25:41to identify their victims.
25:47Most of the rounding up
25:48of Jews
25:48was carried out
25:49by the Dutch SS
25:50that included
25:51the old Mousset Guard.
25:57The Jews were sent
25:58to the Westerbork camp
26:00in northern Holland.
26:03Ironically,
26:03the Dutch government
26:04had built Westerbork
26:05as a refugee camp
26:06to house Jews
26:07escaping from Nazi Germany.
26:09It had even been built
26:11with Dutch-Jewish money.
26:13It now became the main route
26:14to extermination.
26:18There was a railway line
26:22that ran directly
26:23to the Auschwitz
26:24and Soberbor death camps
26:25in Poland.
26:27In just one month,
26:2911,000 were taken
26:30to the death camps.
26:36The rounding up
26:37and the transportations
26:38took place
26:39with Mousset's knowledge.
26:41All he requested
26:42was that former Jewish members
26:43of the NSB be spared.
26:46Even that was refused.
26:51Rounding up Jews
26:52was a lucrative business.
26:55One Dutch group,
26:57the Henneke column,
26:57took full advantage.
27:01Led by a Dutch mechanic,
27:03Wim Henneke,
27:04this special unit
27:05of 35 men,
27:06many of whom were members
27:07of Mousset's NSB,
27:09had agreed to clear
27:10the homes of the Jews
27:11after they'd been taken away.
27:15As in all other
27:16occupied countries
27:16in Europe,
27:17the furniture,
27:18clothes,
27:19and possessions
27:20of the Jews
27:20were stolen
27:21and redistributed
27:22in Germany.
27:26The Henneke column
27:27would invoice
27:27for their work,
27:29and it didn't take them
27:29long to realize
27:30how to make
27:31even more money.
27:33They would become
27:33bounty hunters.
27:34For each Jew
27:38they captured
27:38and turned in,
27:40Wim Henneke
27:40and his men
27:41received seven and a half
27:42guilders from the Nazis,
27:44equivalent to about
27:4530 pounds at the time.
27:50These are actual receipts
27:51given to Wim Henneke
27:52for the delivery of Jews.
27:56This is for a single Jew.
27:59Date of birth,
27:594th of August, 1897.
28:01The second
28:04is for a family
28:06of five Jews
28:07in 1943.
28:09The total received
28:1037 guilders
28:13and 50 cents.
28:16The Henneke column
28:17were at their most active
28:18throughout 1942
28:19and 1943,
28:21and it's thought
28:22they arrested
28:22between 8,000 and 9,000 Jews,
28:25including children.
28:26There is no record
28:28of Musa
28:29doing anything
28:30to stop them.
28:35But the Dutch
28:36fought back.
28:38They began
28:39hiding Jews
28:39from the Nazis.
28:42The scheme
28:43was nicknamed
28:43the Onderdieke,
28:45or Under Diving Movement.
28:46An estimated 25,000 Jews
28:51were hidden
28:52during the war,
28:53most famously
28:54Anne Frank,
28:56whose diary
28:56of her experience
28:57would become
28:58one of the most read
28:58books of all time.
29:04The Schwab family
29:05from Amsterdam
29:05managed to hide
29:07until the end
29:07of the war
29:08above a nightclub
29:09called the Alcazar.
29:10Harry Schwab
29:16even filmed
29:17his experiences
29:17with a small camera.
29:20These pictures
29:21reveal the cunning nature
29:22of some of the
29:23hiding places.
29:27Behind a wardrobe,
29:33under the stairs,
29:36or other secret
29:38compartments.
29:40Mousert knew
29:58what was happening
29:59and accepted it all.
30:01But by now,
30:02he was fighting
30:03for his life.
30:05His power base
30:06was diminishing.
30:08His people had been
30:09slaughtered
30:10in the Far East.
30:12And now the Jews
30:12in Holland
30:13were being exterminated.
30:16He made repeated requests
30:17to meet Hitler
30:18and finally got
30:20his meeting.
