That low opinion hardened into hatred after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, ignoring a Dutch proclamation of neutrality. The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands was as harsh as any in Western Europe. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to their deaths, and starvation afflicted much of the country in the winter of 1944-45. Many older people remember the occupation bitterly and still refuse to set foot on German soil.

But anti-German sentiment is not confined to older generations. In a 1993 survey of Dutch 15- and 16-year-olds taken by the Dutch Institute on International Relations, 56 percent had a negative view of Germans, with only 15 percent positive. Majorities described Germans as racist, arrogant and power-hungry.

Conversations here confirm these findings. "They're fat, ugly and eat too much," Arjan Bijl, a 16-year-old high school student, said about Germans who vacation at Dutch resorts. "They're just so full of themselves."

Maartje Houtepen, 32, a teacher in Groningen, said her friends often turn on her when she says something positive about Germans.

"It's not acceptable to insult Jews or Turks, but everyone has to hate the Germans," Mrs. Houtepen said. "I believe that hating the Germans is a way the Dutch try to cover up the fact that so many Dutch administrators worked with the Nazi regime in deporting Jews. We like to pretend that everyone was a hero back then, and we blame the Germans for everything that happened."