01x07 - The battle of the Scheldt and Texel

[bunniefuu]

[somber music plays]

♪ The bright horses have broken free
From the fields ♪

♪ They are horses of love
Their manes full of fire ♪

♪ They are parting the cities
Those bright burning horses ♪

♪ And everyone is hiding
And no one makes a sound ♪

♪ And I'm by your side
And I'm holding your hand ♪

[waves crashing]

[omnious music plays]

[man, in German] Telegram from Hitler's
Headquarters, September 4th, 1944.

"Top secret. Commander's orders:

Due to the breakthrough of enemy armored
forces in the direction of Antwerp,

it is now very important
for the further progress of the w*r

to strengthen the fortifications
in Boulogne and Dunkirk,

the defenses in the Calais area,

on the island of Walcheren
with the port of Vlissingen,

the bridgehead in Antwerp

and to hold the position
on the Albert Canal to Maastricht."

[Bart] The Germans knew the Allied forces
needed harbors,

so they fortified the harbors
of the French coast

and did everything they could
to keep them out of the enemy's hands.

Antwerp became very important
to the Allied forces.

They needed a big harbor
to keep the w*r on track,

to import new armored vehicles,
weapons, gear

and naturally, millions of gallons of oil.

That's why the British Army
rushed to Antwerp

and thanks to the Belgian resistance,

they got a harbor without bloodshed.

But there was a hitch,

a big one, between the Antwerp Harbour
and the North Sea,

there was a 75-kilometer long estuary,
controlled and mined by the German Army.

Naval commander Admiral Ramsey

advised to give this river Scheldt
major priority,

but it fell on deaf ears.

Eisenhower and Montgomery had other plans.

They wanted to get
across the Rhine to finish the job.

They were sure that the Germans
were already defeated

and they wanted a home run
before Christmas.

[piano music plays]

My name is Bella Hay and I am a DJ
and TV show host from the Netherlands

and my direct link to the w*r
is my grandmother,

who was a Jewish Holocaust survivor.

She was born in 1922 in Indonesia

and moved to the Netherlands
somewhere around 1939.

She was picked up
during a raid by the Nazis

and brought to a concentration camp
called Westerbork.

Inside of the camp,

she married a Jewish refugee from Germany
who was there since 1940.

If you were inside
of the camp from that early on,

you would get a job
and that was the only way to survive

and not get sent off to Auschwitz.

Because of the marriage,

she also got a job inside of the camp
and this way she survived the w*r.

In total, 107,000 Dutch jews
were deported,

one hundred and two thousand
of which were m*rder*d.

The Germans were dug in
on the north

and south of the Scheldt
and on the island of Walcheren.

They also held the north of Antwerp,

not only to keep logistic lines open,
but also as a potential way out.

If they could keep hold of those areas,

the Antwerp Harbour
would be useless to the Allies.

[woman, in Dutch]
Diary of JW Oort,

mother of four children,
Monday 4th of September.

"Reports about the conquest
of Antwerp, Ghent and Maastricht.

Could it be true?
But then they will be here soon as well.

Germans move up and down the streets
in cars or wagons or on bicycles.

Everything looks run-down and chaotic."

[somber music plays]

[Bella] The news in Rotterdam
was that the Allies were at Moerdijk.

In Amsterdam,
they even went as far as saying

they were already in Rotterdam
and the Hague.

The rumors only intensified
when a British radio message

confirmed the liberation of Breda.

People got ready to meet their liberators

and cheerfully hung the streets
with orange flags and banners.

This made the Germans
and NSB members nervous enough

to start burning paper files
and many of them fled.

The Dutch remembered this day
as Crazy Tuesday.

[woman, in Dutch] Diary of Adriana
Cornelis-Luteijn, September 6th, 1944.

"Adrie says:

'I'm also going to hide my Flying
Dutchman, otherwise they'll take it too.'

In the evening they report
that they are in Ghent.

The were already spotted in Aardenburg
in the afternoon, but they lied.

Another night without sleep.

I forgot an interlude from yesterday.

Marie shouts: 'Father, they need you.'

Zeger quickly runs to the toilet.
Piet in is the coal shed.

Shots are fired in the street.

Standing in the small kitchen,
we peek through the windows at the street.

A soldier comes in
and asks where the boss is.

Of course I say:
'He's on the fields, until half past six.'

He leaves immediately."

[airplane engine roaring]

[explosions]

[Bella] From September 11th onwards,
the people of Zeeland suffered heavy

and repeated aerial bombardments,
starting with the bombardment

and destruction of the harbor
of Breskens, their main target.

The Allies hit more civilian houses
than they wanted to, to reach their goal.

[g*n fire]

[man, in Dutch]
Dairy of Daan Castel, September 1944.

