On This Day in History: May 5, 1945
On May 10th, 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. And so the little country which had tried to remain neutral was thrust into the Second World War. What followed was five years of brutal occupation by the Nazis. The Dutch flag and national anthem were forbidden. Radios and bicycles were confiscated. Food was rationed and became more and more scarce. Young men were rounded up and sent to do hard labor in Germany. Jews were discriminated against, marked with a yellow Star of David badge, and finally hauled off to concentration camps where most of them were killed. That was also what happened to anyone who helped the Jews–or resisted the Nazis in any way.
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| Jews wearing the yellow Star of David badge. |
Still, some did resist. Despite the great risk to themselves, members of the Dutch Resistance movement found shelter for Jews and others in danger, stole ration cards so those in hiding could eat, blew up train tracks, cut telephone wires, liquidated Dutch traitors and Germans, and generally did everything they could to thwart the Nazis, and serve their country, the Allies, and those in need.
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| Dutch Resistance fighters. |
Some parts of the Netherlands in the south were liberated by the advancing American army and their allies in the fall of 1944. But after the failed strike at Arnhem (Operation Market Garden), the rest of the country was bypassed by the Allied armies on their push into Germany. The ensuing winter was called by the Dutch the “Hunger Winter,” because of the vast numbers of people who died of starvation in that last horrible winter of the war.
In the spring of 1945, the rest of the country was liberated at last. May 5th was the day that the German authorities over the Netherlands surrendered to the Allies and is the day that is now celebrated as Liberation Day in the Netherlands.
Hans Poley, a young man who worked in the Dutch Resistance and spent time in a concentration camp, called it “the sweetest May in our history.”
On a photo of him emerging from a hiding place under the living room floor with his family’s hidden radio, Hans wrote, “5 Mei, 1945. Vrij!!” May 5, 1945. Free!!
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| Hans Poley |
Diet Eman, in her twenties during the war, tells this story of her liberation experience. She had been staying on a farm, and she and the farm’s other inhabitants were crouched in a little space under the kitchen stairs, listening to the shelling as the Canadian troops fought the Germans, waiting for it to end. At last Diet ventured out. She writes:
I walked tentatively toward the road, and all of a sudden I couldn’t believe my eyes: as far as I could see there were tanks and tanks. The Canadians were coming from the east.
I wanted to run back to the farm and tell Uncle Ben and Tante Marie that they could come out because it was over, that their long captivity had come to an end. I wanted to scream out, “It’s over, it’s all over.”
But when I turned around, there, across a sloot and along a row of weeping willows, were three heavily armed German snipers who were covered with branches and leaves for camouflage. They were crawling in the brook, under those long weeping willow branches. They were aware that I had seen them. For me to run to the farm, of course, would put my life in danger, as well as the lives of the rest of those hiding in the house. I knew they would want to get me because I’d seen them.
So I wheeled around the other way and ran as fast as I could in the direction of those tanks coming up the road. I zigzagged in case the snipers would shoot.
I could speak English, so when I got to the front line of the tanks, I stopped them and told the man up on top that there were snipers ahead under the weeping willows.
“Where?” the soldier asked.
“Under those trees,” I said, pointing, “and they are heavily camouflaged.”
This Canadian guy immediately said, “Okay, hop on,” and he pointed to the top of the tank. So I actually hopped on that tank. The rest of the column kept going straight, but three tanks veered out, and I was riding on top of one of them. They moved terribly slowly, like elephants, as they turned off the road and up into the meadow, rolling along until they were right up to the sloot.
“There they are,” I screamed. “There they are–do you see them?”
The tanks stopped, and their big turrets aimed directly at those Germans, who had seen it all happen. Just like that, the Germans threw up their hands. There I sat on the top of one of those tanks. It was my own private triumph; I felt at that moment as if I’d actually won the war. I was so happy when they took those Germans and put one on the front of each of those tanks, like a mascot, and swung back up to the road…
That was liberation day for me. Everybody in Holland had a different memory of liberation, of the moment that spelled the end of the Occupation. For me, sitting on the top of that tank and rolling through that field to capture those three Germans in hiding—that was the day I won the war.
