The Dutch girl

Did Audrey Hepburn come from a rich and aristocratic family? Was she raised in magnificent Dutch castles as a princess as a child? Did her parents really sympathize with the Nazis? Did her mother really meet Adolf Hitler? Why was Anne Frank Audrey's soulmate? What did she see in the largest parachute operation of the World War II, and how did she experience the execution of her uncle? How did she earn money for the resistance with secret ballet performances? Was she really a member of the Dutch resistance? Audrey Hepburn is still one of Hollywood's brightest stars, a world-famous actor in the films Roman Holiday and The Dream in Luxury, who ultimately chose her family over filmmaking, and worked as a UNICEF ambassador in the last years of her life. Although many biographies have been written about her, this is the first time we can learn in detail about her childhood in the Netherlands, her youth during World War II. The horrors and experiences she endured shaped her everyday life for the rest of her life, and the resistance fundamentally influenced her artistic work, decisions and consistent social responsibility. According to her son, Luca Dotti, it was the war that made her the person she eventually became. Robert Matzen's detailed book reveals the actress's little-known childhood, family background and tells the story of how the shy fifteen-year-old teenager became the artist and philanthropist she later became. The Dutch Girl is based on the actress's own memoirs, as well as archival research, interviews with former neighbors and local residents, and war diaries. The volume also includes photographs, many of which come from Audrey's personal collection and are being published here for the first time.