Between A Rock and A Hard Place by Johanna van Zanten is a moving exploration of Dutch citizenry in Holland during the Second World War. Unlike many histories that deal with the period, van Zanten digs deep into the psychology of the oppressed during the German occupation, with a particular focus on Dutch nationalists who were forced to make bitter choices for the ‘greater good.’ While much has been written about the brutality of the time and the heroism of those in the Dutch Resistance, van Zanten shines a light on the conflict and emotional turmoil of those who attempted to appear complicit with the Germans, while at the same time working against them using secretive backchannels and underhanded maneuvering.
Jacob van Noorden is the fictional Chief of Police of Overdam, in a small Dutch village near the German border. Jacob has a comfortable and happy life with his German-born Dutch wife and their two sons. He enjoys his job and the many privileges it affords him. Supervisor to a small staff of seven officers, he spends his days riding his horse and problem-solving small conflicts and infractions of the law. When the German planes fly overhead and the tanks roll into his village, everything he has known to be true about life suddenly changes.
A cloud of dust appeared in the distance on the elevated highway. It rolled rapidly closer through the flat landscape and metamorphosed into a large number of armored Panzer vehicles. The caravan of metal and dust soon veered off the highway onto the road into the village… A shiver ran over his back. He was all fired up. His hearing was exquisite and he thought he could hear German words spoken. His sense of smell distinguished diesel oil, metal, dust, earth, even dew. Making up for his 1.70 m. frame, he took the posture of someone in charge, hands clasped at his back, chest forward, wide stance. After all, he was the legitimate commander of this Marechaussee unit.
The earth vibrated in a long shudder as the vehicles rumbled past on their mission to the center. The two men stood frozen in front of the building. Jacob held his breath without realizing it and only exhaled, when his lungs ran out of oxygen. His legs mirrored the vibrations underneath him…
The first of his shocks follow shortly when he is given a report from one of his officers.
I got some interesting information from some local farmers. At midnight, they’d seen some out-of-towners loitering by the bridge. Looks like our own people helped the Germans to secure the bridges for the tanks.
Jacob is forced to submit to the German authorities as they settle into the village and take control. Van Zanten walks us through his conflict as he debates how best to take care of his family under German occupation. Jacob’s interactions with the Wehrmacht leader, Fritz Heusden, begin with Heusden explaining that the Dutch government had abandoned the country and that the German State would now set the laws and take control. Although Jacob verbally spars with his new superior officer, he believes that the occupation will be short-lived and that if he appears to be complicit, he will continue to have some silent authority to mitigate German control.
In the dark about an appropriate response to the dismantling of his world, he was nevertheless acutely aware of the slowly tightening string of Nazi orders. It was as if the air was pushed out of him, like a slowly deflating Messerschmidt sinking to the ground.
As the new anti-Jewish measures became law, and the German looting of Jewish shops and warehouses began, Jacob’s outrage and dismay continued to build. Two of his junior officers announced their desire to join the SS, as they believed they would enjoy greater career success with the Germans. Jacob railed against their lack of loyalty to the Queen and the Dutch government but was ultimately unsuccessful in convincing them. The rise of Dutch Nazis and collaborators continued to build until Jacob no longer knew who could be trusted and who was an informer.
A ‘re-education prison camp’ was built on the outskirts of the village, and Jacob was required to provide police support to the camp when they were transferring prisoners. Most often the transfers took place between the camp and the local hospital, with large numbers of prisoners ‘accidentally’ injuring themselves. It rapidly became clear that some of the guards were sadistic and enjoyed the random torture and brutalizing of the defenceless prisoners. Jacob’s anger at the situation, led him to further acts of deception and duplicity, working quietly against the German rule.
Unknown to Jacob, his wife and her sister had begun working for the Resistance. Jacob only knew that his wife was keeping secrets from him and suspected that, with her German heritage, she too had become a collaborator. He, in turn, gradually began to support the Resistance and kept his activities secret from his wife and family. His major assignment was to strike a friendship with the camp director, Charles Nauwaard, with a view to gleaning information from him about upcoming German movements so that it could be shared with his contacts in the Resistance. This was a dangerous mission, as Jacob navigated a very fine line, often having to make difficult choices about sacrificing the life of one man in order to save the lives of dozens.
When the Allies finally liberated their village, Jacob and his wife were reconciled and able to share with one another the full extent of their wartime activities. Their respite did not last long, however, as Jacob was arrested for being a collaborator. Despite important testimony from members of the Resistance, and despite being exonerated twice in judicial proceedings, Jacob was branded a collaborator. Many people continued to believe that he was ‘playing both sides’ and had been disloyal to the Queen and Dutch government.
The compromises Jacob made in order to exact what positive power he could under German rule, were heart-wrenching, with devastating consequences. Van Zanten has carefully laid out the emotional turmoil and trauma that characters such as Jacob experienced during this black period of Dutch history. The fictional character is based upon the life of Van Zanten’s own father and she has developed his conflict and fear in astonishing detail. Carefully researched and well-written, this is a compelling narrative that resonates. Those readers fearful of the global rise of the right will find this book particularly timely and alarming.
Johanna Van Zanten is an immigrant to Canada from The Netherlands (1982). As she continued her job as a social worker, she discovered the life-altering gift of writing later in life when she began writing short stories. When some of these stories made the shortlist in contests and were published, she took courage and expanded into writing novels. Now retired from her day job, she enjoys her life writing, dividing her time between Canada and Mexico. Johanna wrote Between a Rock and a Hard Place based on her family’s experiences during the German Occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945).
- Publisher : Addison & Highsmith Publishers (Aug. 1 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 524 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1592112811
- ISBN-13 : 978-1592112814
Lucy E.M. Black (née Kuropatwa) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, and The Brickworks. Her new short story collection, Class Lessons will be released October 2024. Lucy’s short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada in literary journals and magazines. She lives in Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.
