Textile Tales From The Second World War

Textile tales from the Second World War

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), an event that still reverberates in the lives of people in The Netherlands, Europe and indeed in many other parts of the world.

The collection of the TRC in Leiden houses various textiles, garments and accessories, which reflect life in the Netherlands during the Second World War and shortly afterwards. They all tell a story. Some of these are simple, others are painful, but they reflect the different ways that textiles, garments and accessories were made and used. And in many cases they still retain personal and family stories associated with them. This online exhibition looks at some of these stories and puts them in the context of those disturbing times.

Preparing the TRC exhibition 'Textiles Tales from the Second World War', Sept. 2020 - Jan. 2021.

This online display is based on an onsite exhibition that was organised and set up by the Textile Research Centre in Leiden in the second half of 2020.

Please click on the illustrations below to go to the various sections.

Colophon:

  • Authors: Marieke Roozeboom and Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood
  • Web-design: Joost Koopman
  • Exhibition design and text editor: Willem Vogelsang
  • Publisher: TRC Leiden.
  • Year of publication: 2020
  • Copyright: All illustrations of objects housed in the TRC collection can be used free of charge, but please add to the caption: "Courtesy Textile Research Centre, Leiden" and the accession number (for instance: TRC 2020.3000).

Scarf celebrating the history of the Prinses Irene Brigade, the Netherlands, 1948.

0. Cover page

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), an event that still reverberates in the lives of people in The Netherlands, Europe and…
Embroidered panel with the text 'Gruss aus Sudetenland'. Sudetenland was occupied by Nazi Germany in October 1938.

1. World War II in The Netherlands

In 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He soon abolished democracy, pursued a policy of racial and religious discrimination, and launched an extensive programme of rearmament. In March 1938,…
Lapel pin of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands. The colours red and black stood for their Blood and Soil ('Bloed en Bodem') theories.

2. National Socialism

The National Socialist Movement (NSB), the Dutch political party that sympathised with Nazi Germany, worked together with the occupying forces during the Second World War. During the German occupation of…
Hand embroidered sample, from a memory box of a Dutch woman in a Japanese internment camp.

3. Dutch people outside the Netherlands

In 1942 Queen Wilhelmina chose the daisy flower (the margriet, in Dutch) as a symbol for all those who had fallen in the resistance against Nazi Germany. She herself wore…
Woman's dress made from artificial silk (rayon), with imprimé print, late 1930's.

4. The Dutch textile production

During the war, the availability of textiles, clothing and shoes in The Netherlands declined sharply. Textile production fell because cotton and wool - the most important raw materials of the…
Front of a woman's blouse, sold by the (Jewish) firm of Hirsch & Cie, Amsterdam, before 1943.

5. The Jewish Community

As early as 1940, the German occupying forces introduced an administrative division between Jews and non-Jews, after which more and more restrictions were imposed on the Jews. From the beginning…
Brooch made from a 1930 silver guilder. Such coins with the head of Queen Wilhelmina were made into brooches and worn as a form of silent resistance against the Nazi occupiers of the Netherlands.

6. Silent resistance

During the German occupation of the Netherlands, all kinds of ways were devised to express resistance to the Germans and support for Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government in London.…
Card tile, protesting against rationing, the Netherlands, 1940's. The text states: "Diogenes, die wijse Man Trock sigh van Punten weinigh an!".

7. The distribution system

The occupying forces continued the distribution system that the Dutch government had introduced in 1939. In 1940, clothing was rationed. That the Dutch people were not very enthusiastic about the…
Child's dress made from an adult's garment. The Netherlands, 1940's.

8. Making something from nothing

"Take care of what you have" is the title of a brochure issued by the Dutch authorities of German occupied Holland in 1942. It was also the adage of the…
Page from Het Dagblad van het Noorden, 13 April 1945, announcing the death of President Roosevelt of the USA.

9. Towards the end

While the southern part of the Netherlands was liberated in the autumn of 1944, the rest of the country passed through a period of severe austerity in the ensuing winter.…
Volendam-style skirt worn during celebrations of the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945.

10. The liberation

The period immediately after the liberation was a festive and special time for many people, although the scarcity and poverty continued. But there was another side: apart from civilians and…
Feestrok, celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands. 1948.

11. The years after the war

The first few years following the liberation of the country in 1944/1945 are characterised by a rebuilding and general feeling among the Dutch of the re-emergence of the Netherlands. The…
Mennonite relief quilt made in North America and sent to Europe as humanitarian aid for Mennonite refugees from the Ukraine, after the Second World War.

12. Mennonite relief comforters

The Doopsgezinden, also known as the Mennonites, are a Christian Anabaptist community that can be found in many parts of the world. The community dates back to the sixteenth century,…

In this exhibition:

All exhibitions