Hello everyone Jan Burgers (Netherlands, 1954) is a journalist and author in the Netherlands. Most recently he has published his new book, entitled: "Of Decency and Death." The book describes the courageous resistance against the German occupation by 7 mayors of small villages in the southern Dutch province of Brabant during WWII. Tragically, their resistance ended in their arrest in July 1944 and their deportation to the German concentration camps. The story of the seven mayors is set against the fascinating, rarely seen perspective on how a small country dealt with war, defeat, and occupation at the hands of the Nazi war regime. The five-day war was a bloody affair, marked by fierce resistance, reconquest of the heart of Holland subsequent to the German landings, thousands of dead soldiers on both sides, and the leveling of the heart of the city of Rotterdam. One point of light during those days of chaos was the fact that buses were sent to orphanages to pick up Jewish children, who were evacuated safely by boat to England. There were not many, if any, points of light after that. More than 100,000 Jewish citizens were murdered in German concentration camps. Our seven mayors did much to protect and hide the Jewish citizens in their villages. They also openly resisted efforts by the Germans to collect men from their villages to work on German defense works. Sadly, blind bureaucratic negligence from the Dutch national government did much to hinder and frustrate those few incredible heroes willing to stand up against the occupier. The book follows on a personal level the realities, and the moral dilemmas, of resistance against an utterly ruthless occupier. In this respect, in its human scale, the book is reminiscent of the Italian blockbuster movie “Life is Beautiful.” Except that unfortunately this story is true, based on diaries and interviews with surviving family members, and life is not beautiful at all. A unique feature of this book is that about one third of the book examines the frantic efforts by family members after the war to search for their missing loved ones. Remarkable love and courage was displayed by those who made their way across the devastation of Germany to search in prisons and concentration camps for the missing mayors. Here the story offers a rare, detailed picture of a defeated, occupied Germany right after surrender. In the end, the mayors were abandoned and forgotten by their government. The book is an indictment against not just the German occupier, but also against the Dutch government. What do we learn from this true story of people confronted with powerful evil? Maybe this: People are good, but when people get together, then maybe not so much. If you like the story you can buy the Kindle ebook on Amazon.com: Amazon.com: Of Decency and Death: A story of the Netherlands in World War II eBook: Jan Burgers: Kindle Store Amazon.co.uk link: Of Decency and Death: A story of the Netherlands in World War II eBook: Jan Burgers: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Thank you, Viggo, I just downloaded it . The Netherlands has alway beeb an admirable country to me. I feel very fortunate to have visited there several times over many years. I look forward to reading this book. Gaines
Thanks Gaines for downloading the book on Amazon. I hope you enjoy the book and would appreciate it if you could add a review of the book on Amazon. Kind regards, Viggo
Viggo, I am in the middle of another book but will start yours next and do a review. I still work at 77 and have some tough deadlines to meet so it may take awhile nut I really want to read this oone. The Dutch are such decent people and have shown me countless courtesies so this appeals to me. Gaines
