Sub-study 1 – Labour deployment
An estimated 500,000 to 630,000 Dutch men worked compulsorily in Germany during World War II. During this Arbeitseinsatz, civilians were compulsorily employed to keep the German economy running, while German men served in the army. Forced labour is thus a part of history involving many Dutch families. Yet this history is not part of Dutch, European, or global collective memory. As a result, it is plausible that the subject is not alive among a broad public, but is within affected families.
The question is what memories live on within families under these circumstances and what the impact of the memories is into the third generation.
The research project ‘War and freedom in three generations’ will run from 2021 to 2025. One or two sub-studies will be carried out each year. Each sub-study focuses on a different memory community within which five families are interviewed each time. The interviews cover three different generations; in addition to the war generation itself, representatives from the second and third generations are also spoken to separately.
With this study, the committee aims to investigate how memories of (grand)parents’ wartime past carry over to subsequent generations and how family stories form in practice.
Does social awareness and collective handling of a particular war past (e.g. recognition, denial, concealment or disinterest) influence the memories of the different generations and the family stories that are passed on? Do these war memories influence views on or perceptions of freedom? And how do younger generations position themselves within this memory landscape?
Upcoming substudies
Sub-study 2: ‘Dutch East Indies/Indonesia’
Currently in progress
Sub-study 3: ‘Roma and Sinti
Currently in progress
Sub-study 4: ‘Veterans
Currently being carried out by the Dutch Veterans Institute (NLVi)
Sub-study 5: ‘Jewish families
Currently in preparation
