The Netherlands was occupied for five years, from May 1940 to May 1945, and the screen versions of that story are more varied than you might expect: a boy’s adventure set in the Hunger Winter, a guest house that hid Jewish families, a Verhoeven thriller, a battle fought in the mud of Zeeland, and a Hollywood epic about Arnhem. This page gathers the six episodes where the Dutch war is really the subject.
Maartje knows this history from the Dutch side, so we pay close attention to what these films do with it. We are most interested in whose story it tells, what it leaves out and how it sits against the real history. Dutch myths of resistance and victimhood come up more than once, and we like to bust those myths.
A note before you start: several of these stories involve the persecution and murder of Jewish people and minorities and might be hard to listen to. Each card links to the full episode, where we compare the screen version with the real history.
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Occupation, Hunger and Growing Up
2008 · Dutch Coming-of-Age Drama
Martin Koolhoven’s film follows Michiel, a teenager in the freezing winter of 1944 to 45, as the Netherlands goes hungry under German occupation and an RAF pilot lands in his life. It is based on Jan Terlouw’s 1972 youth novel, which won the Gouden Griffel in 1973, and it made the Oscar shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film without being nominated. Maartje read the book as a teenager and again in English for the episode, so there is plenty here. The Hunger Winter killed roughly 20,000 to 22,000 people.
Our angle: What does a beloved Dutch youth novel become when it is rebuilt as a film for adults, and how well does it show the Hunger Winter?
What we thought: Maartje gives it 8.5 and Sam 7.5 out of ten (dirty playing cards). As an adult Maartje likes the film more than the book, calling it a solid World War Two boys’ adventure movie. Sam finds the first half strong, but some plot points predictable or implausible, such as thirteen-year-old Michiel’s actions.
2011 · Dutch Resistance Drama
Maria Peters’ film follows Waldemar Nods, a man of Surinamese descent, and Rika van der Lans, who ran a guest house in Scheveningen and began hiding Jewish people in November 1942. They were arrested in a raid on 18 January 1944, and unfortunately didn’t see the end of the war. It was the Netherlands’ entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards. We review the film alongside Annejet van der Zijl’s 2004 book it is based on, and we cover Suriname’s colonial history along the way.
Our angle: Where does the occupation end and Suriname’s colonial history begin, and what does the film do with both?
What we thought: We both prefer the book. We score the film about 6 to 6.5 out of ten and the book 9 to 9.5. The book reads like fiction and includes photos and letters; the film felt flat to us, with uneven acting.
Rabbit Hole: The Real Story Behind Sonny Boy →
Further reading
Sonny Boy by Annejet van der Zijl, in English as The Boy Between Worlds, the book the film is based on.
Resistance and Hiding
2006 · Dutch Resistance Thriller
Paul Verhoeven came home after about twenty years in Hollywood to make what was then the most expensive Dutch production to date. Jewish singer Rachel Stein joins the resistance in the last year of the occupation and falls for an SD officer. While not a true story, it is loosely based on several real events, including the resistance fighter Esmee van Eeghen, who was shot in September 1944 and rehabilitated by the Fries Verzetsmuseum in April 2024, and the execution of two German deserters on 13 May 1945.
Our angle: What does a thriller about collaboration and betrayal gain by refusing clean heroes, and what do you make of its ending in Israel?
What we thought: We score it 6.5 and 7.2 out of ten (dyed pubes), with some Dutch pride in the mix. We spend a long time on its moral greyness, its crude violence, and an ending we read as victims becoming perpetrators.
2023 · Drama Series · Part One
National Geographic’s A Small Light, created by Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, tells the Anne Frank story through Miep Gies, who was born in Vienna in 1909, came to the Netherlands as a malnourished child in 1920 and helped hide the Frank family. Part One covers episodes 1 to 3. Maartje sets the series against Miep’s memoir, Anne Frank Remembered, and the real history, and Sam adds the story of Willem Arondeus, who led the attack on the Amsterdam population register on 27 March 1943.
Our angle: What changes when the Anne Frank story is told through a woman who helped, and through the queer resistance fighters around her, Willem Arondeus and Frieda Belinfante?
What we thought: Sam finds it well paced and not tragedy porn, with humour that breaks the tension, a strong Bel Powley, and Jewish characters who have agency. Maartje liked it even more on rewatch, while pointing out where it departs from Miep’s book and the real history.
Zeeland, Arnhem and the Liberation
Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s film, Netflix’s first Dutch co-production, follows three people whose paths cross at the Sloedam causeway: a reluctant Dutch resistance girl from Zeeland, a Dutch volunteer in the German army and a British glider pilot. We give the background at length. The Battle of the Scheldt ran from early October to 8 November 1944 under the First Canadian Army, to open Antwerp’s port, and the first convoy reached Antwerp on 28 November 1944.
Our angle: Why is the fight for the Scheldt so often forgotten, and what does the film say about the Dutch who were not on the Allied side?
What we thought: We both give it 7 out of ten (poorly aimed rocks). Maartje helps with the Dutch pronunciation, and Sam adds the Canadian view, including why so few Canadian war films exist.
1977 · Epic War Film
Richard Attenborough’s epic covers Operation Market Garden, which began on 17 September 1944. Sam brings Cornelius Ryan’s book and Maartje has visited the real sites, and together we flesh out the people stories: Flight Lieutenant David Lord’s burning Dakota on 19 September, Kate ter Horst caring for about 250 wounded British soldiers in her rectory at Oosterbeek, and the crossing of the Waal at Nijmegen on 20 September.
Our angle: Where do the Dutch civilians sit in a film about generals and paratroopers, and which real stories does it leave out?
What we thought: Maartje gives it about 8 and Sam 8.5 out of ten (umbrellas with bowler hats). Maartje did not enjoy the first watch, liked the second and would rewatch it about once a year; she suggests watching it twice. Sam loved Ryan’s book and recommends it without reservation.
Keep Listening
These episodes touch the Dutch war without being about it, and they pair well with this list:
- Ep 69 – Masters of the Air (Part Three) – Operation Chowhound, the American food drops over the Netherlands
- Ep 15 – WW2 Media & Mythmaking (Part Two) – Dutch myths of victimhood and resistance, discussed alongside the myths of the Philippines, Canada and Germany
Three of the episodes above also appear on our guide to Women in WW2 Films: Sonny Boy, Black Book and A Small Light.
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Frequently Asked Questions About the Netherlands in WW2 Films
What are the best films and series about the Netherlands in WW2?
The episodes on this page cover Winter in Wartime (the Hunger Winter), Sonny Boy (a guest house that hid Jewish people), Black Book (Paul Verhoeven’s resistance thriller), A Small Light (Miep Gies and the Anne Frank story), The Forgotten Battle (the Battle of the Scheldt) and A Bridge Too Far (Operation Market Garden). We review each against the real history.
What was the Dutch Hunger Winter?
The Hunger Winter was the famine in the occupied western Netherlands in the winter of 1944 to 45. Roughly 20,000 to 22,000 people died. British (Operation Manna) and American (Operation Chowhound) food drops ran from 29 April to 8 May 1945. Winter in Wartime is set during it.
Is Black Book a true story?
No. Black Book is loosely based on several real events rather than one true story. Rachel Stein was loosely modelled on the resistance fighter Esmee van Eeghen, and the execution of a German soldier in the film is loosely based on the execution of two German deserters in Amsterdam on 13 May 1945.
Where can I hear more about WW2 films and the real history behind them?
Every episode linked on this page is available on the Rosie the Reviewer podcast, which reviews WW2 films and TV against the real history behind them.