Publish and be Free

In May 1970 the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands was celebrated in the King's Library of the British Museum with an ex­ hibition of Dutch clandestine printing. The books shown were part of the considerable collection assembled in the intervening years by Miss Anna Simoni in the course of her official duties in the Department. It has been decided that the size and quality of this collection justify the publication of a catalogue. For this, and the full indexes which have been provided, credit is also due to Miss Simoni. The British Library Board wishes to express its deep appreciation of the generosity of the donors and helpers whose names are mentioned in the introduction. K. B. Gardner Principal Keeper Department of Printed Books INTRODUCTION The Second World War saw German rule extended over many countries where most of the people were fundamentally opposed to the Nazi ide­ ology. In all these enslaved nations Resistance movements sprang up and they took various forms, one of the most important of which was the work of the illegal press. In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, under­ ground newspapers were of the greatest political importance. At the same time a large number of pamphlets helped to strengthen the peo­ ple's will to continue the struggle and to form public opinion on future developments.