Customer Reviews

Making Choices

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If you're interested in the Netherlands during World War II or resistance movements during the war, this is the film for you. There's nothing available right now that's quite like it. "Making Choices" will deeply touch you with its simple and honest look at the lives of four participants in the Dutch Resistance during World War II. John Douglas of The Grand Rapids Press called it, "...wonderful...a quality production whose stories will keep you on the edge of your seat." It won the Audience Award at the Northern Lights Documentary Film Festival and was an official selection in the Farthest North Jewish Film Festival and the Lake Michigan Film Competition.

Making Choices is a unique and important film that brings into the spotlight some often overlooked but nonetheless amazing and inspiring people. Dutch Nazi resisters lived dangerous and often tragic lives, and this film both deftly reveals the drama and intrigue of their lives, and also highlights the triumphs, hopes and joys that enabled them to continue their important work and survive brutal persecution. The stories told in this film will stay with you long after the movie is over, and put into perspective the purpose and meaning of our own lives. Sadly the time is coming when we may lose these voices forever and this film not only succeeds as a wonderful piece of art, but also as a document of these incredible people and their place in history. Further, it does an exceptional job of contextualizing these amazing stories and weaving them all into a powerful narrative of overcoming one of the greatest evils of our time. Highly recommended!

Making Choices is the story of the Dutch Resistance to their Nazi occupiers during the second world war. It is a fascinating illumination of the stories of four actual members of the resistance, surviving seemingly impossible odds. Both humorous and poignant, Making Choices surprises us with monumental, yet unusual, quirky aspects of this largely unknown story. Highly recommended.

The Netherlands was a neutral country in WW I, and when Hitler came to power, he assured the Dutch that their neutrality would be respected, but as with his other promises, this particular vow also fell through. The Netherlands was invaded by the Germans in the spring of 1940. As with other parts of occupied Europe, a resistance movement against the Nazis was soon formed, and this documentary recounts the experiences of 4 members of the Dutch Resistance - Diet Eman, John Witte, John Muller, and John Timmer. All four survived the war and are settled in the US, but still retain vivid memories of their wartime experiences.

These are individuals with strong moral values and faith - they assisted the Jews, helped to hide them and participated in anti-German sabotage acts, knowing the great personal risks they took. Yet, they acted according to the demands of their conscience, even when the price paid was very high - Diet Eman lost her fiance [also a member of the resistance] who was arrested and sent away to a concentration camp from which he never returned. The others too had harrowing experiences.

This is a wonderful documentary that affirms one's belief that even in the midst of evil and madness that was the Nazi years in Europe, good and courageous people were willing to risk their own lives to save the lives of strangers.

The film allows a brief viewing of the tapestry of terro woven by invader, Adolf Hitler, through the lives of four Resistance members during the invasion of their neutral country. Using original photos and film footage, as well as poignant interviews given by living members, the documentary puts its audience in touch with the strong moral character; bravery; intelligence; sophistication of these helpers of the persecuted and leaves the resounding feeling that if one does "what is right and true" even in the toughest of times, one may be able to find some peace in their lives.

Robert Prince's portrayal of the core of Dutch people who helped the Jewish people in their communities survive World War II is a tribute to the strength of principles and humanitarian values. Prince reveals the lives of caring individuals who risked dying in the gas chambers to save people they knew were the innocent victims of a madman.

Prince takes us on a documentary journey which alternates between interviews with Dutch resistance survivors and black and white footage of the horrors of a Germany which succumbed to an Aryan supremacist ideology. Prince's transitions between scenes are well-crafted and give the viewer a new perspective on the complexities of World War II.

This film is definitely a must-see film for those who want to broaden their historical point of view.

Making Choices is an incredible film that shows history through first hand accounts of four different people. It moves from humerous to tear jerking in a matter of seconds. It's amazing to be able to hear people tell their stories which made the stories seem that much more real. The Dutch resistance is also not an area higly covered in high school and college textbooks so it was nice to hear a new story of courage and faith. I highly recommend this film.

Making Choices does an excellent job relating the struggles of four Dutch citizens during WWII. History has never felt so personal as the film delves into the natural drama these compassionate characters share. A truly great documentary that's a testament to the human spirit.

Though I have no Dutch heritage, I grew up among the Dutch. During my childhood, the vast majority of my friends were the children of Dutch immigrants who made the journey to Canada in the years following the Second World War. I went to Dutch churches and Dutch schools. I even learned to like Dutch food (Dutch soup, chocolate or brown sugar sandwiches, olibolen, and of course, dropjes). The Dutch, like many immigrant populations, have a deep cultural heritage and one they cling to even in this new land.

Deeply ingrained in the Dutch heritage is the lingering memory of World War 2. All of my Dutch friends had parents or grandparents who had been living in Holland in 1940, when the German army invaded and quickly destroyed all opposition in a war that lasted less than a week. The Dutch people were subjected to years of oppression. The Jewish population, many of whom had lived in Holland for generations, were rounded up and transported to Germany and Poland, never to be seen again. The Dutch, a proud and fiesty people, organized themselves into various Resistance groups and did what they could to torment the Germans, to prepare for the coming invasion, and to protect the Jews and other fugitives.

Making Choices: The Dutch Resistance During World War II tells the stories of four members of the Resistance all of whom have since moved to the United States: Diet Eman, John Witte, John Muller and John Timmer. Diet's story is particularly compelling and moving. The viewer cannot help but be stirred as he hears of her courage, of her brushes with death, and of the loss of some of those she loved. This film helps the viewer understand what motivated these people to risk their lives for others and to face the heavy toll exacted on those who aided the Jews, for those who helped the Jews were to be treated as Jews. Many brave Dutch men and women, having been caught in acts of rebellion against the Germans, were sent to concentration camps.

Each of these former members of the Resistance provides his or her motivation for helping the Jewish people. Each of them affirms that it was their faith that drove them to protect the Jews. They could not stand silently by and watch as the Jewish people were herded like cattle and driven to their deaths. In a moving scene near the end, John Witte reveals that despite all that was done by himself and the other Dutch citizens, he still feels guilt that they could not do more.

There is one thing that has always struck me as strange and it was affirmed in this video. In all the times I have read about the work of the Dutch Resistance and have heard Dutch people speak about aiding the Jews, there has not been a single time that I heard of them sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Jewish fugitives. While they were faithful in protecting human life and in sheltering those in need, I never heard of a Jewish person who was converted during this time. I never heard of a person who made it his mission to ensure that the Jewish people were introduced to Jesus Christ. And indeed, in this video, there is no mention of the Jewish need for Christ. It is very odd.

Making Choices is one of many presentations I have seen in the past few years that recounts the first-hand stories of ordinary people who were driven to extraordinary measures during the Second World War. As that generation grows older and their numbers diminish, historians are racing to record and preserve their stories. The stories of those who served the war effort in Holland are worth preserving. These stories are moving; inspiring. I was glad to be able to hear them.