Jan Burgers is a journalist and author in the Netherlands. His new book ‘Of Decency and Death’ describes the courageous resistance against the German occupation by seven 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 book represents a most interesting complement and context to Anne Frank’s diary. It describes the experience of Holland in the war: What happened outside while inside she vainly hoped for survival. The story offers a fascinating, rarely seen perspective on how a small country dealt with war, defeat, and occupation at the hands of the Nazi war regime.
For example, the five-day war following the German invasion was a bloody affair, marked by fierce resistance, thousands of dead soldiers on both sides, and the leveling of the heart of Rotterdam. Yet, remarkably, one point of light during those days of chaos was that buses were sent to orphanages to pick up Jewish children, who were evacuated safely on the last boat to leave for England. There were few points of light after that. More than 100,000 Jewish citizens were murdered in German concentration camps.
Our seven mayors did much to protect 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. The book follows on a personal level the moral dilemmas of resistance against an utterly ruthless occupier. In its human scale, the book is reminiscent of the Italian blockbuster movie “Life is Beautiful.” Except that unfortunately this story is true and life proved not beautiful at all.
Uniquely,about one third of the book examines the frantic efforts by family members after the war to search for their missing loved ones. Great courage was displayed by those who made their way across the devastation of Germany to search in prisons and concentration camps for their loved ones. Here the story offers a rare, detailed picture of a defeated, occupied Germany right after surrender.
Reviews:
“Last night I read this book in one session. The misery and pain suffered by these mayors and other slave laborers has touched me deeply. I never knew the Netherlands simply abandoned those poor people.”
“I did not sleep well last night. I was in shock by everything I read. But I am unbelievably grateful for this book. Thank you very much.”
“We studied this book “Of Decency and Death” with great interest. My son, who is in high school, has studied every little detail. The book gave such a compelling insight into the dilemmas faced by lower levels of the government. It’s a harrowing thing to have to take decisions in times of war, during an occupation, trying to protect your people as much as possible and often forced to choose among multiple evils.”
“I could not put this book down. It has deeply touched me. Not just the story of the mayors, but everything, the brutality of the Nazis, the Poles, and the Russians. It’s great that this book is here. I wonder if my mother could have found some peace by reading this book. Most historical books on this subject are tedious. This book makes it feel like you are there with the mayors in the camps, the trains. As I said, I could not put it down “
