On the one hand life continued its course during the war. After Governor Wouters officially proclaimed war, most of the population did not feel the effects of the war.

But for some 200 Germans living on our island, everything changed. They were arrested on that day and deported to an internment camp in Bonaire. What happened to their homes and their businesses? For some German families, life changed forever.

The rest of the population started feeling the effects later. For instance, there was scarcity of some foods items during the war. There was even a time when the items one could buy were rationed or restricted. We will show you which items were considered luxury using the so-called ‘Caviar list’.

In the arts life continued for sure with many musical and theatrical productions. Many different people and organizations collected and raised funds to help Holland through the war years. It’s a curious thing to see for example a company listing which employees contributed to help Holland.

To protect against the German submarine attacks, a blackout was called for. When the sun went down, all lights had to remain off. How did one live, eat and read in the dark?

Some artists described this in songs. But others like Maximiliano Nepomuceno expressed this in a tin art sculpture about the Second World War. All of this can be seen in the space we called ‘Life Goes On’.