Jetty Paerl

Who was Jetty Paerl?

Jetty Paerl was a Dutch singer, who was most famous in the 1950s and 1960s. She was married to Dutch artist Cees Bantzinger.

Born in Amsterdam, during World War II, she lived in London, during the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany. There she participated in the broadcasts of Radio Oranje, the Dutch government in exile, and was known as Jetje van Radio Oranje. She appears in episode 18 of the 1970s ITV documentary The World at War. In 1956 she represented the Netherlands as the first performer in the first Eurovision Song Contest with the song "De Vogels Van Holland" written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and composed by Cor Lemaire. At the time the contest was only broadcast via radio, and only the winning song was announced.