"Period 10 until 17 September. Tuesday.
A heavy bombardment on Breskens.

I'm watching this from our roof. Ramp 66.

September 17 until 24:

bombing of bunkers and g*n emplacements
between Koudekerke and Biggekerke,

during which Biggekerke
is heavily ravaged.

Also bombs in home town Vlissingen.

Airborne army at Elst,
according to rumors defeated,

about 6,000 men eliminated.

Breskens bombed again.
Air raid sirens several times a day.

Pamphlets, bombing raids
and rumblings from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen."

[Bella] After the capture of Antwerp,

the Allies did not immediately
advance west.

This created the opportunity
for the Germans

to get their troops out
of there using the Western Scheldt.

They took hold of numerous ships,

one of them being the 35-meter-long ship
"De Onderneming".

On Tuesday, September 12th, De Onderneming
sails out with 55 German soldiers,

most of them ill or injured in battle.

As soon as they are on course,

a German officer decides he wants to be
behind the wheel of the ship.

Steersman Kees Hout hands over the helm,

a decision he'll be
very happy with in the future.

He takes the opportunity
to head over to the front deck.

Suddenly Allied airplanes
fly over and target the ship.

It's hit by three direct impacts,
causing it to break in two.

De Onderneming starts to sink.

Kees Hout got himself to safety
by swimming to the nearest gas buoy.

From there, he sees soldiers drowning

and gruesomely being
crushed by the rotating propeller.

[ominous music plays]

On September 27th, Peter de Winde,

took a rubber boat up the Western Scheldt,
one kilometer east of Hoofdplaat.

He had a simple goal:
Paddle to the liberated Terneuzen,

but when his boat started to leak
on the way there,

he had to swim the remaining six-kilometer
distance during nighttime.

[muffled water]

[Bella] The exhausted Peter de Winde
came ashore

in Terneuzen in the early morning
of September 28th,

and was brought
to the Canadian headquarters in Eeklo.

Here he pointed out Oostburg
as the headquarters

of the 64th German Infantry Division.

Oostburg's water tower
became an important Allied target.

On October 2nd,
the Canadians attacked north of Antwerp

in an attempt to cut off
the Beveland isthmus near Woensdrecht.

Although the Germans put up
a fierce defense,

they could not prevent
the Canadian advance.

Putte was liberated on October 5th
and Ossendrecht followed on the 6th.

But the Germans recognized the danger
of Beveland and Walcheren being cut off.

They moved a strong German battle group
called Kampfgruppe Chill to the west

in order to defend the Woensdrecht area.

On the 7th, the battle around
Woensdrecht and Hoogerheide

started a period of intense
and bitter fighting

in and around these villages.

Attack and counterattack followed
each other up during the next ten days.

[g*n fire]

[people chattering]

[woman, in Dutch] Diary of Marie
Almekinders, October 12th, 1944.

"A lot of sh**ting at night.
I'm very scared.

I'm a nervous wreck.

We are all very depressed.

We got a bottle of booze from the cellar,
to calm our nerves.

It helps to calm us and warm us up a bit.

Had cooked a pan of porridge,
but it fell over in the shelter.

To add insult to injury.

We hear a lot of grenades go off
around the house.

We can't get
to Mother and Corrie anymore."

[Bella] The Allies considered Walcheren

as having some of the strongest defenses
in the world.

It had both seaward dikes
and the dikes facing the Scheldt.

From September onwards,

Walcheren and its defenses had been bombed
by the Allies numerous times.

After the Canadians captured Breskens,

the a*tillery was pointed
in Walcheren's direction

to prepare for seaborne landings
at Westkapelle and Vlissingen.

[woman, in Dutch] Diary of Janke Terwal,
Wednesday 4th of October.

"The bombing in Westkapelle turned
out very differently than we thought.

A large hole of 40 meters
has been blown in the dike

and 100 meters of the dike is destroyed.

The water flows into Walcheren.

Many people have drowned.


Most of them died
in the cellars and shelters"

A fleet of airplanes bombed this area,

causing people to flee into the basement
of the mill to protect themselves.

After a direct hit,
the Theune mill collapsed,

which k*lled many instantly.

When the collapse of the mill
caused the exit to be blocked,

a horrifying story unfolds itself.

High tide came up
and wasn't stopped by the dikes

and the water inside of the mill
started to rise slowly.

When the people tasted the salt,
they knew it had to be seawater.

Only three people survived.

Joost Janisse and his 11-month-old baby
and Jo Theune.

The other 44 people inside
of the mill drowned.

[violin music plays]

[woman, in Dutch] Diary of Marie Verhage,
October 5th, 1944.

"Yesterday, the High Command of the
German Wehrmacht made the decision

that all men aged between 15 and 60 had
to report to the town hall at one o'clock

to build a dike for Meliskerke,
to stop the water.

