Citizens’ Sentiments or Governmental Rationales? Post-War Reconstruction of Bombed Cities in the Netherlands

Abstract

After large-scale destruction by acts of war or natural disasters, reconstruction of housing and infrastructure is up to the state. Typically, reconstruction is preceded by expropriation of real estate ‘in the public interest’. Because of the bombing of Dutch cities and the demolition of entire districts for the Atlantikwall, the Dutch government deployed this instrument after liberation. Thanks to the institution of the Ledger for Reconstruction, cities like Rotterdam and Arnhem were rebuilt. Yet, the Ledger was not invented in 1945 or in London, but in 1940 under German occupation, for Rotterdam. Given the large number of expropriated Dutch citizens and the huge sums involved, historians’ attention for these expropriations has been remarkably scarce. Mostly, they focus on reconstruction as net result and convey a message of national unity, progress and hope – the very message that was conveyed during those post-war years. This contribution therefore brings to the fore resistance and resentment as responses to the government’s heavy-handed policies of expropriation and reconstruction. And questions whether adopting an institution from the occupation period went uncontested after liberation.