30:30Yet again,
30:31Hitler declined
30:32Mousert's idea
30:33to establish
30:33his Nordic federation,
30:35but did give in.
30:36But did give in
30:36to one request.
30:38He agreed
30:39to appoint Mousert
30:40de Leder.
30:42Not just of the NSB,
30:44but now of all
30:45the Dutch people.
30:47In Dutch,
30:48Leder
30:49meant leader.
30:51But in German,
30:52and much to the amusement
30:53of Hitler,
30:54it had a less gracious meaning.
30:57Unfortunate.
30:59Mousert returned to Holland,
31:01his credibility
31:02seemingly restored.
31:03And you,
31:05my German comrades.
31:07I'll say to you.
31:09In February 1943,
31:11Mousert and C.S.
31:11Inkvaart
31:12had a joint
31:13Nazi NSB rally
31:14where Mousert
31:15pledged
31:16renewed support
31:17for the Nazis.
31:19With the thousands
31:19who are in there,
31:20we, my German comrades,
31:22say to you,
31:23my German comrades.
31:24It's our comrades
31:25who are there,
31:26and we stand
31:27with them.
31:33In reality,
31:35Mousert's new position
31:36was just a sham.
31:39As de Leder,
31:41he'd have no political power.
31:43He would just be a consultant.
31:44But in the eyes
31:51of ordinary Dutch people,
31:54Mousert had now become
31:55the Nazis' top emissary
31:57in Holland.
31:58And despite being reviled
32:00by the general public,
32:02the NSB
32:02was still active.
32:04The Oppenheimer family
32:06were about to find out how.
32:07We could see
32:09the German soldiers
32:10and policemen
32:11going through our road,
32:12and we also saw
32:13they left the road
32:14without having
32:16knocked on our door
32:17because we kept on
32:18watching through
32:19the curtains
32:20a little bit.
32:21My parents, of course,
32:22always told us
32:22not to be near the windows,
32:23but children
32:24don't listen to that.
32:27And then suddenly,
32:27about half an hour later,
32:29they came back
32:30and they straight away
32:31knocked on our door,
32:33straight to our door only,
32:35and took us away.
32:36Rudy would take many years
32:40to discover
32:41who tipped off the Nazis.
32:43And it was only
32:43when I came back
32:44after the war
32:45that the lady below us
32:47told me that her neighbours,
32:50who were living one house
32:51further down the road,
32:53that they were collaborators
32:56called NSB,
32:58National Socialist's Bond,
33:00which were the Nazis in Holland,
33:02that they betrayed us.
33:04The Oppenheimers
33:05ended up
33:06in the Westerbork transit camp.
33:09The camp itself,
33:11I keep on telling people,
33:12wasn't too bad, really.
33:13It's quite small.
33:14It's only 500 metres
33:15by 500 metres.
33:17We got enough food
33:18to live on.
33:19We played football a lot
33:21outside the camp.
33:23I went to school there.
33:24They had a primary school.
33:27They obviously wanted
33:28to keep the camp clean,
33:31so each week
33:32you had to take a shower.
33:33They had a special bath card
33:34when it told you to go
33:35and it would be stamped off.
33:38But the bad thing about it is
33:39it was called a transit camp
33:40not for nothing.
33:44Every Tuesday,
33:45a train would arrive
33:46at Westerbork,
33:48fill up with dues,
33:49and then leave for the long journey
33:50to the death camps in Poland.
33:52The Oppenheimers,
33:54so far at least,
33:56had avoided being
33:56on the passenger list.
33:58But how?
34:00We had a blue stamp
34:01on our ID card
34:03in Westerbork,
34:05which indicated
34:06that we were an exchange Jew
34:08because my sister Eve
34:10was born in Britain.
34:12A family was classed
34:14as exchange Jews
34:15if one of them
34:16could prove
34:16they'd been born
34:17in any country
34:18the Nazis were at war with.
