Liberation

The Dutch in Wartime, Survivors Remember

Anne van Arragon Hutten, Arragon Hutten

• Publisher: Mokeham
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780991998104
• eBook ISBN: 9781777439644
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

The Dutch in Wartime, Survivors Remember is a series of books containing the wartime memories of Dutch immigrants to Canada and the USA, who lived through the occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.Liberation, the ninth and last book in the series contains memories of the final months of the war and the liberation of the country. The Dutch are starving. As battles rage around them they desperately await relief from famine and tyranny. When Allied troops enter the towns and villages of the plundered country, euphoria sets in, only to be tempered by the full realization of the terrible losses suffered.

Contributors

Christina M. Sobole van der Kroon lives in Las Vegas, Nevada

Gerry Bijwaard was eight when the war began, living in Woerden. He moved to Australia in 1953, and to the USA in 1956. He was drafted into the army, got his engineering degree and worked for GE in Schenectady, New York, while earning his Master’s degree. He and his wife, Patricia, live in Virginia.

Anthonia Huysman-Bamberg was seven years old at the beginning of the war, and lived in Groningen. She came to the USA with her parents in 1948. She has a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren, and lives in Buena Park, California.

Johanna Oostra was born in Scheveningen in 1933, and spent the war in The Hague. Seven years after the war she and her new husband, Peter, emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa. In 1961 they moved to the USA.

Petronella Vanderdonk was born in Culemborg. She married a Canadian soldier and settled in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. After being widowed twice she returned to her maiden name. Petronella still lives in Yarmouth.

Ann Mons Veldhuis grew up in Zutphen. She was five when her father died in 1941, after which the family (mother and three children) moved in with her maternal grandfather, near the IJssel River. She now lives near Victoria, British Columbia.

Johanna VandenBroek was born in Westerbeek, in 1926. She came to Canada in 1955 with her husband, Martin. They live in Cardigan, Prince Edward Island, where she and her husband raised ten children. In 2005 she published a book about the war, ‘When the Green Letter Comes Over’.

Ben Wind was born in 1933 in Winterswijk, but a year later the family moved to Dinxperlo. He came to Canada in 1952 and worked as a typewriter technician, later setting up his own business. Ben and his wife live in Vancouver, British, Columbia.

Bill de Groot was born in Bussum, where his family spent the war. He came to the USA in 1964, and worked as a professional and registered Mechanical Engineer. He and his wife, Lisette, have two daughters and one son. They live in Asheville, North Carolina.

Cornelia Gilbert was born in The Hague in 1939, and came to Canada with her parents and younger sister in 1957. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Christine Dodenbier was born in Amsterdam but lived in Ede when the war began. She was eleven years old at the time. In 1951 she followed her fiancé to Salt Lake City where they initially settled. Later she moved to Ogden, Utah, where she still lives.

Cor Feenstra was born in Rotterdam in 1923. He spent time in five different concentration camps during the last year of the war before being liberated. In 1956 he left for the USA with his wife and two children. He worked for 31 years in Jamestown, New York as an electrician. When he retired in 1985 they moved to Florida. His wife died in 2003. Cor now lives in Kihei, Hawaii.

Elsa Abma was born in 1930 in Hillegersberg, a suburb of Rotterdam. Her family moved to Velp, near Arnhem. She met her husband in 1955 when he was on a visit to Holland after having previously emigrated to the USA. She followed him to Oregon five months later. They have four children.

Frans Dullemond was born in Delft in 1936. His family moved to the Achterhoek region in 1944. Frans came to Canada with his wife and two children in 1980, where he initially settled in Richmond, British Columbia. He now lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

George Hansman was twelve when the war began, living in Amsterdam. He came to Canada with his wife and two children in 1949, settling in Dauphin, Manitoba for three years where he worked as a mechanical engineer with the Canadian National Railway. They moved around in both Canada and South America over the years. He now lives in Stevensville, Ontario.

Henny Merkley grew up in Zuidwolde. She married a Canadian soldier in 1945 and followed him to Canada the following year. Her parents followed them two years later. Henny and Ken had three children. Henny lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Klaas Korver was born on the island of Texel in 1934. He and his wife Nel came to Canada in 1965 with two children, and had another one later. Klaas worked in technical engineering. He and Nel live in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario.

Enno Reckendorf was born in 1930. He sent in his story from Hertford, North Carolina.

Hans ten Bruggenkate and his family lived in Ruurlo, Gelderland, when it was liberated on April 1, 1945. He now lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Hidde Yedema was born in Witmarsum in 1935 but grew up in Makkum, another Frisian town. He and his new wife, Nelly Bottema, came to Canada in March 1950. Their five children grew up in Cornwall, Ontario, where Hidde ran a bakery. Nelly died in 2000, and Hidde now lives in Laval, Québec with his second wife, Louise.

Henry Niezen grew up in Zwolle, Overijssel. The war started when he was sixteen. He came to Canada in 1951 with his wife. They had four children in different towns, since Henry worked in construction and moved all around British Columbia. Henry lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Jacoba Bessey lived in Haarlem when the war began, one of four girls. Her brother Hans was born in 1941. She now lives in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Jenny Blad was born in the city of Groningen in 1937 as the oldest of six. She came to Canada in 1958 with her new husband and three words of English. She now lives in Westbank, British Columbia.

Joe Verstappen was born in St. Oedenrode. He came to Canada with his wife in 1952. They successively lived in northern Ontario, California, and Grants Pass, Oregon, where they still live. Joe always worked as a tailor and still has customers at age 82. He and his wife have two daughters, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

John Keulen was born near Chicago in 1931 to Dutch immigrants. They returned to The Netherlands when John was two years old, settling in the Frisian village of Bakhuizen. In 1948 they returned to the United States with John and his brother.

Nelia Barnfield was two years old at the beginning of the war. Her family lived in Enschede then, but moved to Leiden in 1941. She now lives in Victoria, BC.

Nina Reitsma-de Groot was born in 1942 in the city of Groningen. She and her husband came to the USA in 1967 for his studies, then spent two years in England before coming to Winnipeg, Canada in 1979. They have three sons and seven grandchildren, and have lived in Windsor, Ontario since 1986.

Lisette de Groot was born in the Dutch East Indies. When she was three her mother died and she we...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Historical background
• Song of the eighteen dead
• I simply can’t forget
• My autograph album
• Our eyes were big
• Angels of mercy
• We pressed our bodies against the wall
• Captain Hill
• To Switzerland
• Liberation of a Frisian farm
• No resistance against disease
• We sang the national anthem
• Liberated from hell on earth
• My birthday in the basement
• Restoring vehicles
• Life and death on Liberation Day
• No more getting up at night
• Georgian uprising on Texel
• Memories of the Liberation of Ommen
• Watching the English army
• Not a pretty sight
• My identification card was burned
• The Germans knew they were losing the war
• My sister was a war bride
• They gave us back our freedom
• They retreated on their bicycles
• The farm had no tap water
• My mother’s clivia plant
• Five days in the cellar
• My mother sat down and cried
• Impetigo and lice
• We looked after Corrie
• The farmers came out with shovels
• There I stood in my underwear, waving
• Eating paper
• My Canadian soldier
• From war to war
• Who was that liberator?
• Canned milk
• Liberation of Gorinchem
• I met my husband in Breda
• How we got home after the war
• Ruins
• Tending the war cemeteries
• Afterword
• Contributors