Liberation of the Netherlands

Liberation of the Netherlands 

This is a letter that my mom wrote to her email address list in April 2005. I was included.

It was 60 years ago then. It was 80 years ago today that Friesland, the Netherlands was liberated. I have attached photos of my mom, dad and my tante Annie…

The cover photo includes my grandpa, Harem Abma, grandma Jeltje Abma, mom, Rigtje, her brother, Gerrit Abma and the Canadian soldier who boarded with them for a short time.

From: Rita Jasperse

To: Undisclosed-Recipient

Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2005 4:50 PM

Subject: 60 Years ago.

On April 15 – 1945: Bert and I, along with my Frisian relatives, were liberated in Sneek, my home town in Friesland, by the Canadian Army.

Bert’s sister, Anna had arrived on January 1, 1945 in Friesland. She came walking from Rotterdam where she was on a starvation diet. (they had no food).

So now it is April 15 – 1945 … we are liberated by the Canadian Forces and we are FREE again from German Occupation.

We shall never forget the high price that was paid for our freedom. Thank you, Canada.

Dutch flags are raised and we all have tears in our eyes.

Oranje Boven. Hail to the Queen!!!!

Sneek is rejoicing. The girls are hopping unto the tanks with the Canadian liberators.

Dancing and rejoicing everywhere on the streets in Sneek.

The Northern parts of the Netherlands and the Southern parts of the Netherlands are liberated.

In between …. the Germans are still in charge.

Annie, Bert’s sister who hails from Tilburg in Brabant, is anxious to go home.

One morning she said: “I am going home, I will walk and hitch hike”. She left early and walked to the next town: Heerenveen. Here she was stopped by a Military Road Block and asked: Where are you going … she said I am going to Tilburg. She was not allowed to go on, because central Holland was still occupied by the German Wehrmacht.

Rigte Abma

After a few days Annie got restless again and said: I am going to try it again. Bert said I am coming with you … so then I said: I come too.

Bert Jasperse

We walked to Heerenveen … where we were stopped and asked where we were going. We now knew what to say and we said: We have to go to Oranjewoud, this is the next small village and we were allowed to pass.

We kept on walking and hitch hiking … whenever we were stopped .. we just named the name of the next small village and that is how we could go on and on for the next 150 km.

During the night, farmers let us sleep inside their farm buildings in the hay.

Finally we we got stuck in the neighborhood of Arnhem. Thousands of Dutch people were stuck here. Many had walked away from Germany where they had been forced to work in the German factories. The big problem was … to cross a field that was loaded with land mines and then find a way to get to the other side of the river Rhine, which was still being patrolled by the Germans.

ACROSS THE RIVER WAS FREEDOM.

Most people stayed where they were … the end of the war was near … we all knew that.

We were young and impatient and we wanted to go to Tilburg, the home of Bert and his sister Anna. Bert said: Let’s go … I go first and you both step in my footsteps across this field, which was loaded with land mines. Young and foolish, we did and thank God we made out OK.

We were now ready to cross the river … our main obstacle.

Every morning just before it would get light, at around 4 A.M. a small row boat would row across the Rhine River.

As soon as the German Patrol boat had passed by, we quickly got into this very small row boat and silently rowed across this 300 meter wide and very rough river.

As soon as we had crossed the Rhine, we were picked up by The Princess Irene Brigade and taken to a military Barrack in Nijmegen, where we got fed and stayed for the day and a night.

The following morning, we were ready to go on with our walk and hitch hiking. We had to cover about 100 K.M to go to Tilburg. A few kilometers out of Nijmegen, an American Military car stopped … took us on board and in no time we were in Tilburg.

It was a great family reunion. The Jasperse family with 10 children and the parents were together again and all had come through this horrible war in good health. Praise God !!!!!!!

The next day Pa Jasperse said: You better go to this place to get rations for food. We did and were promptly arrested because they did not believe us, that we came from Friesland.

Family celebrations in Tilburg

In fact, we were the very first persons in Tilburg who had arrived from the Northern part of the Netherlands. Pa Jasperse was well known in town and we were quickly released and provided with food rations.

Today it is 60 years ago that we arrived in Tilburg.

Rita.