This TV series from the 1970s is based on a novel, Winter in Wartime, written by the nuclear physicist turned politician Jan Terlouw, who wrote a number of award-winning books for young adults. In the novels the protagonists often face moral dilemmas in the face of problems varying from environmental pollution to the ravages of war.
Oorlogswinter plays during the winter of 1944-1945 and ends with the liberation of the north of the Netherlands in May 1945. The protagonist is a 15-year old boy who has to deal with difficult choices imposed upon him when he more or less by accident saves a downed British pilot from capture by the Germans. This act entails grave risks for his family and other innocent civilians, betrayal looms, but not everything is always what it seems. It is only after the liberation that all pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
The production values of this series were very limited as can only be expected from a production for the Dutch public TV of the 1970s, so one cannot demand too much fireworks. Still the series does succeed in reflecting the conditions of wartime Holland and the choices different people faced, with some becoming heroes and some traitors, some victims and some perpetrators.
The book was filmed again in 2008 as a feature length movie.
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