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by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian (Updated October 16, 2020) Introduction After the Second World War, a growing population and an economy devastated by war were leading reasons for many Dutch immigrants to seek economic opportunity in North America. A total of some 500,000 Dutch nationals left their …
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Stories in Dutch 15 April 1953, na twee uuur slapen werden wij weer op geropen om de groten overtocht te aan vaarden. Just en op afgesproken tijd arriveer de Roetje Geelens toring wagen 7:15 begon den aftochd. Voor de Neerse kerk werd nog afscheid genomen van heer Kapelaan Haenen en pater Sillekens …
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Stories in Dutch On 15 April 1953, after two hours of sleep, we were called up to begin the voyage. Right on schedule, the Roetje Geelens intercity bus arrives. At 7:15 the voyage begins. In front of the church in the town of Neer, we bid farewell to Mr. Kapelaan Haenen and Father Sillekens, and …
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Children August 1, 1953 - Waterman We left Holland on July 24, 1953 and arrived in Halifax August 1, 1953 – my parents and sister (who was 4 at the time) and myself (10 years of age). The voyage for my mother was not one of the greatest moments in her life. Holland had had a huge flood that year …
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Children September 30, 1952 – Groote Beer (The following are my recollections, whether that be original or from hearing stories from my parents, about the trip from the Netherlands to Burdett, Alberta.) Housing in the Netherlands was terrible. My parents and three children (I was the youngest at …
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Children March 1951 Our family immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in March of 1951. We were a family of eight children, two boys and six girls, ranging in age from one month to eleven years. I was eight and the third oldest. My recollection of the event begins just prior to our departure …
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Children I was only seven when my brothers, sisters and I were told we were moving to a place called Canada and would live on a huge ship for about nine days to get there. Wow! From that moment on, what had been ‘normal’ faded into the background. Chaos took its place! Strangers walked into our …
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Children January 22, 1952 - Zuiderkruis After a tearful good-bye to friends and neighbors in our little hometown of Ens in the Netherlands, our family, consisting of Dad and Mom and four children, ranging in age from three to ten years old, on the morning of January 22,1952, piled into a rented car …
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Children March 1952 At 15 years of age, somehow I knew I would not always stay in my home country. That was about one year after a 5-year occupation of ‘Holland" by Germans. They had left the country severely crippled and damaged. The idea to emigrate did not seem strange to me, or my family. We …
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“Souvenir sailor dolls/puppets were sold in the ship’s store and I wanted one. When I asked for one, mom told me she had no money for souvenirs. I knew I couldn’t argue with her so I threw a tantrum, ran back to the cabin and hid in the closet to show her a thing or two. When I slammed the closet …