The post creates a false impression that the Netherlands did not experience the Second World War

The Netherlands experienced the bombing of Rotterdam, the arrest of Anne Frank, the Putnam Raid, Operation Market Garden, the Hunger Winter, and many other turbulent events. Nevertheless, Russian spokesman Peskov falsely claimed that the Dutch did not go through World War II. He made this remark in response to a statement by NATO chief Rutte, whose father defended the Dutch colony of Indonesia against the Japanese, was taken prisoner, and personally witnessed both occupation and war

We analyze a post on the social network Facebook, in which a clip and the following text were shared:

The Kremlin responded to a warning from the current NATO chief and former Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, who said that Europeans must prepare for the kind of war that “our grandmothers and great-grandfathers or great-grandfathers experienced.”

Here we notice a typo (“great-grandfathers or great-grandfathers,” when it should read “grandfathers and great-grandfathers”), but that is the least of the issues with this propaganda post. It circulates a statement by Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is both manipulative and factually incorrect. There is no dispute that Peskov made the statement, however, the problem lies in its substance, as it was presented as a response to remarks previously made by NATO chief Mark Rutte. 

Because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its deadly threats against NATO member states, Rutte is concerned that they will be its next target. Therefore, he warned that the citizens of those countries must be prepared for a major war like the one their grandfathers and great-grandfathers suffered, probably referring to World War II.

Peskov reacted to this with his statement, in which he belittles and ridicules the experiences of the Netherlands from that war, because Rutte is from that country and because he was its prime minister until 2024. The following is a translation of Peskov’s statement as it appears in the post:

This is about the “terrible ordeal” that [the Dutch] went through under fascist occupation, with a few windows shattered, and how supposedly traumatic that was. And they say this quite seriously. At the same time, the Dutch still don’t really like the Germans because of that little inconvenience.

But they have no idea what a real war is. They can’t even imagine it. And unfortunately, Mr. Rutte makes these irresponsible statements because he simply doesn’t understand what he’s talking about.

Peskov’s statement is pseudo-historical, which in turn makes the post pseudo-historical, and it concerns the following:

The Dutch did not suffer as much as the Russians under German occupation, because Adolf Hitler considered them Aryans, so Peskov finds it funny that a Dutchman would talk about wartime suffering. But still, the Dutch suffered, and Rutte knows very well what he is talking about.

His father, Isaac Rutte, was a merchant in the Dutch colony of Indonesia, and was mobilized as an infantry second lieutenant when the Japanese invaded, later being taken prisoner. His first wife, Petronella Dilling, was held in the Tjideng prison camp, where she died along with their three surviving children. Mark Rutte was not among them, but rather his older half-brothers or half-sisters. Nonetheless, it remained a profound trauma for his family.

Many in the Netherlands also suffered. Adolf Hitler attacked the country on May 10, 1940. Although Dutch forces were small and equipped with outdated weapons, they still offered strong resistance. On May 14, 1940, the Nazis carried out a brutal bombing of Rotterdam, causing numerous casualties and widespread destruction in its historic center.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her government went into exile in Britain, along with members of the Dutch military, who continued the fight against Hitler alongside the British. The Dutch Princess Irene Brigade, in particular, stood out.

The Dutch also fought against Japan in the Pacific, and were among the world powers to whom it surrendered on September 2, 1945, ending World War II. This places the Netherlands among the victors of the war, even though it was not one of the stronger powers.

The Netherlands was engulfed in the Holocaust, in which the famous Anne Frank suffered, but it was not only Jews like her who were oppressed. Many Dutch people were rounded up for forced labor in Germany or sent to concentration camps because of their views. A resistance movement was also created , which the Nazis suppressed with shootings, imprisonments and arson, as in the town of Putten on October 1, 1944.

In September of that year, the resistance movement assisted in the liberation during Operation Market Garden, which was undertaken by the United States, Britain, Canada, and other allies. During the operation, the Dutch suffered German reprisals, destruction, and other hardships. However, that operation failed to completely liberate the Netherlands, and in the following winter, a deadly famine prevailed there.

In short, the Dutch, and also Mark Rutte’s close relatives, have witnessed what occupation and war truly are, making Peskov’s statement inappropriate, though typical of Russian propaganda. At the same time, Peskov ignores the fact that the Dutch fought against Hitler back in 1940, while Moscow was still an ally of the same Hitler, as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocols were in effect.

In the end, the situation is as follows. It is undeniable that Peskov made the statement (i.e., the reaction) attributed to him in the post, but the post itself is manipulative and creates a false impression that the Dutch did not experience the Second World War. For all these reasons, we consider the post to be missing context.

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