Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins and WWII Heroes

Three Ordinary Girls takes place in the Netherlands just before and during WWII. Truss and Freddie, sisters; and Hannie are all actively engaged in leftist causes before war comes to their land. Pre-war they hand out flyers, pamphlets, and learn the very basic skills of organizing underground cells although before the war the punishments are not nearly as dire as they later face.

After the Nazi takeover of The Netherlands, they learn how to sabotage, disrupt and kill both Nazi soldiers and countrymen collaborators. The book is filled with true accounts of hair-breath escapes, daring escapades, luck-filled and ill-fated missions. The three young women start with trepidation, fear, and trembling, though they are bolstered by their pre-war political passion. The author details their development into deadly assassins and saboteurs as he recounts their many missions. Young and pretty, they are able to get close to many persons that no one else could, and kill them; escaping because no one would suspect a pretty girl of shooting someone. Their natural intelligence and unwavering dedication to the Netherlands results in their being sent on increasingly dangerous missions. The author skillfully does not make them monsters, he does not editorially pass judgment on the girls or the Dutch people that are killed. The book is exciting to read and moves very rapidly. There is a growing sense as you read that the girl’s time is going to run out. In all, a very good inside look at the Dutch Resistance in the Second World War.