The destruction of the Netherlands during WW-II in color, Part-5: Arnhem, Nijmegen, East NL a.o.
In this fifth and final episode of this series we take a look at the devastations of the Eastern part of the Netherlands towards the end of WW-II.
Arnhem was the well know scene of Operation Market garden, the failed attempt by the allies to capture the Rhine bridge. The 700 year old capital of the Dutch province of Gelderland was involved in a number of battles and was robbed to the bone by the Germans.
Near Arnhem two Bailey emergency bridges were constructed to re-enable traffic.
On 22 February 1944 Nijmegen suffered a severe bombardement by the allied forces, especially by the Americans. Till this day the jury is still out whether this was an accidental bombardement due to a navigation mistake or deliberate. 800 people were killed.
Arnhem was also hit by this raid as well as Enschede. These bombers were on their way back from an aborted mission to Gotha in Germany and just looked for convenient targets to get rid of their bombs.
Not far from Arnhem and Nijmegen to the West lies the Betuwe. This very fertile area between the three Dutch main rivers is well known for its fruit growers. Annually heaps of tourist used to flock to the Betuwe in May to see the beautiful blossoms on these trees.
After the war hardly anything Was left. All that remained was a barren landscape as can be seen here around the town of Tiel.
Many areas became totally unusable because of the millions of deployed land mines. Clearing the mines is a dangerous job and caused many fatalities.
Other parts in the east of the Netherlands did not escape from the war onslaught either. Zutphen and Deventer were severely damaged.
The city of Groningen in the North East of the country did not escape from the spoils of war either.
If you have watched all five episodes in this series it should become apparent how severely The Netherlands suffered from the German occupation. The once splended Dutch harbours were transformed into heaps of rubble and twisted steel.
Before the war the country had one of the most modern electrified railway networks in the world that served all Dutch cities, towns and villages.
At the end of the war this rail network had become almost totally unusable. On their retreat the Germans destroyed many trains and also stole a large portion of the rolling stock.
Before the war the railways posessed 30000 carriages and nearly 900 engines. This graph shows how much of that was left.
Families used to consume 3000 calories per head. This fell back to on average only 400 calories and can be directly linked to the great famine in the winter of 1944/1945.
Large areas of fertile land in Zeeland and the Wieringermeer were innundated by both the Germans and bombings by the allies as shown in earlier episodes. It would take many years before the soil could be used again to produce food.
The reputation of the Dutch cattle and meat produce stood at a very high level.
The export of dairy products was one of the pillars of the Dutch economy. It would take years before the poultry production would reach its pre-war
levels. A graph shows the effects of the war on these sectors.
The production of coal before the war was sufficient to support the entire country but dropped to around 25% causing the Dutch to rely largely on coal supplies by the allies.
To sum up, the minority of the Dutch who supported the Germans when they entered the country in May 1940 soon learned that they had betted on the wrong horse. The initial smiles were soon wiped off their faces once they learned of the real intentions and objectives of the Germans. The economy fell flat on its face, 100.000 Jews never returned from the concentration camps and the country was plundered to the bone. Almost to the day the Dutch suffered 5 years of hardship, cruelty, death and destruction, poverty, abuse, oppression, suppression, plundering and even a terrible famine.
To those who have made ignorent comments under my video titled "Dutch Heroes, Collaborators and Traitors during WWII", suggesting that almost the whole country supported the German invaders, all that can be said is "shame on you!"
Watch that video and this series to better understand what really happened and to conclude that only a small percentage of the population really collaborated in an active manner. The remaining majority had no other choice than to make the best of the situation and to place oneself in survival mode.
On 13 March 1945 Queen Wilhelmina returned from het exile in London to make a tour through the liberated South of The Netherlands. She did not stay but went back to London some days later. Her definite return to the Netherlands was on the 2nd of May.
On 28 of June she was honored with a "welcome back" parade on the Dam in Amsterdam as seen here.
Gradually life in the Netherlands returned almost to how it used to be. On one thing everybody agreed after these terrible 5 years: "Never again"!
Music: Trevor Kowalski
Source: Beeld En Geluid.
