The Dutch underground press was part of the resistance to German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
After the occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, the Germans quickly took control over the existing Dutch press and enforced censorship and publication of Nazi propaganda. Independent Dutch citizens organized themselves into publishing their own illegal papers. These papers were cherished by the population, and were better trusted than the official papers (even though one might argue that they were equally slanted). Issues were distributed and passed on, even though there were heavy penalties (including the death penalty) for those involved with illegal anti-Nazi publications.
Some of today's main paper and magazine titles (Trouw, Het Parool, Vrij Nederland) originate from this period.
A collection is maintained in The British Library.
Famous quotes containing the words dutch, underground and/or press:
“Paradise endangered: garden snakes and mice are appearing in the shadowy corners of Dutch Old Master paintings.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Political correctness is driving machismo underground and recalling effeminacy from exile.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)