Aan het einde van de oorlog

  • Author: Bert Natter
  • Page count: 640
  • Started on: 2026/05/23
  • Finished on: 2026/06/04
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • ★★★★☆

Book cover for the novel Aan het einde van de oorlog by Bert Natter. A dark, moody landscape with a lake and tree-lined horizon beneath heavy gray storm clouds. The title appears in large pink letters near the top, with the author’s name in white near the bottom. The word “Roman” appears above the title.

Aan het einde van de oorlog (“At the End of the War”) is a historical novel by Bert Natter set during a single day near the end of World War II in and around a Nazi concentration camp. It won several literary prizes in the Netherlands, and is only available in Dutch for now, but translation rights have been sold.

The story is told as a long sequence of personal perspectives from dozens of different characters, including SS officers, camp staff, prisoners, and their families. In its 640 pages, the book gives a minute-by-minute account of the concentration camp’s final day, with many of the events told from different perspectives.

I found this a very interesting, fresh take on a deservedly well-covered period of history. Hearing the same events told from many perspectives gives it breadth and depth, as did seeing how some of the characters evolve in this short but hectic period. An easy four stars.

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