Of course that's not right.

So nobody showed up.
How will this develop?

Today was not without tensions either.

This afternoon a second call
for men to come.

But also the last one,
otherwise it will be considered sabotage.

And still no one came.

Men from the food suppliers, fire brigade
or air defense could request an exemption.

These had to be stamped
by the German Ortscommander.

There were about 50 men.

While they were waiting, a truck came.

They all got in
and were taken to Meliskerke.

There they had to start digging a dike.

What happened to the men who didn't come?
Bad things.

On every corner of the street
two officers were stationed

and every man who walked
on the street was picked up.

[somber music plays]

[piano tone]

[Bella] Early in the morning
of October 6th,

twenty-seven flame-throwing vehicles
called Wasps,

swept the enemy side of the canal
near Strooibrug with flames.

Making use of this cover,

the Canadian Infantry crossed
the canal in boats.

The German defense reacted,

keeping the Canadians pinned down
in two small and separate bridgeheads.

[man, in Dutch] Diary of teacher Bareman,
Saturday October 7th, 1944.

"Very busy night. Continuous sh**ting
and projectiles in the air.

Every now and then
also airplanes in the sky.

Home at six.

a*tillery shelling in the dunes
in the morning.

You could hear projectiles whizzing in
the air and see them smash into the dunes.

Always a plane above it.

In the afternoon 100 bombers flew by.

Canadians have crossed the canal between
Bruges and Eeclo with storm boats."

[Bella] The landing was a complete
surprise and not foreseen by the Germans,

so the Canadians
hardly met any opposition.

With the covering help of smoke,

more troops were ferried in
from Terneuzen.

The Germans desperately tried to seal off
this bridgehead

and push the Canadians back.

[man, in Dutch]
Diary of Wim den Hollander, a firefighter.

"Monday, October 9th.

Searched all day in the rubble
for possessions of the Joosse family.

Found their Dog Maxie
with his body half crushed.

Found many letters, photos, etcetera.

Also some food.

Emptied the cellar with uncle Dierendonck
and brought everything to Hoogstraat.

Hans spent his entire days at Westkapelle
collecting corpses.

Found 18 bodies that day.

Landing of the Brits in the Braakman."

[upbeat music plays]

[audiofile in lady's voice]
Today we have to admit

that no happiness can be expected
in this world

if those who are solely responsible

for the present situation
are not definitely…

[Bella] On Friday, October 13th,

the Black Watch of Canada
attacked over the open area.

But the response was powerful.

German fire forced the Canadians
to withdraw and come sundown,

the Black Watch
had suffered 183 casualties,

fifty-six of which were fatal.

The Canadians remember
this day as "Black Friday".

[piano music plays]

[woman, in Dutch] Diary of Marie
Almekinders, October 13th, 1944.

"Around five o'clock in the evening
we are being shot at from all sides.

It's horrific.

At about 5:15 pm the house catches fire
and we can't save anything.

The cow burned alive.

The dogs and chickens also burn.

We want to flee immediately,
but are not allowed,

because the positions in the dike
are taken by the Canadians.

Some 15 or 20 minutes later
we're suddenly Canadian."

[Bella] By midafternoon of October 21st,
Breskens was in Canadian hands,

with the exception
of Fort Frederik Hendrik on the outskirts.

It would take until the night of the 24th

before the Canadians
captured the Germans in the Fort.

Slowly but surely, the Germans
were pushed back towards Cadzand.

-[piano music plays]
-[explosions]

[Bella] The Germans were pushed
back towards Zeebrugge.

But on November 2nd, 1944,
Zeebrugge was captured by the Canadians.

The Breskens pocket
had finally been cleared.

On the north shore of the Scheldt,
the Second Canadian Infantry Division

started to attack west onto
the South-Beveland peninsula,

in an attempt to break
the German resistance.

They were halted by German anti-tank g*ns.

[piano music plays]

[Bella] In the early hours
of October 26th,

British troops sailed from Terneuzen
and landed near Hoedekenskerke.

With the British
being just behind the Germans,

their opposition melted away
as they pulled back onto Walcheren.

[heavy g*n fire]

-[piano music plays]
-[g*n fire continues]

[Bella] The Sloedam,

a straight line of about a kilometer long
and 35-meters wide.

There were some young trees
and slit trenches ducked by the Germans.

On each sides of the dam
there were heaps of mud

which made it impossible to cross
using any vehicle, not even by foot.

To top things off,

the Germans had fortified positions
on the Western side of the dam

and created a deep crater filled
with water on the main road.

Clearly, they were still too
well organized to enforce a breakthrough.

[male reader 1]
Diary by Sergeant McKinnon

from the Glasgow Highlanders.

"A wounded officer, Lieutenant Donaldson,
ordered to pull back,

securing the casualties
to a safer position.

