Five Brothers and a War

A van Pelt Night Out

To keep the spirits up, the van Pelts found relief from their stressful existence by going to concerts by various groups making the rounds. The Germans initially did not oppose the holding of concerts, with certain restrictions. Those restrictions included the exclusion of British music, then music spoken in the English language, and eventually American music—after the U.S. entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Of course, the Germans thought of the Dutch as their cousins, and wanted to win their hearts rather than impose their will exclusively. A number of venues were made available for concerts. The more classical-music-oriented orchestras would perform in the K & W Gebouw (Kunsten en Wetenschappen Gebouw— “Arts and Sciences Building”) in downtown Den Haag.

van Pelt

The K & W Gebouw, in downtown Den Haag. It opened in 1874 and burned down 90 years later, in 1964.

Five Brothers and a War

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