The Resistance Fighters: The Immense Struggle of Holland during World War II

by Barth Hoogstraten

Overview

Throughout history, students and artists have been in the forefront of struggles against tyranny. In Nazi-occupied Holland, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, non-believers, and Communists joined these patriots. Together, they fought Nazi efforts to plunder their county, suppress the people, and send more than 100,000 Dutch Jews to concentration camps.

In this riveting narrative, author Barth Hoogstraten tells the stories of eleven ordinary citizens- a sculptor, a young female student, a middle-aged housewife, a banker, and a postal worker-who suddenly found themselves fighting for freedom. They were among the 1,671 Dutch men and women who paid the ultimate price for their heroism. Two were later declared national heroes and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Hoogstraten, a survivor of the Nazi Occupation, provides rich details of the hardships, terrifying suspense, and sacrifice that characterized life during the Dutch resistance. Interspersed in this personal and spellbinding account, The Resistance Fighters captures the moments of humor, simple beauty, and love that persevered even in the darkest of days.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761840527
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	09/24/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Barth Hoogstraten, a retired Professor of Medicine, was one of the pioneers of cancer chemotherapy and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London. In early 1943, he refused to sign a loyalty decree to the German Nazi occupiers and went underground instead in the home of two blind music teachers. He narrowly escaped when the Gestapo raided the house. In 1946 he returned to Holland as a British trained military officer and restarted his medical education in 1949. He immigrated to the United States in 1956, completed his specialty training at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine and in 1970 was appointed the first American Cancer Society Professor of Clinical Oncology.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Word From the Author
Chapter 2 Acknowledgements
Chapter 3 1. The Man—Gerrit-Jan van der Veen
Chapter 4 2. Hitler Needs and Excuse to Invade Holland
Chapter 5 3. May 10, 1940—The Invasion
Chapter 6 4. SS-General and Chief of the Gestapo Hanns Albin Rauter
Chapter 7 5. The First Executions
Chapter 8 6. Assimilate and Germanize
Chapter 9 7. Gerrit-Jan Goes Underground
Chapter 10 8. The V-Männer—The Confidence Men
Chapter 11 9. Persoonsbewijs (PB)—Identity Card—Kennkarte
Chapter 12 10. Making False Identity Cards
Chapter 13 11. Did the Dutch Help Its Jews Enough?
Chapter 14 12. Rauter Attacks
Chapter 15 13. The Raid on the Citizen's Register
Chapter 16 14. The Resistance Council
Chapter 17 15. Oh God, Forgive Me
Chapter 18 16. The R.A.F. Destroys 'Kleykamp'
Chapter 19 17. Financing the Resistance
Chapter 20 18. The Raid on the Government Printing Office
Chapter 21 19. The Attack on the Weteringschans Prison
Chapter 22 20. Weteringschans—The Second Attack
Chapter 23 21. The Great Atrocities
Chapter 24 22. Famine and Justice