The transcript of a speech given by Cabinet Minister Gerritt Bolkestein on March 24, 1944. The second paragraph from the bottom of the second page reads, "History cannot be written on the basis of official decisions and documents alone. If our descendants are to understand fully what we as a nation have had to endure and overcome during these years, then what we really need are ordinary documents--a diary, letters from a worker in Germany, a collection of sermons given by a parson or priest. Not until we succeed in bringing together vast quantities of this simple, everyday material will the picture of our struggle for freedom be painted in its full depth and glory."

Origin

Netherlands Institute for War Documentation