Wars are times of excessive violence, repression and censorship. War usually means the end of freedom of the printing press. This was also true of World War II. Strict censorship was imposed by the German occupiers. Writing and publishing were restricted. Many printed materials were banned. Writing and printing could also be life-threatening in those days. Indeed, anti-German publications were punishable by death. Yet this did not stop many resistance fighters from writing and publishing. New anti-German newspapers such as Vrij Nederland, Trouw and Het Parool were founded and circulated illegally.
Life was also made difficult for writers. If they wanted to publish anything, from 1942 they had to be members of the so-called Kultuurkamer, an organisation Jewish authors could not join. Among writers, it was therefore often seen as an act of collaboration to join this Kultuurkamer. Most writers therefore decided not to become members, although not everyone could avoid it. Still, many authors tried to publish their work: anonymously, under a pseudonym, or by antedating their work. A book that came out in 1944 would then have 1939 as its publication date, for example.
Some literature was clearly anti-German. This was true of Jan Campert's well-known poem 'De achttien dooden', which describes the execution of several February strikers and several members of the resistance group the Geuzen. A poignant poem that, because of the I-form, gave the impression of being written from the perspective of one of those condemned to death, on the eve of the execution. The poem was published as a rhyming print by the wartime illegal publisher De Bezige Bij, which also operated under the name De Doezende Dar en de Weduwe de Bye. Rhyme prints of this kind were printed more often in wartime: poems, often illustrated, printed on a single page. Much poetry such as that from the Vrij Nederlandsch Liedboek and the Geuzenliedboek 1940-1945 was Orangist and strongly patriotic. Through Geuzen rhetoric, poets harked back to the resistance of the Dutch against the Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War: the Geuzen were seen as the first Dutch resistance group. The Geuzen songbook contains poems about the House of Orange, those sentenced to death, the persecution of Jews and concentration camps. A fierce longing for freedom was also often thematised.
Incidentally, not all literature published in the 40-45s was anti-German, even though many authors published without the permission of the occupying forces. One speaks of clandestine printings in such cases, which also circulated in concealment. Some publishers issued clandestine series such as Schildpadreeks, Mansardepers, de Blauwe Schuit or de Vijf Ponden Pers Jaap Romijn was the first to publish The Schildpadreeks in 1942. Draughtsman Cees Bantzinger, publisher Bert Bakker and Fokko Tamminga, printer of the illegal newspapers Het Parool and Vrij Nederland, among others, started the Mansardepers in 1943. These editions were often expensive, printed on special paper and in different colours of ink, sometimes with illustrations. These luxury editions - surprising that they appeared in wartime - often sold for very large sums of money. Proceeds were in many cases, but not always, used for illegal activities and supporting people in hiding.
Publisher A.A.M. Stols, who was already known for his beautifully crafted editions before World War II, continued to publish exceptional printed matter during the occupation. He published 64 clandestine editions.
Exhibition compilation: Jacqueline Bel, professor of Modern Dutch Literature and Willemien van Dijk, curator UBVU