<P> Following the defeat, the Netherlands was placed under German occupation, which endured in some areas until the German surrender in May 1945 . Active resistance was carried out by a minority, which grew in the course of the occupation . The occupiers deported the majority of the country's Jews to Nazi concentration camps . </P> <P> Due to the high variation in the survival rate of Jewish inhabitants amongst local regions in the Netherlands, scholars have questioned the validity of a single explanation at the national level . Nonetheless, and also due to the well - organized population registers comparing to other countries, about 70% of the country's Jewish population were killed during the conflict, a much higher percentage than comparable countries, like Belgium and France . However, uniquely within all German occupied areas, the city of Amsterdam organized an industrial action to protest the persecution of its Jewish citizens . </P> <P> Most of the south of the country was liberated in the second half of 1944 . The rest, especially the west and north of the country still under occupation, suffered from a famine at the end of 1944, known as the "Hunger Winter". On 5 May 1945, the whole country was finally liberated by the total surrender of all German forces . </P> <P> Dutch governments between 1929 and 1943 were dominated by Christian and center - right political parties . From 1933, the Netherlands were hit by the Great Depression, which had begun in 1929 . The incumbent government of Hendrikus Colijn pursued a programme of extensive cuts to maintain the value of the Guilder, resulting in workers' riots in Amsterdam and a naval mutiny between 1933 and 1934 . Eventually, in 1936, the government was forced to abandon the gold standard and devalue the currency . </P>

When was holland liberated during world war ii