Around 250,000 Dutchmen died in WW2. A substantial part of that came from the hunger winter in 1944 when the German army took the Dutch harvest. Dutch cities were first bombed by the Germans and afterwards by the allies, and many were in complete ruins. I am saying this not to downplay what Israel does to Palestina, but the idea that most Dutch people lived relatively “normal” lives during WW2 is ridiculous.

As a new biography Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, excerpted exclusively in this week’s PEOPLE, reveals, it was her experiences during Germany’s five-year occupation of Holland during World War II that truly shaped her.

While more has come out in recent years about her war experience, Robert Matzen’s book reveals harrowing new details about how a young Hepburn battled severe malnutrition, particularly during what was known as the “Hunger Winter” of 1944-45.

Leading up to that brutally cold winter, as Germany tightened its grip on Holland, Hepburn and her family were often forced to live in the cellar for days and weeks at a time due to bombing overhead. And food became more and more scarce.

Israel is doing terrible things, but it simply doesn’t compare to the atrocities of the Third Reich. Almost nothing does. It’s important we don’t downplay just how horrible the Nazi regime was.