Beaches, dunes, and boulevards were turned into Sperrgebiet—prohibited areas for civilians. In a ruthless construction operation, people were forced to work, historic coastal towns and natural areas were destroyed, countless homes were demolished, and residents were evacuated. The German occupiers cleared large parts of villages and cities, forcing more than 300,000 people in the Dutch coastal regions to leave their homes. This had a major impact especially in The Hague, but neighbourhoods in other towns and cities also disappeared from the map.
In many places, people were only allowed to enter with an Ausweis, an official identity or access document issued by the German occupiers. Many people in occupied territory had to carry an Ausweis to identify themselves to German soldiers or police.
The final years of the war were the hardest. From autumn 1944 until liberation in May 1945, heavy fighting took place in the south and east of the country, while in the western cities many people suffered from food shortages. During the so-called “Hunger Winter,” thousands of people died.
When Germany surrendered, the consequences of five years of occupation were clearly visible: cities were destroyed, the economy had come to a standstill, and many people were left grieving losses.
The coastal provinces had been heavily affected by the construction of the Atlantic Wall. Everywhere there were concrete bunkers: on beaches, in forests, fields, and even in villages and cities. Tank ditches and other obstacles cut through the landscape. Large areas of nature were cleared so soldiers would have an open line of sight to fire.
After liberation, the defensive line was left abandoned. German soldiers were used to fill in trenches, remove barbed wire, and clear minefields so that nature could recover. Many bunkers and other defensive structures stood in the way of reconstruction and were therefore demolished, creating space again for housing and economic activity. In the 1960s, even more bunkers disappeared, partly due to the strengthening of the dunes as protection against the sea.