462. Pictures and Thoughts from Dutch Liberation Festival – 2015

Marijke writes:
It has been an emotional few days for me leading up to my attending the ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of The Netherlands by the Canadian Armed Forces. Memories from when I was a little girl scrambled in my head. They kept me awake. Tears kept on flowing. The many images of my life in the war included being taken away by my parents to a little island and handed over to a farming family so I would not starve anymore. The actual day of the liberation is engraved in my mind. That day we were told to take the sheets from our bed and wave to the airplanes that had come to free us and drop food. A few days later, there came this beautiful man in a row boat to pick me up and take me home – my father.

I hope that this ceremony will put some closure for me to the haunting thoughts that keep on coming back.

Ruth writes: Marijke spent her time last Saturday “talking to veterans after the ceremony. It was so special to be able to thank the individuals myself”, she wrote. Pictures of this Dutch festival at Yonge-Dundas Square and Nathan Phillips Square follow. For the poster of the event, see: https://www.torontomulticulturalcalendar.com/2015/04/19/457-thank-you-canada-dutch-liberation-festival-2015/ .