Audrey Hepburn was five years old when Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. She spent five years under occupation in Arnhem, one of the most heavily affected cities in the country. She witnessed deportations of Jewish residents and watched family members taken by German forces. She performed secret ballet recitals to raise money for the Dutch resistance. By the time of liberation in 1945 she was severely malnourished, suffering from anaemia and respiratory problems that affected her health for the rest of her life. She almost never discussed her wartime experiences in interviews. When she did, she said she preferred not to remember.
INTERESTING FACT Audrey Hepburn later became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and spent the final years of her life travelling to famine and war zones across Africa, South America and Asia. Those who worked with her said she never explained why she felt compelled to go. She died in 1993. She was 63 years old.
Nearby on the Dark Atlas
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