Auschwitz.nl: ‘This is Radio Oranje, the voice of the Dutch resistance’

‘This is Radio Oranje, the voice of the Dutch resistance’

The encouraging speeches of Queen Wilhelmina were listened to by millions of Dutch people. The illegal press multiplied and distributed its texts. The British air force dropped the speeches over the Netherlands. The persecution and deportation of Jews were also issues that came under discussion.

I truly share your outrage and anguish for the fate of our Jewish fellow countrymen and women; together with my entire nation I personally grief the inhumane treatment and systematic extermination of our fellow countrymen who have lived with us for centuries in our blessed fatherland. Whereas you are not allowed to express your feelings, here I express them for you. We will try, as soon as possible, to alleviate some of this sorrow.

17 October 1942

Queen Wilhelmina during a broadcast of Radio Oranje, London
Unknown photographer, NIOD Collection, Amsterdam
The staff of Radio Oranje. From left to right: H. Sandberg, J. van Os, J. Pearl, H. J. van den Broek, L. de Jong, L. Tas, H. van Stuwe, A. den Doolaard, and G. Sluizer, London, 1943-1944
Unknown photographer, NIOD Collection, Amsterdam
Photo of the rear side of a radio camouflaged as a lamp In May 1943, the occupation authorities ordered all radio owners to hand in their radio. This had already applied to Jews since April 1941. Approximately 325,000 radios (out of 1.1 million) were hidden well in order to secretly listen to the banned British stations and Radio Oranje.
Unknown photographer, from: Dat kan ons niet gebeuren (That won’t happen to us). Daily life in the Second World War described by Evert Werkman, Madelon de Keizer, and Gert Jan van Setten, Amsterdam 1980
Hidden radios
A large part of the population did not hand in their radio in 1943.
Photo by Ed van Wijk, NFM Collection, Rotterdam

Chronology

‘This is Radio Oranje, the voice of the Dutch resistance’