Why did father turn off the radio midway through the prime ministers message on the issue of war
Father recognized that the prime minister was trying to appease the people. Everyone knew that a German invasion was immenint, but the prime minister assures the people that Holland will remain nuetral. Father, known to be a man of the truth, was put off by the prime minister's empty rhetoric. When he had heard enough, he angrily cut off the radio.
The Dutch queen had wanted to prepare defensively because it was clear that Hitler was driving Germany all over the map. The prime minister, however, tried very hard to remain nuetral. His effort was in vain because on the very night of the broadcast the Germans initiated a heavy bombing tactic designed to scare Holland into submission. The German's strategy worked, because, as the text notes, the tanks began rolling across the boarder.
In addition to knowing war was inevitable, Father recognized that in a war against evil there is no place of nuetrality. You are either against evil, or, by doing nothing, you side with evil. That, perhaps, fueled his anger in turning off the prime minister's broadcast. Not only was he lying about the citizen's safety, but he was promoting nutrality, offering for Holland to sit on the fence silently watching while Hitler wreaked havoc and destruction on others. Father's moral compass did not allow for such wrong. This is clear from the extent of danger in which he placed himself and others to save Jewish neighbors.
