The Resistance
Yesterday, we were given an insight into the struggles faced by the immigrant society upon settling in the Netherlands. Today, we focused on struggles that were specific to the Dutch people, i.e. the period of World War II. After a slight change in the program, we first visited the Dutch Resistance Museum, and following a brief introduction by Professor Jeroen we entered the museum. In the museum I was amazed with the amount of information that was on exhibit. It was structured to make the visitor feel like they reliving history as it unfolded. The background information coupled with quotes from war survivors added a unique feeling to the entire experience. The typical individualistic nature of the Dutch and the complexity of the problems faced by them were brought out by the quotes. The individualistic nature of the Dutch was very visible in the rationale that three workers had while working in a German arms factory. One of them worked to meet ends, while another one was concerned about better facilities for the factory which would be paid from a commission they were granted, while the third one was focused on indirectly helping the resistance by slowing down the arms production. As one can see, each of the three workers had their different objectives to fulfil, and had different approaches towards nationalism. Personally, I thought that the third worker had the most practical mindset. It was a known fact that the Dutch were too small for Germany, therefore any armed conflict was out of the question. Thus, the one of the ways to beat them was slowing them down, and wait for the allied forces. It was probably the best he could have done in those circumstances.
“Broken skies, broken freedoms”
After the museum we visited a memorial followed by a visit to a park where there was an exhibit made of broken glass. One could look into the glass and see the sky as though it were broken: thereby, symbolizing the broken fate and houses of countless Dutch people during the holocaust. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What a simple way to remember such a dark period!’ Suddenly, it was then that I really felt the magnitude of the message “broken skies”. The sky plays a very symbolic part in Dutch history. In a low lying country like the Netherlands, the sky is something they have in abundance (relative to other countries that are well above the mean sea level). Calling that broken meant to me that the Dutch had lost everything they had. In reality, this is what had happened. The Netherlands was a country that took very good care of its citizens, gave numerous liberties, and one that did not impose any arbitrary actions on its citizens. However, all of a sudden the citizens had been either were forced into labor or killed, and were faced with the dim prospects of hunger and misery. The sky representing their freedom was abruptly broken and held hostage
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