34:22This made them
34:23a valuable commodity.
34:25Exchange Jews
34:26could be swapped
34:27for German citizens
34:28imprisoned in other countries,
34:30such as Palestine
34:31and the USA.
34:33Eve Oppenheimer
34:34had been born
34:35in London in 1936
34:36and had a British
34:37birth certificate.
34:39It qualified the family
34:41as exchange Jews.
34:44We didn't have to go
34:45because there was
34:47some sort of rule
34:50by the commandant
34:51who probably got the rule
34:53from Amsterdam
34:53from the higher authorities
34:55not to send
34:57those exchange Jews away.
34:59So we stayed there
35:00for seven long months
35:01the Oppenheimers
35:04would be excused
35:05being listed
35:05for transfer
35:06for now.
35:09As the harsh intentions
35:11of the Nazis
35:11and the NSB
35:12became clear,
35:14the Dutch people
35:14started to strike back.
35:21The Dutch resistance,
35:22fiercely loyal
35:23to their Queen of Orange,
35:25launched a series of attacks
35:26on prominent Dutch Nazis.
35:31In February 1943,
35:33the commander
35:33of the Dutch Legion,
35:34Lieutenant General Seyfard,
35:36heard a knock at his door.
35:39As he opened the door,
35:40he was shot twice
35:41at point-blank range.
35:43Two men fled the scene.
35:47Seyfard died the next day
35:48and their reprisals were swift.
35:51The Nazis took 50 men hostage
35:53and executed them.
36:00Faced with more resistance,
36:02the Dutch SS leader,
36:04Hendrik Feldmayer,
36:05embarked on Operation Silver Fur.
36:11Feldmayer assembled
36:12a 15-man death squad
36:13with the express purpose
36:15of carrying out
36:15retaliatory attacks
36:16against civilians.
36:19They murdered 54 Dutchmen,
36:22including the highly regarded
36:24political writer,
36:25A.M. de Jong.
36:29Mussert was horrified.
36:32He bitterly opposed their actions
36:34and expelled Feldmayer
36:35from the NSB.
36:37He then demanded
36:38a further meeting
36:39with the Führer.
36:39But by now,
36:42Hitler had other things
36:43on his mind.
36:48In the Soviet Union,
36:50the German army
36:50was in full retreat.
36:54100,000 men
36:55had been captured
36:56in Stalingrad.
37:02In North Africa,
37:04the British and American forces
37:05had Rommel's Afrika Korps
37:07surrounded.
37:09And the Americans
37:16were winning the war
37:17in the Far East.
37:24Hitler ordered
37:25the redoubling
37:26of the war effort.
37:28On the 18th of February,
37:29head of Nazi propaganda,
37:30Joseph Goebbels,
37:32called for total war.
37:34The Nazis ordered
37:56all Dutch soldiers,
37:57whom they'd captured
37:57in 1940,
37:58to switch sides
38:00and report for duty
38:01in the Dutch Legion.
38:05Dutch workers responded
38:06by downing tools again
38:07and refusing to work
38:09for the Third Reich.
38:12This unprecedented strike
38:13led to the deaths
38:14of 80 by firing squad.
38:21Mussert was witnessing
38:22his country spiralling
38:23out of control.
38:26He'd lost command
38:27of his police.
38:29100 NSB members
38:31had been assassinated.
38:33And thousands of men
38:34had died
38:34on the Eastern Front.
38:37On the 4th of December,
38:381943,
38:39Mussert,
38:40his reputation in tatters,
38:42had his last meeting
38:43with Hitler.
38:46Hitler told him
38:46that he would never
38:47be granted
38:48any political power.
38:52Mussert and his NSB
38:53were totally isolated.
38:57Detested at home,
38:59rejected by Hitler.
39:03And all this time,
39:04the Nazis' murder machine
39:05was still operating.
39:08On the 31st of January,
39:091944,
39:11the Oppenheimer family's
39:12luck ran out.
