One in six of the Dutch population lived through the war

On 1 January 2007, 2.9 million people in the Netherlands were born before 1945 and therefore lived through the Second World War. This is one in six of the Dutch population. It should be mentioned in this respect that some of these people were not living in the Netherlands at the time.

More than 800 thousand people in the Netherlands today were born in the period 1940-1944. Twice as many lived through the war as a child or teenager; they were aged between 5 and 20 years at the time. About 400 thousand people were in their twenties during the war. Only 45 thousand people now living in the Netherlands were 30 years or older during the Second World War.

Inhabitants of the Netherlands on 1 January 2007 by age during the second world war

Inhabitants of the Netherlands on 1 January 2007 by age during the second world war