I manned Private Hogg's Bren g*n
on the right

and together with Private Scullion,

we jointly provided cover fire
until withdrawal was completed.

Heavy mortar fire prevailed.

I recall having a thump on my head.

Temporarily stunned.

Several days later
discovered a hole in my helmet."

The British were forced
to change their plans

and decided on a different approach.

On November 3rd, they landed their troops
a few kilometers south of the dam

in the middle of the night.

When the Germans finally caught up to
what was happening,

it was already too late.

On the other side of the peninsula,
a couple of days earlier on November 1st,

the seaborne attack on Walcheren
had started.

Sailing from Breskens
with a British number commando,

they crossed the Scheldt
and landed at Vlissingen.

[piano music plays]

[man, in Dutch] Diary of A. Janse.
Wednesday, Nov 1st.

"In the morning we were awakened
by the whistle of low flying grenades.

The sky was cloudy
and there blew a cold westerly wind.

About half past eight
some schoolboys stood in the street

who claimed that there were many ships
on the sea.

We climbed on the roof near Adriaanse
and while more shells flew over

and exploded close by,

we did indeed see a number of ships
near Westkapelle.

One of them was very big.

It later turned out to be the 'Warspite',
one of the largest English battleships.

We saw the Germans troops
in Domburg firing continuously.

We even saw one ship sink.

They didn't come any closer,
they seemed to hesitate.

Our nerves were almost unbearable.

Many had fled to the German bunkers,
but we were still far away.

They were so packed
that you almost couldn't breathe there.

Later, only women and children
were allowed in.

What would it be like if a fight broke out
and if the flamethrowers were used?

And Krauts helping us against
the English? That didn't feel right."

[man, in Dutch] Diary of Daan Castel.
November 1st, 1944.

"Flushing was a mess.

The streets were full of rubble,
glass, electric wires, etcetera.

But the Allies had a foothold.

In our house: half the ceiling gone,
front door and stairwell almost ruined.

At that moment a so-called Tommy
came from the Scherminkelstraat

around the corner of the Noordstraat.

We cheered loudly and ran over to him.

He turned out to be the former inspector
of our local police, Mr. Nahuis,

now a three-star captain
with the Dutch army."

[Bella] Four hours after the landing
at Vlissingen

the seaborne as*ault
on Westkapelle started.

This attack was carried out
by the 4th Special Service Brigade

which consisted of British Royal Marines
and Norwegian,

Belgian and Dutch commando troops.

When they landed at Westkapelle,

the Germans answered
with heavy usage of coastal g*ns.

The troops went in using the close support
of British naval vessels.

This included HMS Warspite,

monitors Erebus and Roberts
and smaller naval vessels,

fighting the Germans close to shore.

By distracting them this way,

the landing craft was able to sail
to shore.

Once they set foot on Westkapelle,

the Allies fought their way north
and southwards

attacking and neutralizing
the German positions one by one.

Westkapelle was conquered that day.

The southern attack force
met with the British

at Vlissingen the day after the landing.

[man,in Dutch]
Diary of A. Janse, from a bunker.

"November 2nd.
The Krauts weren't Krauts anymore.

The were totally different
and gave us a warm welcome.

We got hot coffee, crackers
and cigarettes. As much as we wanted.

We were also told
that the bunker was very safe.

The soldiers were very upbeat.

Apart from one guy, they were all happy
that the w*r was almost over for them.

They didn't want to fight.

Hitler was an enemy of Germany.

The German people had suffered greatly.
How these things go sometimes…

I went into the bunker and shouted:
'They're here.'

The Kraust shook our hands

and went up the long stairs with
their hands up, towards that one soldier.

Downstairs I shook the soldier's hand,
but couldn't say a word.

Those Krauts with their hands up.
You'll never forget that."

[man,in German]
Diary of Joost Kirchhoff.

"The evening of November 1st, 1944.

A small troop of soldiers marched
from Flushing to Koudekerke.

Besides me,
others have been sent on the march,

with special orders
and probably also different goals.

There are two girls.

Dutch women who worked
in the sea commander's department.

They don't want to stay in Flushing
any longer, and they are free to leave."

[man, in Dutch]
Letter from Frits Vaandrager to his wife

on November 4th, 1944.

From the commander of the bunker
in which we awaited the liberation

I got his binoculars,
before he went into captivity.

Very nice, isn't it?

I had spent a lot of time with him.

You get to know each other quickly
under those circumstances.

I also got his briefcase.

It was funny, how they suddenly
sold off all of their belongings.

And now they are gone."

[ominous music plays]

[man, in Dutch] Diary of Wim den
Hollander. Monday, November 6th.

"At the fire station in the St. Janstraat

me and three other men
had to go to the Molenwater

to dig out and collect a barrel of petrol.

