ABSTRACT
With the capitulation of the German occupying forces on 5 May 1945, the Netherlands was liberated. The country celebrated exuberantly. Jews who had survived the war in hiding, some 16,000 in total, were delighted with their rewon freedom. At the same time, an immense shadow fell over them as the fate of their deported family members and friends became increasingly clear. Just 5,500 Jews returned from the camps. Of the Jews who had fled abroad, some came back to the Netherlands. The extent of the mass murder was evident before the end of 1945. Some 75 per cent of Dutch Jews had been murdered.