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| Dutch civilians greeting their liberators. |
Angelina Fast-Vlaar, who was a young girl during the occupation and liberation, writes of her experience,
Later in the afternoon while some of us were milling around in the back yard, we heard a strange rumbling sound. I’d never heard that sound before, and I’ll never forget it–a rolling rumbling that reverberated and grew louder and louder.
And then the shout, “The Canadians! The Canadians are here!”
We all ran to the canal. I saw them through spaces between houses, between the windmill and the bakery… Strange, large, dark vehicles rumbling down the highway along Damsterdiep on the other side of the big canal–one after another, a long procession of thundering vehicles carrying waving soldiers. Above the din we heard cheering, whoops, hollers, whistles, and singing. The whole town was jubilant as the cry continued, “The Canadians! The Canadians! They’re here! We’re free! We’re free!”
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| Dutch people celebrating liberation. |
The next Sunday, Angelina went to church with her family, where they sang the words of Psalm 116.
I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”
Psalm 116:1-7
Yes, there was sadness. The joy was bittersweet with the memories of what and who they had lost. But they were free.
Angelina Fast-Vlaar continues:
The dark cloud that had hung over our lives for five years was dissipating. No more curfews, no more being stopped to show your ausweis to an angry person in a green uniform. No more fear that the train you were riding in would be shot at; no more fear that your bike would be confiscated, no more young men in hiding, no more Jews being trucked away to be gassed, no more roar of bombers, and no more bombs.
Peter van Woerden, the nephew of Corrie ten Boom, describes the scene in the city of Haarlem:
Everywhere people were shouting, telling each other over and over as if to still convince ourselves that it was real–“We’re free!! We’re free!” Windows were opened. Everyone shouted to everyone else. The stranger on the street was suddenly a friend. There was no shame or fear. It was such wonderful glorious news. “We’re free! Free! FREE!”
Writing about it later, Peter van Woerden added the following words. (Since this post is part of the “Victory Celebration blog party,” it seems fitting to conclude with these thoughts on our victory in Christ!)
Now as I look back over that night it seems that a parallel can be drawn with regard to the Christian life. Today there is another proclamation of victory; it is the Good News of Salvation–victory over sin. The Allied victory obtained new years of freedom for our wartorn people. It meant a chance for new prosperity, a better life. “How long will this freedom last?” we can’t help but ask ourselves. It is an unstable peace; an insecure truce. Compare this with the victory that can be ours as Christians, as people who completely surrender their lives to Christ–the great Captain. This victory is everlasting, as history has proved. When, on that rugged hill of Calvary, the Son of God died for a lost world, he triumphed over death and Satan, obtained eternal redemption for those who believed, an immovable security and an everlasting peace. Does this victory affect us in the same way as the Allied victory? Are we as anxious to tell everyone about the wonderful message? Can we honestly say with the Apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth?”
P.S. This post is part of the Victory Celebration blog party I am co-hosting with fellow World War II historical fiction author, Phoebe Hinkle.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll probably like my World War II historical fiction book, which is inspired by true stories of the Dutch Resistance, Trains and Tulips.
And you also have a chance to win a copy of it during this blog party!
If you haven’t entered the giveaway yet, be sure to check it out! I’ve teamed up with a few other authors to offer you a bundle of Christian YA WWII historical fiction books in paperback!
Click here to enter the giveaway!
Open to residents of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Enter with your email address and earn additional entries by emailing the giveaway link to others and visiting the authors' websites!
Giveaway runs from May 1st to May 9th.
Check out my co-host, Phoebe Hinkle’s blog: blackotterbooks.com.
And the other participants in the Victory Celebration Blog Party:
Note: this is not necessarily an endorsement of everything on all of these blogs/websites!
And one more announcement! Music artist Emmi Byrd (aka Emily Brown) wrote and released a song inspired by my book Trains and Tulips! “All But Hope” is such a beautiful song which perfectly captures the message the message of this book, and I’m so excited to share it with you!
Sources:
Finding Shelter: A Child’s Memoir of WWII by Angelina Fast-Vlaar
In the Secret Place by Peter van Woerden
Things We Couldn’t Say by Diet Eman with James Schaap
Return to the Hiding Place by Hans Poley
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