Tag: Never Forget

Posted on

May 5, 1945

Unknown Soldier Cross. Photo by Visserp (2013). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
Unknown Soldier Cross. Photo by Visserp (2013). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

Posting this blog on the fifth of each May has become a tradition for me.

Liberation Day (also known as Freedom Day) for the Netherlands (Holland) was 5 May 1945. Canadian forces along with other Allied forces were able to obtain the surrender of German forces in the small Dutch town of Wageningen. This led to the complete surrender and liberation of the country.

Thank You

We’d like to thank everyone who contacts us regarding our blogs. We get correspondence saying how much they like the blogs as well as the occasional e-mails pointing out errors. Both of these are very much appreciated. We’ve made friends with other authors from around the world. We stay in contact with people who run non-profit organizations dedicated to various causes—typically those associated with one or more of our topics. So, keep those e-mails coming!

Netherlands American Cemetery (Margraten)

There is a cemetery near Maastricht. It is the final resting spot for 8,301 American soldiers and a memorial for 1,722 men missing in action. They were the casualties of Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) and other battles aimed at liberating Holland. Operation Market Garden was a failed Allied attempt to liberate Holland while on their march to Germany and Berlin. Other military cemeteries are located nearby for the British and Canadian men who did not survive the battle. Learn more about Operation Market Garden here.

American World War II Cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands. Photo by Kees Verburg (2014). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
American World War II Cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands. Photo by Kees Verburg (2014). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

Individual Dutch families have adopted every man who perished in the battle. Each man’s grave is kept up and decorated by their adopted family. Even a portrait of their adopted soldier sits in their respective homes. Read More May 5, 1945

Posted on

The French Anne Frank

As a young boy growing up in Holland during the mid-1960s, I was introduced to Anne Frank and her tragic story. We were required to read her diary as well as attending the all-day field trip to the “Anne Frank House” in Amsterdam where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis until they were betrayed and deported ⏤ only her father survived.

There is a similar story in France, but it did not become known until 2008 when another diary was published, and the world got a first-hand glimpse into Nazi atrocities. The author, Hélène Berr, has since become known as the “French Anne Frank.”

Hélène Berr shortly before her arrest and deportation. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944).
Hélène Berr shortly before her arrest and deportation. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944).

Did You Know?

Do you know how the term “Nazi” came about? Hitler’s political party was officially called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei:

NAtionalsoZIalistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.

The German word “Reich” means “empire.” The first German Reich lasted 844 years and was commonly known as the Holy Roman Empire until it was dismantled by Napoléon in 1806. The second Reich lasted approximately 48 years between 1871 and the end of World War I. Hitler’s Third Reich lasted twelve years with horrifying consequences which unfortunately, some aspects have endured to this day.

Hélène Berr (1921-1945) was born into an upper middle-class French family. In addition to Hélène, Raymond and Antoinette Berr’s family consisted of Jacqueline (1915-1921), Yvonne (1917-2001), Denise (1919-2011) and Jacques (1922-1998). The family lived in Paris at 5, avenue Elisée-Reclus until the French police knocked on their door in March 1944.

Hélène began her diary on 7 April 1942. She ceased writing seven months later on 28 November 1942 but resumed once again on 25 August 1943. There are many entries which document the actions and events perpetrated by Vichy and the Nazis in Paris and France. Reading her diary, you will confront Hélène’s emotions towards the policies of Vichy and the Nazis as well as personal issues. Unlike Anne Frank, we won’t hear from Hélène until 2008 when her diary is published. Read More The French Anne Frank