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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-05-20, Page 32Page 6 Invasion - a lifestyle destroyed Quieter times By Shelley McPhee Part of the history of Clinton's Klompen Feest and the close association bet- ween Holland and Canada begins with World War II, starting with five days in May of 1940; Without advance warning, before defenses could retaliate, Adolph Hitler's men descended on Holland and in less than a week turned the once content, rich, country into a devestated wasteland. - It was May 10, 1940 when the Nazi invaders silently swooped down from the daybreaking skies landing near Rotterdam and The Hague. In five days, their destructive mission had been completed, the Dutch army had surrendered, years of great culture and ar- chitectural richness had been blown to pieces, the peoples' livelihoods, security and homes decimated, and many of the lives of their family„ . friends and coun- trymen, brought to an end. The Nazis worked quickly. They immediately captured the bridges vital to Dutch defensive plans and overtook the airfields where their reinforcements could land. By the end of that horrifying May 10th day, the Germans' ground attack had reached the important Meuse River and the Dutch army's first line of defense was forced to surrender. Any support from the French Army was rapidly"halted, and the Nazi tanks continued to tear across the terrified coun- tryside. Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government escaped to the safety of England, while the Dutch army retreated to their last defense line, protecting the city of Rotterdam and the government seat, The Hague. On the morning of May 14th, Hitler's army gave the ultimatum, warning that if Dutch resistance continued, Rotterdam and Amsterdam would be destroyed. Two hours before the Dutch replied, the business section of Rotterdam was devestated, 30,000 people were injured, hundreds were killed and thousands left homeless. Amsterdam was un- touched, but with little chance for type of retaliation, and no hope from allied aid, Lt. Gen. Henri Gerard Winkelman surrendered to the Nazi throng late on May loth. With that began a long, frightening struggle for the people of Holland as they lived under the Hider's Third Reich rule for the next five years. Mrs. Allan Neal, now of Clinton, met her husband, a Canadian soldier from Goderich Township during those war years, but her life during that time, like thousands of others, was a hard and brutal one. The Nazis forced her family to evacuate their home and Mrs. Neal saw her two brothers sent to Ger- many; the eldest to work in a factory, the youngest to be imprisoned in one of the monstrous concentration camps for two years. Many young Dutch men were shipped to Germany to keep that country's economy steadily rising while their own young men were carrying out Hitler's plan to Turn to page 7 • 6Ce t ir5 COO N�0V�eoova g_Nostooss 11 - � P pGGES HOLLAND SHOES 28 ALBERT ST. CLINTON PHONE 482-9692 HAROLD WISE LIMITED Bayfield Rd., Clinton 482-7062 Tired of spending your hard earned dollars on heating your house? Lome see us for an economical efficient way to heat or cool your house. ASK ABOUT THE YORK HEAT PUMP FOR TOTAL CLIMATE CONTROL HEATING, COOLING AND DEHUMIDIFICATION. l Enjoy the Klompen Feest!