The beginning of the war in Holland occurred on May 10, 1940.
During the next four days more planes and troops and then tanks and heavy equipment followed. The Germans invaded all of our borders. By Tuesday, May 14, they gave Rotterdam an ultimatum to surrender or be bombed. News of our capitulation reached the enemy in time but, nonetheless, heavy bombardment started about 1:45 in the afternoon.

Rotterdam had been designated an "open city" (as later was the case with other cities such as Paris and Rome) and I don't know why the Germans bombed. That was against all codes of warfare. But they did a lot of damage. They bombed in a pattern so that they could take the center of the city and then spread out. Though they only bombed Rotterdam one time, it was in great force.

Holland officially surrendered on May 15, just five days after the first planes had appeared. About 40,000 people lost their lives and the heart of Rotterdam was in shambles...
Although a sound Dutch resistance movement formed, only a small minority of the country's substantial Jewish population survived the war.

Credits: Part of text source by Mr.Lucien Hut.
Please visit his site A Boy's Life in Holland, 1940-1945

On March 8, 1942 the Dutch East Indies were occupied by the Japanese army. Allied troops and foreign inhabitants were imprisoned in camps... My mother and 2 sisters, ages 3 and 5, were placed in Tjihapit (Bandung), Adek (Meester Cornelis) and Tjideng Camp - "Hell on Earth" - a women and children's internment camp set up by the Japanese in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia).
Japanese occupation took a tremendous toll on the Dutch as well as on the native Indonesian population. In 1949, despite military attempts to hold on to Indonesia, the colony won independence.

Stichting Vervolgingsslachtoffers JAPPENKAMP
Stichting voor de belangen van de slachtoffers van de japanse concentratiekampen in Nederlands-Indie.
Foundation in support of the victims of japanese concentrationcamps in the Dutch East Indies.



Stichting Nederlandse Slachtoffers Japanse Vrouwenkampen
arnhemsebovenweg 211
3971 MG Driebergen
the Netherlands

Tammo Bakker is looking for Coba, (real name unknow) Jewish Victim of the Second World War in The Netherlands
In 1942 / 1943, at that time about 6 years old, wearing glasses, had little or no hair, suffering of incontinence, spoke Dutch with a strange accent and was hiding at this adres, Beneden Oosterdiep 50, Veendam, Groningen, Holland. Please visit Tammo's web site for the story of Coba.

Operation Market Garden The largest Airborne operation in history. The heroic actions of the 1st Airborne Division in Holland, September 1944.