Summary of Ian Buruma's Year Zero

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Liberation complex is when prisoners of Hitler’s fallen Reich, who were expected to be grateful and cooperative, were instead exultant and revengeful. It was not limited to DP camps, but was also applied to entire countries newly liberated. #2 The Dutch women were in a state of frenzy, like teenage girls at a rock concert. They couldn’t help themselves. They were reliving their hours of exultation. #3 The Dutch did not surrender to the Canadians on May 5, nor was the war over on that date. The Germans still had not surrendered to any Allied forces. On May 7, crowds had gathered on Dam Square in Amsterdam in front of the Royal Palace, cheering, dancing, and singing, in anticipation of the triumphant British and Canadian troops. #4 The end of the war in Europe was officially marked by the signing of the unconditional surrender of all German troops in a schoolhouse in Rheims on May 6. However, celebrations could not begin until Stalin had been satisfied that General Eisenhower had accepted the German surrender for the eastern as well as western fronts.