While we were digging in that little park,

something strange happened on the corner
of Molenwater and Noord-Bolwerk.

A bunch of German soldiers
came out of the corner house,

armed with r*fles, helmets
and ammunition bags, etetera.

In short, in combat gear.

Outside on the sidewalk was a woman
who lived on the Noord-Bolwerk.

She was very popular with the Germans.

She was called
the 'mother' of the soldiers.

Deeply upset, she bade farewell to every
soldier who appeared on the doorstep.

She wiped the tears from her face."

The Rialton family from Tolworth, Surrey
were never able to afford a dog.

But on June 14th,
their seven-year-old son, Barry,

saw his dreams come true.

His father had bought him
a German Shepherd puppy

and the kid named the dog Khan.

In 1942, the British government
spread a call for dogs

to help with the w*r efforts.

The Railton family offered
their pet German Shepherd for service.

Khan got accepted
into the w*r Dog's training school

and was now known as w*r Dog 147.

Khan joined
the Sixth Battalion Cameronians

and was teamed up with his handler,
Lance Corporal Jimmy Muldoon.

Jimmy and Khan went into w*r together
and became inseparable.

The ultimate proof of their bond
was given during a landing craft as*ault

on Walcheren island
in the night of November 4th.

Their boat capsized
after being shelled by mortars.

While Kahn had already swam the land,

Jimmy Muldoon called out for his partner
in a panic as he could not swim.

Khan dove back
into the water without hesitation.

Jimmy managed to grab the dog's harness
and Khan pulled him back to shore.

Here they were found hours later.

Khan had laid down on his companion

in the cold November night
to keep him warm.

The dog didn't leave Jimmy's sight,
not even in the hospital.

The scene was witnessed
by other unit members

who called for Khan's heroism
to be formally recognized.

The newly-promoted Rifleman Khan
received a PDSA Dickin Medal

for his bravery
from the Battalion Commander

before an honorary parade
on March 27th, 1945.

The citation read:

"For rescuing Lieutenant Corporal Muldoon
from drowning under heavy shell fire

at the as*ault of Walcheren, November '44
while serving with the 6th Cameronians."

Rifleman Khan returned to
the Railton family after the w*r.

In July of 1947, Khan was invited to March
in the National Dog Tournament.

Barry Railton asked Jimmy Muldoon
to attend the event.

When Khan and Jimmy were together
for the first time in over two years,

it was plain for all to see
just how close their bond was.

The Railton family agreed that Khan should
return to Scotland to live with Jimmy.

[man, in German] Diary of
the German soldier Joost Kirchhoff.

November 7th, 1944.

Next evening or the evening after that
a truck takes us to Veere,

a small port
on the north-eastern shore of Walcheren.

There an inland cargo ship
is ready to leave for Zieriksee.

The skipper is right:
one more seafarer on board can't hurt.

So we go on board: Xenia, Yvonne and I.

The ship casts off.
Walcheren is behind us."

[man, in Dutch]
Letter from Frits Vaandrager to his wife.

November 12th, 1944.

"Yesterday afternoon the 'naughty girls'
were shorn in public on a wagon.

Three daughters of the mayor
and one of Stoffel's sisters.

You do not know the others,
except for a daughter of Jan Pleyte.

The pastor tried to stop it.

But that didn't work, of course.

I was at Biggekerke at the time.

It must have been a medieval scene,
such a public penalization."

[explosions]

[Bella] The minesweeping started
on November 4th

and was completed by the 26th.

During this operation,


Two days later on November 28th,
the first convoy arrived in Antwerp,

eighty-five days after Antwerp
had been liberated.

[male reader 2] Carlton Lockwood
wrote on November 30th, 1944

a letter to his former school teacher.

"Dear Mrs. Addison,

just a note to let you know
that I received the Christmas parcel

you so kindly sent.

I received it in plenty of time
and in very good shape.

I want you to know
that I appreciate it very much

and to thank you for your time and bother.

At present, I am stationed
somewhere in Holland.

It is unfortunate that such
a pretty country

has had to face the destruction of w*r,

but next year I hope the Dutch people
will be able to celebrate Christmas

with us as free people again."

[male reader 3] Bill Sparks wrote
to the same teacher on December 23rd.

"Dear Mrs. Addison,

Holland is not near as nice
a country as Belgium or France.

The people are really in need.
The Germans have robbed the country.

It is very sad to see
so many undernourished

and poorly dressed children.

The Germans sure have a lot
to answer for when this mess is over.

Tomorrow, December 24th,
we are having a kiddies party.

We sure will have a lot of fun trying
to make them understand our language.

We expect 150 to 175 kids,

so I guess we will be kept busy
all afternoon.

Have presents and candies for all.

Most of the kiddies have not seen
a chocolate bar

for at least four or five years
until we came.