Пікірлер: 85
Rick, there is one mistake with the date of the Nijmegen bombing, it was 22nd of FEBRUARY 1944, not September. My mother and I survived a direct on our Zuid Arnhem townhouse from stray bombs, I was three months old and was in a crib on which a piece of masonry had fallen which saved me from further injury. Mother was covered in rubble with only her head free. The German soldiers were still there and rescued us. Mother only suffered bruising. Noone else was in the house. My father was ' ondergedoken' to escape being transported to Germany as a labourer. I think, because of all we experienced in the war, we emigrated to Australia arriving in 1951. My dad lived till 81 and my mum till 92. I just celebrated my 80th birthday last month, and thankfully, with Anima Sana In Corpore Sano. Thank you for this well put together video.
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Thank you. I have corrected the description. Correcting the video is not possible once it's on KZread.
@thehapagirl92
5 ай бұрын
Thank you for your story boomer. You’re the same age as my dad. Good to see old people who still have their mental faculties about them.
Thank you for giving us an insight of the history from the Netherlands after the war ended.
Again an eye opener of the highest quality. Thanks !! My mother and her siblings and family lived in Arnhem - very close the 'the bridge' . They never talked much about the war or the devastation of their beautiful city - now I understand better why : It was just to painful to remember it. The only memory my mother shared once was that they scavenged for food , scraped out food-bins at the 'gaarkeukens' the public canteens that kept the population alive during the horrible hunger winter '44-'45. She did so to teach us the value of very scrap of food and never to waste anything, a lesson I still stand by now aged almost 70 .....
Ondanks de getoonde ellende een prachtige serie! Waard om op de nationale tv te worden uitgezonden, in de meimaand bijvoorbeeld. Complimenten… !
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Dank je wel. Ach, onze nationale omroepen, wat moet ik er van zeggen? Een paar keer voor sommige omroepen projecten gedaan (o.a. de TV series Molukkers, Wilhelmina en Het Beloofde Land). Nooit meer! Ook heb ik ze diverse malen op de hoogte gebracht van nieuw, mooi materiaal op mijn kanaal, maar interesse: ho maar! Eén brok frustratie...
My grandmother told me stories about the time after Market Garden. She lived in the area, but had to evacuate. When she returned home, the house was a mess. The soldiers had eaten all the food, and had used the empty canning jars as chamber pots. 🤢
An excellent and thought provoking series of films Rick, many thanks. Dank u wel!
weer een prachtige aflevering, bedankt voor al die moeite die je erin gestoken hebt
Outstanding presentation, thank you for all the hard work that when into this...I only wish people today could have a true understanding of what it takes to resist evil, looking around the, people are still having to give much to be and remain free.
Thanks Rick for producing such informative and fascinating videos. They've helped restore my faith in KZread and the internet as being a force for good, and in helping others understand history and how much the Netherlands truly suffered during WWII and what resilience the people demonstrated.
First class presentation of the problems of the Netherlands after Liberation. My late father flew Lancasters on Op Mana, the only operation he said that he actually enjoyed, had a memory of a sign that somebody had written on a roof which said “thank you boys”.
As a Dutch guy it's fascinating to watch your videos. The videos are like entering a time machine.
Enorm bedankt weer Sir Rick! Enorme toevoeging voor het internet
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Dank je wel!
Fantastic full-color video. Amazing quality, and I have never seen this before. I have visited Arnhem and crossed all the Market Garden Bridges. And visited the Airborne Brigade cemetery north of Arnhem. An amazing event to me on just an average fall Sunday. The locals will NEVER forget the sacrifice that was made for them by the allied nations. God watch over the Netherlands and protect them from all invaders to their country.
This was an excellent series, many thanks.
Gosh you dutch really did suffer, we got off relatively lightly in the UK , No wonder you are tough bunch, I felt really sorry after watching those 5 episodes. Beautifully done these videos I have passed the links on to my dutch friends.
Thank you for your videos. My Dutch grandparents never really talked about the war, which I understand. But I always wanted to know more about it.
