Military history of the Netherlands during World War II Military history of the Netherlands during World War II The Netherlands entered World War II on May 10, 1940, when invading German forces quickly overran them. On December 7, 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Netherlands government in exile also declared war on Japan. Operation Market Garden, which started in 1944, liberated the southern and eastern parts of the country, but full liberation did not come until the surrender of Germany on May 5, 1945. When World War II erupted in September 1939, most in the Netherlands believed that the country could remain neutral, as it had in
War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II at Chełmno according to postwar verdict by West Germany, although up to 340,000 victims were estimated by the Polish Main Commission for Investigation of German Crimes in Poland (GKBZNwP), a predecessor of the Institute of National Remembrance. Following the Wannsee Conference of 1942, as part of highly secretive Operation Reinhard in occupied Poland, the German government built three regular killing centres with stationary gas chambers. It was the most deadly phase of the Final Solution, based on implementing semi-industrial means of killing and incinerating people. The new facilities included Treblinka extermination camp (set up in July 1942), Bełżec (March 1942),