Now everyone you see asks for chocolate."

[Bella] Between September 4th
and November 28 of '44,

almost 10,000 people had lost their lives,

three thousand two hundred and thirty-one
Allied soldiers,

four thousand two hundred and fifty
German soldiers

and two thousand two hundred
and eighty-three civilians.

In South-Beveland,

nearly 35% of the buildings
were destroyed or damaged.

In West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen 63%

and in the almost completely flooded
Walcheren 72%.

By December 1st of 1944,


have been brought in,

but by the end of the month,


The fourth problem of the Allies
had finally been solved.

By April of 1945,

the Antwerp Harbour
had processed 628,000 tons of supplies,

which was nearly a third of all
the Allied supplies coming into Europe.

[somber music plays]

[Bella] After Market Garden,
Nijmegen became the city

that held hundreds of thousands
of Allied soldiers under its roofs,

and the Germans knew that.

Nijmegen was shelled for six months.

Nowhere else on the West Front,

a city experienced the dangers
of the front line for such a long period.

Most of the people in Nijmegen
slept in their underground basements

or b*mb shelters.

Unoccupied shelters were transformed
into underground churches,

cinemas and nightclubs
where parties were held.

The soldiers organized
their entertainment above ground.

From October on, the cinemas started
screening American movies

and celebrities came to the front
to entertain the w*r heroes.

Even Josephine Baker
performed in Overasselt at the Lin Café.

The local females were welcomed
at the parties,

but the Dutch males weren't.

This created tension and trouble
between the young men.

[upbeat music plays]

Because romances and one-night stands
became part of everyday life.

The local church, school teachers
and parents began organizations

such as the " 21 Dance Club",
where a strict moral code was expected.

According to the organizers,
the girls had to hold the moral high,

because it was impossible to count on
the drunken, out-of-control soldiers.

Despite of these efforts,
sexually transmitted diseases

and unplanned pregnancies
were at an all-time high.

[man, in Dutch] Diary of Jan Hendriks,
pianist. November 16th, 1944.

"Stopped exactly at 22:00.
It was not pleasant.

The soldiers were completely drunk
and began to argue.

When the Canadian soldiers are drunk,
they are annoying and fight.

You better stay away from them then.

From behind the piano I always have
a good view of the dancing crowd.

The soldiers flirt with the girls
and sometimes quarrel with each other.

When they are sent to the front
the next day,

they are given a large amount of liquor.

The MP, military police,
kept an eye on things.

If it gets out of hand, they intervene.

It's really a silly situation.

Pleasure and death, next to each other."

[Bella] After the Allies crossed
the Rhine,

they moved from the Ruhr area
into the rest of Germany.

The Dutch government had urged the Allies
to liberate their country first

as there were increasing food shortages.

This turned into the infamous
famine winter.

The food shortage
in the West of the Netherlands

was due to three reasons.

The liberation of the Southern Netherlands
meant that transporting coal

from the Limburg mines
was no longer possible.

The second cause
was the general railway strike

organized by the Dutch government
in London.

This meant that transport
was completely cut off.

The German reaction to this strike

was to block the food transport
to the west for a period of six weeks.

These three reasons caused
a catastrophic famine disaster

in the West of the Netherlands.

Food shortages were enormous
and caused people to eat flower bulbs,

sugar beets, and even their cats and dogs.

[vocal music plays]

One of the most striking stories
is this one about the village of Putten.

The Putten resistance attacked
the Oldenaller Bridge

on the night of September 30th
and a German officer was k*lled.

Two German corporals managed to escape

and a badly injured officer
fled to a farm.

From that farm he contacted
the auxiliary troops.

The German occupying commandment
decided to raid the village

and all men were deported
to the camp of Neuengamme.

Of all the 659 men,


or in the camps.

While being brought away,
they sang Psalm 84.

Every October 2nd since then,

the people of Putten sing the psalm
on this day

to remember this dreadful moment.

[men singing Psalm 84]

[man, in Dutch]
October 11th, 1944.

Letter from Mr. Thomas, Steijlen,
Schumacher and Kienhuis.

Residents of Putten.

They threw this letter from the train.

"Dear all.

We have been put on a transport
last night, Wednesday, to Germany.

Now, Thursday,
we have been in Almelo all day.

We will probably cross the border
from there, to an unknown destination.

We are hopeful.
See you again and best regards.

Cor, Johan, Gerard, Willem Kienhuis.

Don't let anybody get you down, dear."

In August of 1946,
the women received a letter

from their Queen concerning
their deported husbands.

[woman, in Dutch] Letter from the Queen,
from the Netherlands: Wilhelmina.

August 29th, 1946.

The widow G. van Dompseler-Aarsen,
Harderwijkerstraat 4, Putten.