39:14They were on
39:16the dreaded transport list
39:18and reported to the railway
39:20siding,
39:21fearing the worst.
39:25Well, in the end,
39:26it was our turn to go
39:27because on a Monday afternoon,
39:30they pushed the train
39:31into the camp again,
39:32as usual.
39:33But it was an ordinary train
39:34with seats.
39:38They weren't to be taken
39:39to Auschwitz after all.
39:42In fact,
39:42all exchange dues
39:43were being relocated
39:44to a very different
39:45camp in Germany.
39:47At 3 o'clock,
39:48we left,
39:50and then the rumour
39:50went round in the train
39:52we would go to Germany
39:54to a place called
39:55Bergen-Belsen.
40:00Bergen-Belsen
40:01was not an extermination camp.
40:03It had been a prison
40:04for enemies of the state,
40:06but now it was being used
40:07to detain exchange Jews.
40:09We suddenly saw a very high
40:13double-barbed wire fence.
40:16On the fence,
40:17we noticed there were boards
40:18in German every 100 metres
40:20that if you get too close
40:22to the fence,
40:23they would shoot you
40:23without any warning.
40:25Around the fence,
40:26we could see now
40:27these real watch towers,
40:29which you never had in Westerbork,
40:30with searchlights
40:31and machine guns.
40:34It was called
40:34the exchange camp,
40:37since we were exchange Jews.
40:40But this was the end
40:41of their preferential treatment.
40:43Schooling was forbidden
40:44in Belsen,
40:45playing was forbidden
40:46in Belsen,
40:48entertainment,
40:48which you had in Westerbork,
40:50was forbidden.
40:51I think everything
40:52was forbidden,
40:52and we just worked
40:54six and a half days a week.
40:57But it seemed freedom
40:59was not far away.
41:01On the 6th of June 1944,
41:04the Allies opened
41:05the Western Front.
41:07On D-Day,
41:08British, American
41:09and Canadian troops
41:10landed on the beaches
41:11of Normandy.
41:12With them,
41:19a 1,500-strong brigade
41:21made up of Dutch soldiers
41:22who'd fled Holland
41:23in 1940.
41:32Even now,
41:33with the Allies closing in
41:34and with Mussert
41:35rejected by Hitler,
41:36he rallied his few
41:37remaining supporters
41:38and begged them
41:39to carry on
41:39fighting for Holland.
41:42The fight was soon
41:43on their doorstep.
41:49On the 13th of September,
41:51the first Dutch city,
41:52Maastricht,
41:53in the south of the country,
41:54was liberated
41:55by the Americans.
42:00And when BBC radio
42:01Aranji prematurely reported
42:03the liberation
42:03of the southern town
42:04of Breda,
42:06thousands of NSB members
42:08fled to Germany.
42:10But Mussert
42:12stayed to face the music.
42:19Across much of the country,
42:20the Dutch began
42:20celebrating wildly,
42:23believing they too
42:23would soon be free.
42:26But a tragedy
42:27was just around the corner.
42:30just four days later,
42:39Operation Market Garden
42:40was launched
42:41by the Allies.
42:45The plan was to grab
42:46key bridges
42:47across the rivers
42:48Meuse and Rhine
42:49and cut off the Ruhr,
42:51the German industrial heartland.
42:52over 40,000 airborne troops
42:57were dropped
42:58and the bridges
42:59of Nijmegen
43:00and Eindhoven
43:01were taken.
43:10Queen Wilhelmina
43:11expected a swift
43:12Allied victory
43:13and in support
43:14called for a national
43:15rail strike
43:16to coincide
43:17with Market Garden
43:17and cut off supplies
43:19to the German army.
43:23Railway workers
43:24walked out,
43:25bringing the Dutch
43:26rail network
43:27to a halt.
43:31But the Queen's optimism
43:32was premature.
43:35The British army
43:36found the crossing
43:37at Arnhem,
43:37a bridge too far.