My family is from Belgium (Diksmuide) and there is never much information about these postwar years (at least in most media) Thank you so much for creating this series, it helps create a picture of what the whole period was like. They emigrated to Canada in the 1950's
Thank you for all this! Just a simple opinion on the 'war'. I never blame the people of a country, I do blame the soldiers etc and mostly the GOVERNMENTS of the world. People - free people - will never choose war or racism or the such. Its always governments and the banks/corporates that choose and create wars. Your comment about going into survival mode is 100% spot on perfect.
Mir war nicht bewußt trotz großen historischen Interesses, was die Deutschen in den Niederlanden angerichtet hatten. Um so größer die Dankbarkeit, dass wir, die nachfolgende Generation, wieder Aufnahme fanden in der Gemeinschaft europäischer Völker.
Bedankt weer voor de indrukwekkende beelden en uw commentaar. Ik kan me gewoon niet inbeelden hoe het moest zijn om je oude, mooie woonplaats zo kapot te zien.
top kwaliteit Rick :-) bedankt
Bedankt Rick, het was weer bijzonder 👍
HISTORY ALWAYS REPEATS ITSELF (ITS SAD TO SAY BUT ITS HAPPENING AGAIN. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS. HAVE GOOD HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS BROTHER.
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Thank you very much. To you too!
Absolutely fantastic I’m amazed at the clarity of these movies even some as old as 1920 I take it you must’ve restored the colour digitally but absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this. Thank you so much I’ve just subscribed !!
Erg mooi gedaan Rick. Ik bekijk uw afleveringen graag, hoe triest de inhoud ook is. Het maakt de oorlog iets vatbaarder.
I enjoyed this very much, a great amount of hard work and research has gone into this production again thank you, James Scotland.
Great series. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for all your hard work in colorizing these films. It really helps bring them to life.
Superb images and very interesting comments, thnk you for your work and sharing this with us.
Great work on the restoration and very interesting.
My uncle and the platoon he was leading got hit with German artillery, literally right before you would have crossed the Bridge at Arnhem. As shown in the video here. 5 were killed outright and another group making their way past them noticed my uncle was still ( barely alive) He said to leave him and carry on, but he was rescued and didn't get out of hospital care and rehab till 1946 in England where he was flown to. He lived a good life in Canada till age 86 and had a large family. He was a CANLOAN officer loaned to the British after Dunkirk. Served as a captain with the KSLI regiment
@henryvegter8773
6 ай бұрын
God bless his soul! A tough generation. My dad was aged 16 in Amsterdam.
my father hated the royal family... because of the hunger winter... they were eating steak safely in England and Canada while the population was starving... my father had become so thin that he suffered from it all his life he was ashamed to wear shorts in the summer because the skin on his legs was damaged and never recovered
waardevolle video en met goede uitleg bedankt voor het posten :)
This has been a comprehensive series thank you so much for your work and research ❤
your videos are amazing.......................very clear pictures of the past
Great video Rick, amazing footage and work 👌😀👍
Bedankt! Ik ga m zo snel mogelijk kijken, maar hier wil ik even voor gaan zitten!
Mooie documentaire serie! Complimenten! Misschien nog eens een maken over de slag om de Afsluitdijk? Uniek stukje oorlogshistorie! Als achtergrond kunt u wellicht gebruik maken van het boek Afsluitdijk 1940 (als het nog ergens te krijgen is). Ik heb het als jongeman stuk gelezen. Maar ja, ik ben er dan ook vlakbij opgegroeid.
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Goeie tip, ik ga zoeken
@lolkevandewitte1713
6 ай бұрын
@@Rick88888888 leuk! Ik ben benieuwd! U zou zelfs nog aan onderzoek ter plaatse kunnen doen; er bestaat een Kazemattenmuseum op (voormalig stelling) Cornwerderzand. De Duitsers hebben nooit openheid van zaken willen geven over het aantal doden. Het was tevens een vroeg geval van ‘crowdfunding’; het (op het laatste moment) geplaatste (oerlikon-)luchtafweer; dit is namelijk gefinancierd door het ‘lokale’ bedrijfsleven, waaronder Koopmans meelfabriek te Leeuwarden. En anders is het gewoon leuk om te weten.
