Remembering the Liberation of Holland

By Sheila Phibbs

The Haldimand Press

TOWNSEND—May 5, 1945 is a day that will never be forgotten in Holland. It is the day that saw an end to the occupation by Nazi Germany. Canadian forces were integral in achieving liberation, thereby creating a long-lasting affection for Canada amongst the Dutch people that is as strong now as it was 75 years ago. 

Diny Blyleven and her family were among those who were liberated by the Allied forces. Though she was not yet six years old when the war began in Holland, her memory of that time is clear. She says, “I remember hearing the planes and the bombs when it started.” 

Blyleven grew up in the town of Holten, the sixth of eight children. She recalls the first three years of WWII did not seem bad for her family, though she admits that might have been her childhood perspective. She understands the fear her parents and all adults must have felt and says that the final years of the war were “fairly dangerous.”

The dangers drove many into hiding, including her father and oldest brother, though it did not stop them from helping others impacted by the war. She says, “A lot of people refused to work for the Germans and had to go into hiding.” Her brother avoided having to join the enemy forces and instead helped Allied soldiers whose planes crashed in the area. Her father also managed to evade the German authorities while helping to get food to people in hiding. She recalls, “They wanted my father and couldn’t find him, so they took mother and the family out of the house. We had to sleep at the neighbour’s.”