- I hope I spelled for foreign name correctly, I’m sorry if I made any mistakes.
Today in Canada our military forces are under one command. We do not have a separate Arm, Navy or Air Force. During World War II, the Canadian Soldiers were called the Water Rats. My father was one of the ones who helped liberate Holland, in May of 1945.
When we went to the Netherlands two years ago, we went a day early. I had our Travel Agent arrange for a private tour for us. The tour cost us $150.00 CAD, for the day. She arranged the tour with the Insite Vacations Tour Company, that we were using to tour the Netherlands. I have no idea if we saved money or not, but from past experiences it seemed fair.
Our Guide was our driver and we were picked up at the Sofitel Hotel, in Amsterdam.
My father was a Sargent Major, in the forth Canadian Armored Division, and he was there when the Vught Concentration Camp was liberated. This camp was like Mauthausen, that was a work camp at first, and as the Allies starting winning the war, people in the concentration camps, were moved, away from the advancing allies.
After seeing Mauthausen, I vowed that I could not cope with seeing another camp. Vows are easily broken when your husband tells you, during our trip to Holland, he wanted to see the camp and the two Canadian Cemeteries.
We went to see the camp first. We could see the Em River and the hills. I could imagine how the Soldiers, and the Tanks coming over the hill. My father told me that the Nazi’s had left, and they fought the rear guards, who were standing on the wall.
Today this camp is a museum, that is in Vught, the Netherlands. We went thought the Museum and saw the pictures of the 56 barracks, pictures of the SS men who ran the camp, and the property that had been taken from them.
As we entered the camp there was a large area. Our Guide told us that 500 people had been murdered that morning, and the Canadians found their bodies heaped in a pile, near the front gates.
This camp was once two camps, (divided by barbed wire, on both sides of a small canal), the Judendurchgangslager, (for the Jewish prisoners), and the Schutzhaftlager, (where the Belgian and Dutch prisoners were worked to death).
Most of the Jews stayed there for a few days, until they were transferred to the Concentration Camps. Most of the inmates were the political prisoners, worked until they could were to weak to work any more, and then they were executed, near the camp.
She told us that Guards all belonged to the S.S., and they were very cruel. They had their guard dogs attack the people, beat them until they died or made them stand nude, while they wrapped barbed wire around them.
We saw the crematorium, the barracks, the gallows and the train station.
Like all camps the food was rationed, and they had one meal a day, (a watery soup made from the skin of carrots or potatoes with some cabbage in it.
My father told me that when he arrived the 600 inmates looked like dead people walking. They weren’t inside the barracks, but waiting in the courtyard.
There is no entrance fee. Today most of the camp in a Prison.
Today Vught is a pretty town, with a few industries, and some cafes, shops and hotels.
We had a quick lunch at the Café De Klok. They make a great Pannekoeken (Dutch Pancakes). My husbands ordered the banana one, covered in whipped cream. I like the savor ones, so I ordered a granola one.
I don’t know if you know that during World War II, military, who died were buried in the country that they died.
One cemetery is near Holten. There are two guard houses, with a gate between them and a small brick wall surrounding the cemetery. You walk up six stair to reach the walkways. Around the cemetery is a lot of bushes and trees. There are a lot of plots that are separate by grass. There is a very tall cross, that is on top of the memorial. This cemetery opened just before we arrived in Holland. They Dutch found the graves, of all the Canadians, that were buried across the Netherlands and brought them here.
The other cemetery is the <b?Groesbeek Cemetery, (is about 10 kilometers from the town of Nijegen). The Canadians who died in the Battle of the Rhineland are buried here. There is no walls around this cemetery and it is surrounded by open fields. There is the same huge cross.
At both camps the religion of the person who died was put on the head stone, (a cross for Christians and a Star or David for Jews). We each put a red rose, (for the blood that was shed), on the memorials.
We were told that every May 5th, Dutch celebrated their liberation by laying wreaths under the huge cross.
I read in our local paper that this year our Canadian Ambassador will accompany, Adrien Clarkson, (the Governor General of Canada), will lay wreaths at both cemeteries. I think that this is great, because she is a Japanese Canadian, (who was sent to an internment camp, during the war).
This review is dedicated to my father, the Canadians, and all of the other people who died during World War II.
If you would like to read more about Canada’s military, during WW II the link is:
https://islandnet.com/~jveinot/cghl/military.html
My husband lost two relatives who fought in WWII and I lost a few in the Camps. Everyone should visit one of these places in Europe.
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2005