43:41They were defeated
43:42and the Germans
43:43wanted revenge.
43:46They cut off supplies
43:48of coal,
43:50gas,
43:51electricity,
43:52food
43:53and water.
43:56Shops ran out of food.
43:59Stoves and fires burnt out.
44:03The Dutch scavenged
44:04what they could.
44:06It marked the beginning
44:07of one of the worst
44:08human tragedies
44:09of the war.
44:14As the Allies
44:15counter-attacked,
44:16the retreating Germans
44:17blew up dikes,
44:18holding back
44:19the North Sea.
44:21Fearing the whole
44:22of Holland
44:22might be flooded,
44:24the Allies held back
44:25their final assault.
44:31The Nazis would not
44:32retreat
44:32and the Allies
44:34could not advance.
44:37The stalemate
44:41left the Dutch
44:42in the west
44:42of Holland
44:43cut off,
44:44freezing
44:44and starving.
44:47The Dutch
44:48would later brand
44:48the coming months
44:49the Hunger Winter.
44:53This famine
44:54claimed the lives
44:55of 16,000
44:56who died of starvation
44:58and the cold.
45:01Caught up in it
45:02was a severely malnourished
45:0415-year-old ballerina
45:05who spent the winter
45:06eating flour
45:07from crushed tulip bulbs
45:09to stay alive
45:10and dancing
45:11to raise money
45:12for the resistance.
45:16Audrey Hepburn
45:17would survive the war
45:19but would blame
45:20the famine
45:20for chronic illness
45:21suffered later
45:22in her life.
45:24All the while
45:25his people starved.
45:27Anton Musert
45:28did nothing.
45:34Eventually
45:35it was the Allies
45:36who brought an end
45:36to their suffering.
45:37The Germans
45:44had agreed
45:44to complete immunity
45:45for Allied planes
45:46in 10 dropping zones
45:47from 700 hours
45:48to 1,500 hours daily.
45:50However,
45:51some bomber crews
45:52noted rifle
45:52and light anti-aircraft
45:53fire.
45:55In contrast
45:56to the days
45:56when Nazi planes
45:57brought destruction
45:58to Rotterdam,
45:59Allied planes
46:00were now bringing
46:00Dutch cities sustenance.
46:03The RAF
46:05and the Americans
46:05dropped 11,000 tons
46:07of food.
46:13But conditions
46:15remained desperate
46:15for the Oppenheimer
46:16family inside
46:17the Bergen-Belsen
46:18concentration camp
46:19in Germany.
46:22Typhus had broken out
46:23claiming the life
46:25of 15-year-old
46:26Anne Frank.
46:30The Germans
46:31decided to bring
46:31the first survivors
46:32from Auschwitz
46:33to Bergen-Belsen
46:35and more and more
46:37of those people
46:37came
46:38and our camp
46:39became now
46:40overcrowded.
46:41We got lice,
46:42we got typhus
46:42and now of course
46:44all these weak people
46:45started to die.
46:48Now my mum
46:48got ill
46:49and she was put
46:50in a hospital
46:51barrack
46:51but of course
46:53by that time
46:53there was chaos
46:55in the camp.
46:55there were no longer
46:56doctors or medicine
46:57or anything like that.
47:00A woman
47:00told me
47:02and the rest
47:03of the family
47:03that my mum
47:04had died
47:04and of course
47:07we were very upset
47:08about that.
47:11But then a few weeks
47:12later my dad
47:13got ill
47:14and he was put
47:15in a hospital barrack
47:16and again
47:17we visited him
47:18daily
47:18but when we
47:19arrived there
47:20on the 20th
47:20of March
47:211945
47:21he was no longer
47:23lying in a bunk bed
47:24and the guy
47:25who was lying there
47:25told me
47:26my dad had died.
47:27By the spring
47:31of 1945
47:32Germany's defeat
47:33was inevitable.
