Monday 11 May 2015

Freedom

The orange wasn't used that much during the war. 
But once liberation came: it was everywhere!
During the past week I have seen several documentaries, films and memorial services about the Second World War. Every time equally impressive, thought provoking and at times even scary. The diaries and letters written by Heinrich Himmler were of the latter variety. They were chilling in their 'niceness'. 

Today I saw the VE* 70 celebration on the BBC. Very impressive to see all those veterans come past. They fought for the freedom in Europe. The only problem I had was when at one point, one of the commentators stated that the British do the 'remembering' the best of all of Europe. As if it were a contest (I am writing this a bit out of context, but it marred).

Male farm labourers were not sent to Germany to work as much as other professions.
The veterans who came past were about the same age my grandparents would have been. My grandparents who lived in a 'neutral' country that had been overrun by the Germans anyway and were suffering. The winter of 1944/5 was especially hard. The Germans had taken revenge on the people of the Netherlands for the help they had given the Americans near Arnhem (Operation Market Garden, a failed operation) and had cut food rations even further. People were eating tulip bulbs to stay alive, but still a lot of people died due to hunger and cold.

My paternal grandparents lived on a farm in the North of the country and weren't so affected by the food shortages. It is in fact quite probable that hordes of people from (especially) the West would come past to get some food to survive. My maternal grandmother however, was far worse off. She was a maid and lived and worked in the house of a notary. And even though she never went hungry, she did suffer the cold. What my maternal grandfather did at that time is a mystery. We don't know whether he worked in the Netherlands or in Germany as a forced labourer as many young men from occupied countries were. Or perhaps he was hidden somewhere and/or working for the resistance. 

The millwhips were used to send out messages during the war. 
My maternal grandmother wrote me a letter for a school project in 1983. Some of you have read it before, others may be new to it, but it is certainly worth reading again. Here is the link. I wish though that I had asked more questions while my grandparents were still alive. Unfortunately I didn't and now the chance is gone (they have all passed away). 

*VE stands for Victory in Europe. VJ would be Victory Japan which happened in August 1945,  three months later.

12 comments:

  1. I was unable to go into London this weekend to follow the various memorials but did see some on the TV. There was a moving section about the starvation of people in the Netherlands and the number of people who died. I often think that without all that sacrifice from so many what would our lives be like today. Both my parents were in the armed forces.

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  2. Hari OM
    Went and read the letter. Such memories are important for our social history. We do tend to forget to ask our elders about things of their history... often till it is too late. Thankfully enough gets recorded and stored so that we can truly delve into 'the reality' - and how each individual experienced the same things differently and the different things samely...(if you get my drift)...

    I too got a bit miffed with the 'British' thing - having spent a quarter century as an Aussie I can vouch for how their remembrance and honouring of those who endured conflicts is equal to any. I guess when it comes to pomp and circumstance (pride and prejudice), nobody much can beat 'the Brits' though...YAM xx

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    1. No, when it comes to pomp and circumstance, the British do come out on top. But the pomp and circumstance isn't what remembering is about I think. Every country remembers in their own and equally valid and impressive way.

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  3. We Brits,realise only too well how fortunate we were not to have been invaded. I hope we will always remember and honour those who fought and suffered because of Nazism in Europe and the horrors in Japan.

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    1. The things that happened in Europe are quite well known, but the horrors of Japan are for most people in the Netherlands still quite unknown. Even though Indonesia was occupied while it belonged to the Netherlands. I have read some accounts, but would love to learn more about it.

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  4. It wasn't better in Germany, my grandma made potato pancakes with castor oil and my mother and aunt picked up the potatoes which the farmers left behind. In the bombed cities people starved. My uncle was 15 when he was caught by the Russians and spent 10 years in Siberia. He was 25 years old when he came home and was a wreck. And after the war it wasn't better because there was the occupation. The Russians raped the women and killed people just for fun. This war was terrible for whole Europe. The Germans had no choice, or they were for Hitler or they landed in a concentration camp. I was a baby when that happened but I still remember the occupation !

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  5. I never cared for history in school. I find it more interesting today through movies and documentaries. I too wish I had asked my grandparents more questions! Honestly people back in the day didn't like to share the hard times. They were not as open as we are today.

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  6. We Americans are pretty clueless, I think. I had no idea WWII memorials were happening this past weekend! My older daughter is going to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Skokie, Illinois this week, however. There is a large population of Jewish people in Skokie. I told her this is an important field trip because we never want to forget what happened, even though it's so terribly sad.

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  7. My mom's brothers served in Europe as did my husband's uncle. That generation did so much to stop Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese war machines.

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    1. I don't know of anybody who served during the war, mainly because I am Dutch. I have seen some of the results of the war (both number 2 and number 1) and they were gruesome. Seeing the wargraves in Normandy really makes you take a step back and think. It should be compulsary for every soldier to see those things. It would make them realise what being a soldier is about.

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  8. In my wife's family is a picture done by the Dutch Underground and given to her father.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!