Dutch Resistance Museum

The Dutch Resistance Museum is dedicated to the resistance movement in the Netherlands during World War II. Right after the Germans bombed Rotterdam in May 1940, the Dutch surrendered and Nazi’s took over the streets of the country. People were faced with a choice: do we cooperate and do exactly what the Germans say, do we join the Nazi’s and help them or do we join the resistance movement?

This question is explored in the museum. The Dutch Resistance Museum helps evoke the climate of the war years by showing the lives of people who made different choices, with a primary focus on the resistance. This often extremely dangerous choice made people very creative in thwarting the Nazis and helping Jews and other groups of people who were being hunted down.

The museum's permanent exhibition takes visitors back to the forties, the period of the German occupation during World War II. The halls and walls that make up the décor of the Dutch Resistance Museum are full of photos to help evoke the war years. Much of the collection consists of artefacts collected from the personal belongings of members of the resistance movement.

The exhibition covers all forms of resistance: strikes, forging of documents, helping people to go into hiding, underground newspapers, escape routes, armed resistance, and espionage. You can see strollers with guns hidden in them, forged ID cards, typewriters on which coded messages were typed and chessboards with hidden compartments.

As well as seeing the ins and outs of life in the resistance, you’ll also see what day to day life was like for people who choose to cooperate. What limitations did the occupation put on them and why did some of them decide to join the resistance after all? Another important part of the museum focuses on the Dutch colonial empire, the Dutch East Indies during the war. Where the population suffered terribly under the Japanese regime of terror.

The exhibition is in both English and Dutch, making it accessible to most visitors. There is also a free audio tour which is offered in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Book your tickets to the Dutch Resistance Museum now and don’t miss out on this vital piece of Dutch history!