Local governance between occupying power and citizens

During the German occupation and in the post-war years, provincial and municipal officials and civil servants faced major challenges. The government in exile had order them to collaborate with the  occupying forces - a balancing act of Nazi orders, own initiative and expectations/needs of the civilian population. For those collaborators, the day of reckoning  came with the post-war liberation. The decentralised levels of government of provinces and municipalities has remained under-studied in the historical research on the war. This comparative research focuses on the government of the provinces of Zeeland, Gelderland and Groningen and on a number of cities in each province. The reconstruction of relevant policy fields (a.o. law and order, food supply, infrastructure) and especially biographies of individual officials and civil servants offers the visitor of the web exhibition and the reader of the book ample opportunity for historical empathy. And insights into the everyday life of citizens and governments beyond the all too familiar story of the Second World War, and in the peripherial regions of the Netherlands.