Secrets of War 2014

Lambert Joes Brauers, Tuur Maas Bronkhuyzen, and Maartje Pippa Allen are three children growing up in a Dutch village caught between fear and survival during a tense period of German occupation. The film follows how their young perspectives collide with the realities of war, loyalty, and the dangerous choices that mark a community under strain. Lambert’s family collaborates with the occupiers, a stance that sets them apart from many neighbors and makes Lambert fall under a subtle pressure to align with the regime. Lambert’s father even envisions him becoming the village’s mayor, a role that would cement control and order in troubled times. The family dynamics add layers of pressure: Lambert’s elder brother has already joined the Hitlerjugend, leaving Lambert to wrestle with expectations that clash with his own instincts.

Tuur enters the frame as a loyal friend and neighbor, and his reaction to Lambert’s potential conversion is nuanced. He seems relaxed about the idea of Lambert joining the Hitlerjugend at first, yet a hidden truth waits to surface. Unbeknownst to Lambert, Tuur’s own family harbors a secret: they are part of the local resistance network, a dangerous truth that could put them all at risk if discovered. The tension between what is publicly visible and what remains hidden becomes a quiet undercurrent that threads through the boys’ evolving friendship. Before this revelation fully unfolds, Maartje arrives in the village. A tomboy who isn’t interested in the usual social scripts, Maartje quickly makes her presence felt and begins to intertwine the lives of Lambert and Tuur. Her attitude challenges their assumptions, and she forms a quickly bond with both boys, although Tuur’s initial warmth doesn’t come easily.

Maartje’s true identity is woven into the story with careful clues that the audience pieces together: she is Jewish, which she reveals to Tuur, insisting on secrecy. This disclosure raises the stakes for everyone, because the war’s violence falls most heavily on those who hide such truths. Maartje’s position in the village—and the fact that she is staying with Maartje’s host family—adds a personal, human dimension to the broader historical conflict. As the trio navigates friendship, trust, and fear, Lambert’s family’s complicity with the occupiers casts a long shadow over their lives and over the kids’ loyalties.

The plot reaches a turning point with a practical crisis that exposes the fragile balance between coexistence and resistance. The Germans plan to confiscate livestock that are meant to feed the army, and Maartje’s pig becomes a symbol of the larger control the occupiers exert. Lambert’s decision to tell his father about Maartje’s pig sets a chain of events in motion: when the Germans arrive, they confiscate the animals, and Maartje and her host family are arrested. The incident abruptly reveals a deeper betrayal: Tuur, who has learned that his own family is part of the resistance, begins to see that Lambert’s cooperation with the Germans may have played a role in Maartje’s capture. The footprint Lambert left in the mud outside Maartje’s barn becomes a painful clue that confirms the truth to Tuur, forcing a painful confrontation and driving a wedge between the two friends.

In the aftermath, Lambert faces the consequences of his family’s choices, while Maartje endures the injustice and danger of being identified as Jewish. The interrogation reveals the broader risk to Tuur’s family, who are revealed to be part of the resistance. To preserve their safety, Tuur’s father acts quickly, moving the family into the countryside and away from immediate danger. Despite the heartbreak and the risk, Lambert steps into a different kind of role, helping to supply food for Tuur’s family as they make their perilous journey toward Belgium. The tense journey toward the border becomes a quiet act of solidarity amid the chaos of war, a gesture that sacrifices personal comfort for the sake of a friend’s safety.

As the story culminates, the bonds that had trembled—between Lambert and Tuur, and within the village itself—are tested to their limits. The two boys find a way to reaffirm their friendship, acknowledging the complexity of their loyalties and the painful choices that war imposes. The final moments emphasize resilience, mutual aid, and the hard-won understanding that people can be complicit or courageous in small ways, sometimes within the same family. The children’s experiences reflect a broader moral landscape where trust can be both fragile and enduring, and where acts of courage can emerge from the most unlikely places.