The war was officially over but everyone still had to be very careful
because the German troops were still present, were heavily armed and of
course very disappointed, extremely desperate and totally bewildered.
About twenty people lost their lives in Amersfoort alone after the war was
officially declared over but before the Allies could gain control. It took
the Allies two days to fully move in and allow the new order to be
instated. The liberators, mostly Canadians, were greeted as heroes. A very
special relationship was established right then and there between the
Canadian troops and the Dutch population as a whole.
 Even now, more than
50 years later, Holland has very special feelings for the Canadian
liberators. In May 1995, Holland celebrated the 50th anniversary of
Liberation Day with special events, re-enactments and parades throughout
the entire country. Big celebrations were held throughout the country and
many Canadian veterans were brought back over, honoured and thanked for
what they did to free and help us in 1945. Princess Juliana
lived in exile in Ottawa during the war. While there, she had a
daughter (Margriet) in the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The delivery room was
pronounced Dutch territory so that the new royal addition "was
born in Holland". As a token of thanks and appreciation for the brave
Canadian men and women who liberated Holland and for those who gave their
lives there as well as for harbouring Crown Princess Juliana, the Dutch
people gave 100,000 tulip bulbs and Princes Juliana donated another 20,000
tulip bulbs to be planted in Ottawa. This tradition continues still today
as Juliana sends 10,000 bulbs annually which is matched by the Dutch Tulip
Bulbs Growers Association. Together with other bulbs purchased, every
spring time about
1,000,000 Dutch tulips light up the city with their
colourful display. Ottawa's Tulip Festival is a major event every May
and brings in tens of thousands of tourists. |
Cold statistics don't tell the true story but do give some indication
of the extent of the suffering that was endured by the Dutch nation during
it's five year war with Germany. Among the population then of about 9.5
million people, 20,400 civilians died as a
result of the hostilities; 22,000 of malnourishment, 150,000 in
imprisonment (at the hands of their captors), 850,000 people had been
evacuated, 350,000 had been in hiding to avoid labour conscription,
300,000 Dutch D.P.'s were in Germany (of which 250,000 labourers), 500,000
had lost their homes, 1,500,000 lived in damaged homes, as well, due to
the terrible living conditions and malnourishment, there were well-founded
fears for all sorts of diseases. A fully 11% of all agricultural land bank
had been inundated and was unstable for food production, 900 bridges had
been destroyed, 50% of the trucks, waterway barges and 90% of the railway
rolling stock had been
destroyed. |
| During the war, in some ways, life went on as normal as possible under
the circumstances. My sister Hans got married to Jan in 1943 and my
brother Ton got married to Bep in 1944. There were also two new additions
during that time as Oscar and Tonneke were born during the war. And for me
personally, Guus and I got engaged on July 16, 1944 but we waited with
marrying till after the war had ended.. |
|