"Your husband Johannes Evert,
for whom you are mourning,

was arrested by the ruthless
and unjust enemy, in October 1944,

in Putten.

He then had his life taken at Ladelund,
on the 5th of November 1944.

I want to offer you my heartfelt
condolences for this immense loss.

May his memory continue to give
you strength for the rest of your life.

Wilhelmina."

[Bella] The hunger and winter drove
people to inhumane exploits.

Sometimes mothers walked
all the way from Amsterdam

to Utrecht
for a little bit of milk.

Precious belongings
were exchanged for food.

These trips were called hunger trips.

Many farmers offered shelter
to those wandering people,

who were called hunger hunters.

[man, in Dutch]
Diary Harm Tijssen, 15 years old.

"The hunger trips continue.

An endless stream of hand carts,
wagons, prams

and all kinds of vehicles.

Women pull the carts, push them,
walk besides them,

or sit in it,
because they can't walk any further.

Any sensitive person would worry greatly
for all these poor

and deathly tired citizens."

[woman, in Dutch]
Diary of Clara Lambrecht-Gijzen.

January 19th, 1945.

"We have had no meat, fats or butter
since November.

No legumes, groats, jam or sugar
since four months.

No milk since three months."

While the hunger raged
through the country,

at least 20,000 people died
of famine and cold.

These people were seen as
victims of the w*r in a letter

written by Prime Minister Gerbrandy
to Churchill on March 7th.

He wrote "If the Netherlands
weren't liberated soon,

there would be little population left
to liberate."

[man, in Dutch] Newspaper article
in De Noord-Oster. March 3rd, 1945.

"Will cut hair for two potatoes.

Money is no longer important,
food is the main thing.

A hairdresser in Loosduinen
also thought this,

who received money from his customers
after shaving or cutting,

but still did his work
on an empty stomach.

The hairdresser has found
a solution for this,

by having his customers pay in kind.

The Figaro now announces that he is
will cut everyone's hair for two potatoes.

Loosduiners who do not own potatoes

will soon be recognized
by their full head of hair."

[Bella]
One of the known individuals

in the resistance was Hannie Schaft,
also known as the Girl with the Red Hair.

She was arrested at a military checkpoint
in Haarlem on March 21st, 1945,

while distributing the ill*gal Communist
newspaper " De Waarheid ".

She had been transporting
secret documents for the resistance

and worked closely
with Anna A.C. Wijnhoff.

After a long and brutal interrogation

that included t*rture
and solitary confinement,

Hannie was ultimately identified
by her former colleague Anna Wijnhoff,

who pointed out the red color
of the roots of her hair.

Just three weeks before the w*r ended,

Hannie Schaft was shot dead
in the dunes of Bloemendaal.

Her work for the resistance
started out small,

with stealing ID cards
for Jewish residents.

Later she carried out attacks on Germans,
Dutch Nazis, collaborators, and traitors.

She learned how to speak German
and became involved with German soldiers.

[ominous music plays]

[Bella] This is Ans van Dijk,
the only Dutch woman

that was ex*cuted after the w*r.

In '43, she was arrested by the Nazis
because of her Jewish background.

She avoided deportation
by offering her help to the Nazis

by pretending to be part
of the resistance.

While a lot of Jews believed that Ans
was there to help, she betrayed them all.

She even betrayed her own
brother and his family.

She's responsible for the death
of hundreds of human beings.

The liberation of the West
of the Netherlands was unexpected.

Seyss-Inquart, Reichskommissar
of the occupied Netherlands

offered an unofficial truce that would
allow the Allies to bring in food

and fuel to save the population.

Of course, the offer was accepted.

By the end of April,
British and American bombers

flew to the West of the Netherlands
and dropped the packages of food.

In nine days' time, 11,000 tons of food
fell from the sky.

This operation came to be known as
Operation Manna,

a reference to the Biblical Manna

with which God fed the Jewish people
after the exodus from Egypt.

After this unique humanitarian relief,
the German forces in the Netherlands

surrendered to the Canadian Army
on May 4th, 1945.

The Netherlands were at last liberated.

[upbeat music plays]

[crowds cheering]

But there was still a place where the w*r
continued despite the liberation.

The island of Texel.

A couple of months before the Dutch
liberation on February 6th, 1945,

the 822nd Georgian Battalion Queen Tamar
was stationed on Texel.

The Battalion consisted of 800 Georgian
and 400 German soldiers,

but the Georgian volunteers
were partly Soviet POWs

who decided to change sides
to save their lives.

The Soviet Army was not amused
and saw them as nothing else but traitors.

These Georgian volunteers would be
deployed together with German soldiers

and Dutch and Flemish volunteers
from the Waffen SS

against the Western Allies

who had arrived in the east
of the Netherlands.

