De Aanslag, published in 1982
Translated by Claire Nicolas White
jh: 
Pantheon Books, New York 1985
See also Harry Mulisch: Siegfried, Harry Mulisch: Procedura
…
Not until people are called Adolf again will the Second World War be really behind us.
…
“Mr. Takes,” Anton interrupted him. “Am I right to assume …” “Call me Gijs.” “… that you are sitting here justifying yourself for my sake? I’m not criticizing you, after all.” “I’m not justifying myself to you.” “To whom, then?” “I don’t know,” he answered impatiently. “Certainly not to myself, or to God, or some such nonsense. God doesn’t exist, and perhaps I don’t either.”
…
He had always avoided using old saws such as “What’s done cannot be undone,” or “Let well enough alone,” or “When you own the store, you never have any fun.” But now he had reached the age where these sayings seemed to express things exactly. He had come to discover that they were not just embarrassing clichés, but summed up the essence, the concentrated experience of entire generations.
…