Loe de Jong


Louis "Loe" de Jong was a Dutch historian who specialised in the Netherlands in World War II and the Dutch resistance.
The magnum opus of Loe de Jong, The Kingdom of the Netherlands During World War II, in fourteen volumes and 18,000 pages, is the standard reference on the history of the Netherlands during World War II. The Dutch Institute for War Documentation made an electronic edition of the entire work available for downloading from 11 December 2011, licensed under creative commons CC BY 3.0.
de Jong contributed to many other histories on the Netherlands and spoke at symposia on the European resistance. In 1988 De Jong was awarded the Gouden Ganzenveer for his contributions to Dutch written and printed culture.
In 1963 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Loe de Jong was Jewish by birth. He lost the greater part of his family, including his parents and his twin brother, during the Second World War.
He escaped The Holocaust by fleeing to England - together with his wife - when the Germans invaded the Netherlands. During this time he worked for Radio Oranje, broadcasting out of London to the occupied Netherlands.