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
@@lolkevandewitte1713 Je kunt eventueel ook kijken naar mijn beide films over de HrMs Johan Maurits van Nassau. De gevechten rond de Afsluitdijk komen daarin nadrukkelijk aan de orde: kzread.info/dash/bejne/d2iL0MSuYriue7w.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/lXmptMFvh8bWlsY.html
my grandad was there, allied forces in NL. Such a lot europe has been through, yet now is somehow being put through things that it didn't need to be put through
Thanks for these enlightening videos. By the way, I believe you misunderstand the term "spoils of war". This does not refer to wanton destruction, but to "profits extracted as the result of winning a war or other military activity". You could call it lawful plunder under the rules of war. For example, after the Dutch Army surrendered in May 1940, all property of said army could be lawfully claimed by the Germans as spoils of war. The spoils of war do not extend to civilian property unless that property was used for military purposes (such as merchant ships carrying strategic goods).
hi , your video in public domain, free to use?
@Rick88888888
5 ай бұрын
No sorry, you may NOT re-use my work.
A great series of videos thanks for all your efforts. As you say shame on the moronic comment authors
another old world buildings have been destroyed
明けましておめでとうございます。今年も宜しくお願いします。😊
Hallo Rick, alles goed daar?
"Soldier! Didn't you ever build a Bailey Bridge before?"
Wordt je weer stil van.....
It's quite uncanny how the church spires all stayed intact
I hope you mention the destruction of castle Nijenbeek where the Canadians crossed the IJssel?
@Rick88888888
6 ай бұрын
Sorry, no I didn't know about that
@ltfmel
6 ай бұрын
@@Rick88888888never to old to learn, therefore we are here to watch your videos❤
@Matt_Curlew
6 ай бұрын
He can't include everything of course. Omroep Geldeland heeft er een tweedelige docu over gemaakt: kzread.info/dash/bejne/iIls081vmKXJpdY.html
SO Rick eight 8s, I doubt Allied bombers dropped on Holland without some secondary target orders to remove Germans. But it's sad. Seems Germans forced to recover their mines. So sorry for the distruction of the NL. By Germany and Liberators. Your Famine was hard, I took my family to Amsterdam in 2006? and we toured a presentation of WWII vs going to the Tourist locations. My Father in law's sister, Kathleen, married a Dutchman pre war who was captured in the invasion, he subsequently escaped from the Germans. My father in Law Keith Forster (helped) liberate Holland , released from duty as a tank transport driver (UK REMY) and found his sister, on the back of a loaned by his CO motorbike , bringing as much food as he could to her home near Coevorden ? They were intercepted by Dutch resistance on the way , luckily recognized as Brits before being shot, and taken to her home ! Thank you for your posts, brings back memories ! E,
Rick een tijdje geen video's. Is alles okay?
@Rick88888888
3 ай бұрын
Hi Barto, dat heb je goed opgemerkt. Klein "winterdipje". Ook heb ik twee staaroperaties ondergaan en ben met mijn WikiGPT software project bezig geweest (zie mijn video over ChatGPT). Binnenkort komen weer nieuwe filmpjes hoor. Hoogste tijd!
@bartobruintjes7056
3 ай бұрын
@@Rick88888888Beterschap. Ik kijk al weer uit naar de volgende video.
Never again говорят в европе, а в РФ пишут на авто "можем повторить"
😢
市场花园行动 遥远的桥
Запад опять точит зубы на Россию, зачем?...
@Rick88888888
4 ай бұрын
Вам действительно нужно это спрашивать?
the fact that we honored the queen for coming back while leaving her people behind in the worst of times is such a shame.
@edwinthompson6510
5 ай бұрын
please don't bad mouth our queen
@MisterMotel
5 ай бұрын
@@edwinthompson6510 A true leader doesn't leave her country behind in desperate times. I pay for her job so I can critique her all I want. She wasn't chosen.
@randylahey1822
4 ай бұрын
@@MisterMotel Personally it doesn't make sense to honor her while forcing Leopold III to abdicate postwar for staying with his people and saving around 50 thousand people by pleading to Hitler in numerous letters. What did she do?
RIP heiliges Deutschland ❤
@woutervanderweerd7797
6 ай бұрын
?