[man, in Dutch]
Diary of Pieter Bremer.

February 9th, 1945.

"A lot of planes flew last night,
and during the day too.

There must have been


To the hospital, where I was told that
an English pilot had washed ashore alive,

and that this was only discovered when
his clothes were searched in the coffin."

The Georgians decided to revolt

and made a plan to wipe out
the German soldiers from the island.

Every Georgian knew exactly
which German to k*ll

and after 1 a.m.,
hundreds of German soldiers were k*lled

without the use of a single b*llet.

To put an end to the rebellion,

a ferry brought around 600 German soldiers
with mortars,

machine g*ns and tanks the same day.

[in Dutch]
"Later, Nel Bakker told me

that the Russian had revolted
and had conquered the Krauts.

They captured them
or k*lled them in the streets,

while Russian guards
were posted everywhere."

[Bella]
The fighting didn't end for weeks

with the Georgian rebels
losing more and more terrain.

When the uprising was finally crushed
by the German troops,

several hundred Georgians
were able to hide

thanks to the Texel population.

[man, in Dutch]
Diary of Pieter Bremer.

April 8th, 1945.

"At 8 o'clock Bertus brings us
the latest news.

Behind Texla, Jan Bakker found seven or
eight Germans who were k*lled like rats.

One had been cut open top to bottom,
with the bayonet, I think,

while another had its genitals cut off.

They were mutilated.

It is obvious that those soldiers
were not k*lled first.

There are also reports of cut-off ears
and noses and gauged eyes."

[ominous music plays]

[man, in Dutch]
Diary of Mattheus Kuip from Texel.

April 23rd.

"Some Russians had hidden
in 'Hoeve Plassendaal',

without the knowledge of the owner,
the Witte family,

because they had been evicted from
their house by the Germans a while ago

and had been given shelter
by their brother,

Martinus Witte van Rozenhout.

The Krauts arrived at Plassendaal

and were of course immediately
fired upon by the Russians present there.

So they decided to set the farm on fire.

Some Russians emerged
and were captured.

Those Russians first
had to dig their own grave

and were then shot by the Krauts,
except for one.

That Russian had to bury
his comrades first

and then was himself shot
and buried, by a Kraut.

It was horrifying, how they were treated.

How can a person be
so depraved and degenerate?

The Krauts didn't have
an ounce of humanity.

In De Koog a few Russians
had their eyes cut out

and their tongue and other limbs cut out.

They were dealing with the devil."

[man in audiofile]
"This is London calling.

Here is a news flash.

The German radio has just announced
that Hitler is dead.

I'll repeat that, the German radio
has just announced that Hitler is dead."

[Bella] While the German High Command
for the occupied Netherlands

had surrendered
on May 5th and Hitler was dead.

The w*r for Texel lasted until May 20th.

When the Canadians finally liberated
the island, 228 Georgian survivors

came out of their hiding places.

The 228 surviving Georgians
returned to the Soviet Union on June 17th,

dressed in Allied uniforms.

They were punished for serving their enemy
and sent off to Soviet Labor camps.

After the liberation,

the Canadians stayed in the Netherlands
for months and not without consequence.

A baby boom
of half-Canadian children followed.

But the liberation was not only full
of fun, joy, and love.

During the chaotic days of May 1945,
the Netherlands were liberated.

But civilians were still being k*lled
all over the west of the country.

Often victims of frantic shootings.

After enduring five years of w*r,
some didn't survive the liberation.

Agatha Peetoom-Warmerdam,
mother of three small children,

died on May 6th on the church square
of Egmond aan den Hoef,

when, out of nowhere, two German soldiers
started sh**ting at churchgoers.

The 17-year-old Jewish girl,
Elfriede Ingenkamp,

who hid from the Germans
for over six years.

During the festivities of the liberation,

she sat in the attic window
to watch and got hit by a stray b*llet.

She died on the spot,
far away from both of her parents

who would survive the w*r.

Just like Catharina Traas-de Jager,

a key figure of the resistance
in Oud-Beijerland a mother of children.

She was shot by a German soldier

who fired his machine g*n straight
through her front door.

Many others followed.

About 120,000 German soldiers
were still in the west of the Netherlands.

One hundred and twenty thousand
enemies of the country.

All uncertain about what was going
to happen to them.

One hundred and twenty thousand young men
in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was a scary thing to be
the underdog now.

The only thing they did know
was that General Blaskowitz

had ordered them to only obey
the Allied soldiers.

They refused to be disarmed by civilians
or anyone from the resistance.

The w*r was over for the Netherlands
and there was a lot to recover.

Cities were razed to the ground
and there were over 200,000 victims.

Sixty-three thousand
of which were soldiers.

Eighty-eight thousand were civilians

and 102,000 were Jewish Holocaust victims.

[piano music plays]