47:40Suddenly Rudy
47:41his brother and sister
47:42were ordered
47:42out of the camp
47:43and onto another train.
47:46They were kept
47:47on the move
47:47so they might be traded
47:48for German prisoners
47:49of war.
47:52If only they'd stayed
47:53a few more days.
47:56I get it.
47:57At five days
47:58after we left
47:59the railway ramp
48:00we left it
48:00on the 10th
48:01of April 1945
48:02the British army
48:04answered the camp
48:06and liberated it.
48:14But of course
48:15I wasn't there anymore.
48:18From every corner
48:19of Europe
48:19German troops
48:20are making
48:21the long trek
48:21back to the remains
48:22of their Third Reich.
48:24This contingent
48:25marches through Holland
48:25whose people
48:26have felt
48:27the full weight
48:27of the Nazi jackboot.
48:33On the 5th
48:34of May 1945
48:35the commander
48:36of 117,000
48:38German troops
48:39in Holland
48:39surrendered.
48:42The German army
48:43threw down
48:43their guns
48:44and marched home.
48:48Queen Vilhelmina
48:49returned to her country
48:51to rapturous crowds.
48:52In every skelp town
48:54where bitter battles
48:55raged a few months ago
48:56the people gather
48:58to welcome their queen.
49:00Here where the
49:01grey winter's war
49:02left scars
49:02the queen talks
49:04to the humble people
49:05who never stop
49:05fighting for their liberty.
49:07After the victory
49:08came the reprisals.
49:10in Holland
49:20over 120,000
49:22were arrested
49:23for collaborating
49:24with the Nazis.
49:30Hundreds of women
49:31were beaten
49:31had their heads
49:33shaved
49:33and even painted
49:35orange
49:35for having relationships
49:36with Nazi soldiers.
49:41Men who'd fought
49:42with the Duchessess
49:43were made
49:43to clear minefields.
49:56Anton Mousert
49:57was arrested
49:57on the 7th of May
49:58and charged
49:59with high treason.
50:01He was brought
50:02to a special court
50:03for trial
50:04at The Hague
50:04in November.
50:06And after just two days
50:08was found guilty
50:09and sentenced to death.
50:13Having lost an appeal
50:14Mousert begged
50:14the queen for clemency.
50:17She refused
50:18and exactly a year
50:20to the day
50:21after his arrest
50:22he was executed
50:24by firing squad.
50:29So what are we
50:30to make of Anton Mousert
50:31the Dutch collaborator?
50:33as his country
50:36was invaded
50:36and its leaders
50:38fled
50:38his defence
50:39was that he alone
50:40could be trusted
50:41to shield his people
50:42from the horrors
50:43of war.
50:45He promised
50:46to protect the Dutch
50:47but he sent thousands
50:48of young men
50:49to their deaths
50:49fighting for the Nazis
50:51and was powerless
50:52to stop the slaughter
50:53in the Dutch East Indies.
50:54and having once
50:57openly embraced
50:58the Jews
50:58and their culture
50:59he stood by
51:00as 107,000
51:03of them
51:03were exterminated
51:04by the Nazis.
51:07In his attempts
51:08to reason
51:08with Hitler
51:09he failed to grasp
51:11the demoniacal nature
51:12of the Nazi regime.
51:15For his failure
51:16to see the truth
51:17he paid
51:19the ultimate price.
51:24Paul, Eve
51:25and Rudy Oppenheimer
51:27were liberated
51:28by the Russians
51:28and were eventually
51:30found
51:31by their uncle
51:32and aunt.
51:36Had Eve Oppenheimer
51:37not been born
51:38in Britain
51:39and qualified
51:40her family
51:41as exchange Jews
51:42it's more than likely
51:44all would have
51:45been gassed.
51:46Today
51:50Rudy and Eve Oppenheimer
51:52both live in London.
52:16the anhください
52:20and the
52:33mother
52:34azar
52:35and
52:36the
52:37other
52:37as