Radio Oranje not a determining factor in resistance to the Germans

During the Second World War, Radio Oranje had hardly any success at leaving its mark on the mood of the population in occupied Netherlands. The radio station was not significantly important in the resistance to the Germans, at the most it only strengthened it. This is the result of research conducted by Onno Sinke. He is the first to examine the exact role of Radio Oranje and the extent to which the station fulfilled this role. Sinke will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 20 April 2009.

‘This is Radio Oranje, the voice of the Dutch resistance’. These are the words that the Dutch government in exile in London used during the Second World War to speak to the population in occupied territory. After the war the station became a symbol of the resistance to the Germans. However, research by historian Onno Sinke has revealed that Radio Oranje had no significant effect on the mood of the Dutch population during the war years.

Wilhelmina’s fear of reprisals

Radio Oranje, the official radio station of the government in exile, was taxed with the job of countermanding German propaganda, stimulating belief in the liberation of the Netherlands and encouraging resistance to the German occupier. The station was not very successful at this, concludes Sinke in his thesis. Throughout the war, Radio Oranje went extremely carefully about its business. Sinke has discovered that this was partly due to the exhortations of Queen Wilhelmina, who was worried about German reprisals. Due to a lack of accurate information about the true state of affairs in occupied Netherlands, the people in London were not able to assess whether the broadcasts would have fatal consequences for listeners. ‘Information provision often left much to be desired’, says Sinke. This meant that it was difficult for the makers of Radio Oranje to assess the mood of the population and adjust the broadcasts accordingly. And that caused another problem because the broadcasts were only successful when they dovetailed with the dominant behaviour and the governing mood of the population at that moment, Sinke’s conclusions have revealed.

Persecution of Jews

With regard to the persecution of Jews, too, Radio Oranje – as with other developments – provided hardly any instructions for the population. The fate of Jewish Dutch people was only referred to in passing during broadcasts. Here, too, the fear of reprisals played a role. For this reason Radio Oranje remained circumspect until the end of the war, with only a few exceptions, for example the Railway Strike of 1944.

More belligerent tone

The editorial board of Radio Oranje, which included Loe de Jong, was small and inexperienced, particularly during the early war years. Initially, the Dutch government in exile kept a close eye on the broadcasts. Four ministers were charged with checking the broadcasts. ‘The broadcasts were lofty in tone – rather like government statements’, says Sinke. As time passed this control became laxer. After the merger in 1941 with De Brandaris, a station founded to encourage Dutch seamen, the organization professionalized and its tone became more belligerent. The broadcasts by writer A. den Doolaard contributed significantly to this. However, Radio Oranje’s options remained limited. Originally the daily broadcasts only lasted a quarter of an hour, later that became half an hour. The station had to speak to the entire Dutch population in that short space of time.

Range limited due to jamming stations

An average broadcast consisted of an overview of the most important news and comments on developments in occupied territory, supplemented if necessary by speeches by Queen Wilhelmina or members of the government and interviews with seamen or soldiers. Sometimes the station broadcast themed programmes, for example a play about the Battle of Britain. What is interesting in Sinke’s view is that the British authorities hardly made any use of the possibility of censoring the broadcasts. Although a post-war questionnaire revealed that 78% of the Dutch who were questioned stated that they had listened to Radio Oranje during the war, there were significantly fewer actual listeners during the war. Thanks to the jamming stations that the Germans had built, Radio Oranje could mainly be received on short wave radio only. This was only possible on newer radios, about a quarter of all the radios in Holland. ‘This meant that only a small part of the population could listen to the Radio Oranje broadcasts themselves,’ says Sinke.

Curriculum vitae

Onno Sinke (The Hague, 1978) studied history at the University of Amsterdam. His MA thesis, in which he investigated the journalistic quality of the Radio Oranje broadcasts, was nominated for the National Thesis Prize 2004. Sinke will be awarded his PhD on Monday 20 April 2009 by the Biographical Institute of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen. His supervisor is Prof. J.W. Renders. The title of the thesis is ‘Verzet vanuit de verte. De behoedzame koers van Radio Oranje.’ [Resistance at a distance. The careful course of Radio Oranje] Augustus publishing house is producing a commercial edition: www.augustus.nl/result_titel.asp?Id=2403. Sinke received funding for his PhD research from the Democracy and Media Foundation and the Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten [Fund for Special Journalism Projects].

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