Dutch war memories in Canada

Toespraak | 16-02-2010

Meeting you is a very special experience for me. You experienced the Second World War at first hand. You then decided to emigrate to Canada and to make a fresh start, far from Europe and your home country. Even though we are separated by some eight thousand kilometres, I like to think that I carry part of your personal history with me. I'm sure that your memories of the war have played a significant part in your lives, and continue to do so today.

That was certainly the case with my own father, who was a teenager living in the Dutch East Indies – today's Indonesia – at the outbreak of the war. His father, my grandfather, was a submarine captain. Just three days after Japan declared war on the Netherlands, his vessel was sunk and he perished at sea. My father was captured and spent the war years in a series of internment camps. He had just turned thirteen. Despite the mental and physical abuse meted out by his captors, he survived the war. He moved to the Netherlands and made a fresh start, but he could never forget his dreadful experiences.

When I was very young, my father rarely spoke about the war at all. I knew that he had been a prisoner, but little more than that. However, he certainly made no secret of his antipathy towards the Japanese. Years later, when I was 25, my father and I visited Indonesia. He showed me the places he had lived and the sites of the prison camps in which he had been treated so brutally. It was only then that my father really opened up and shared his story with me. As you can imagine, it made an enormous impression, far more than any history book. I am glad that my father told me his story, so that I can now pass it on to others such as my daughter. I am sure that it will make a lasting impression on her, too.

I consider it very important that everyone, including the generations yet to come, is aware of this dark period in our world history. As State Secretary, I therefore see it as my duty to 'future-proof' the past. I must ensure that the memories live on, so that each successive generation can learn from your experiences. The young people of today and tomorrow must have the opportunity to ask questions, to find the answers to those questions and to draw their own conclusions.

Needless to say, the school history curriculum in the Netherlands devotes considerable attention to the Second World War. Special course materials have been developed, with a wide range of audiovisual aids such as documentaries, films, newsreels and so forth.

Another way in which pupils are taught about the war is through 'living history' lessons. The people who were actually there, those who lived through the war, visit schools and tell their stories. They include people who were forced into hiding for years, people who miraculously survived the concentration camps, and members of the resistance. There are scores of volunteers who visit hundreds of schools every year to tell young people about their experiences. Let me tell you, even the rowdiest classroom is soon cast into respectful silence!

However, we must accept that none of us is immortal. The number of people able to share eye-witness accounts is dwindling. Sooner or later, there will be none left among us. To ensure that their stories live on, we are now working on a project to record their memories for posterity. The project is part of the wider Wartime Heritage programme for which I was very pleased to announce government funding in 2007.

Under this programme, we are collecting a vast array of materials and resources that are to be made accessible to everyone, hopefully in perpetuity. Besides the 'oral history' of the war – the memories of the people who were actually there – the collection includes photographs, home movies, drawings, diaries, newspapers and personal archives. In short, absolutely everything that will help to document the history of the Second World War as fully as possible, keeping it alive for future generations. The collection is to comprise all the resources we need to understand that history, both today and far into the future.

Of course, I did not come here today just to talk about my father or what the Netherlands is doing to conserve the past. I am here to listen to your recollections.

You have all brought an item with you that is relevant to your story, and perhaps you have even brought something that we can add to the wartime heritage collection. Or perhaps you have something at home that will help us to present the living history of the war: diaries, photos, even films. If you have, and you would be willing to share it, please contact a member of the Dutch embassy staff.

I think I have said quite enough. I hand the floor to you. Rest assured that you have a very willing listener.