Persons from Dutch WW II History: Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhelmina 31 August 1880 - 28 November 1962

Wilhelmina was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until 1948. Her mother, queen Emma, was regent until Wilhelmina reached the age of 18 1n 1898.

On May 10 1940 when Germany invaded the Netherlands Juliana (Wilhelmina's daughter) with her kids fled to Britain this to secure the dynasty.
On May 13 1940 General H.G. Winkelman went to the Queen to tell her that the Grebbeline had fallen: Majesty even The Hague is no longer safe. An enemy tank column has reached Rotterdam.
Winkelman advised the Queen to get aboard of the British destroyer "HMS Hereward" to leave for Zeeland. Her initial plan would have been to get aboard the British destroyer, to set sail from The Hague to Zeeland and fight there with her troops until help would came from the Allies. But because the Germans invaded more and more land inwards and because of the bombing of Rotterdam, which made General Winkelman decided to capitulate, the destroyer was commanded by the English command to set sail for England. This way they were sure that, with the big Dutch colony of the Dutch East Indies in mind, the Netherlands stayed at the allied side.

In London she was in charge of the Dutch government in Exile. She also sent radio messages to her people through Radio Orange. She did not mince words. She named Adolf Hitler the 'arch-enemy of mankind'. In her speeches she also expressed her disapproval against the persecution of the Jews that were going on in the Netherlands at the time. And she called up to resist against the occupiers. Even the illegal press distributed her speeches. Her speeches had an important psychological effect on the Dutch people. Despite that it was illegal to listen to Radio Orange and the sentence that the Germans had put on it, many people did listen the Radio Orange.
This led to the confiscation of her Dutch assets by the State Auditor Seyss-Inquart on September 16, 1941. Also it became forbidden to publish pictures of her and other members of the royal family.

Taken from the publication of the forfeiture is the following:
Wilhelmina van Oranje-Nassau houdt, zonder iets geleerd te hebben uit de loop der gebeurtenissen halsstarrig vast aan het bolsjevistische-kapitalische front en plaatst zich hiermee buiten de gemeenschap van het nieuwe Europa. Zij richt tot het staatshoofd en de weermacht van het Groot-Duitsche Rijk verbazingwekkende scheldwoorden. Zij spoort uit de verte de Nederlanders aan op onverantwoordelijke wijze aan tot het plegen van geweld tegen de bezettende macht, welke slechts de hardste represailles ten gevolge kan hebben.

My own free translation:
Wilhelmina of Oranje-Nassau obstinately clings on, without having learned anything from the course of events, to the Bolshevik-capitalistic front, and thus places herself outside the communion of the new Europe. She directed towards the Head of State and the armed forces of the Great German Empire astonishing invectives.She encourages, on a irresponsible way from a distance, the Dutch on to commit violence against the occupying power, which only leads to the hardest reprisals.

Because of this Wilhelmina became the symbol of the resistance in the Netherlands. By placing a picture of her in their underground papers they showed for what they stood.

Wilhelmina during a speech for Radio Orange

During the last year of the occupation the number of listeners to Radio Orange only increased and the colour Orange became the symbol of liberation.

On March 13 1945 Wilhelmina paid a visit to the liberated south of the Netherlands. In May, she moved permanently back to the Netherlands.
After World War II, in sympathy with the Dutch people, Wilhelmina temporarily (September 1945 - April 1946)  lived in an ordinary residential house in the Nieuwe Parklaan in The Hague. Furthermore, she took personal visits throughout the country, sometimes by bike.

In 1948 she step down from her throne in favour of her daughter Juliana.
On November 28 1962 Wilhelmina died, 82 years old.


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