My parents lived on the German border in the South of Holland during WW 2 and the Germans stole their farm their produce and my mother's family was evacuated to live in a chicken coop.
I remember the stories they told us. I have visited Holland and seen the bunkers that still remain, and the monuments. My husband has visited Auschwitz and Birkenau and war was still so apparent even when he was there 10 years ago. I worry now, living close to the American border, here in Canada, that today with the implementation of the US tariffs, what's stopping Trump from starting a war! Heck, he ha no qualms about stopping help to Ukraine, so now evil Russia can go back at it!!
Yes, our world does feel less stable. Too many scary leaders, if you can call them leaders, vying for power, money, domination. I try to be smart, and purchase local, thrift, re-use, and up-cycle. Prices have been rising since the beginning of COVID, but things are getting ridiculous now. How does the Dutch government respond to the MAGA? As an exPat, how does it make you feel? Thanks for your kind words Sarah.
I'm pretty sure Trump + Vance could have no conpunction whatever about rolling tanks across the border. They may well do that. A long not easily defensible border with a rapacious and aggressive neighbour. Welcome to how Russia feels.
Thank you for writing about this. I’m in the tiny town of Castel d’aiano in the Apennines. Just this morning I gazed a long time at the war memorial in the center square, which is dedicated “to the martyrs who resisted fascism.” I used to think that war, those dictators, were horrific enough to happen once only. I’m not so sure anymore.
I loved reading this! Feeling much the same here in NZ, minus all the dark European history but with a weird, keening no-one's-coming vibe instead. A sort of vertigo, isn't it? History and the present flattening out together. That board game was real. To put your hand on a wreck at Dunkirk, my god. Ten minutes ago, it was. Stay safe up there!
It was so surreal. My brother is in the army and collects water from significant places he visits, so I bought a little corked bottle at the gift shop and filled it up for him in the shadow of that wreck.
We’ve been to many of the war sites in France & Belgium. Verdun (Great War) with its cratered landscape and concrete bunkers brought the horrors of that war into my imagination.
The Canadian cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer was profoundly moving in its peace.
North Americans cannot imaging the horror of occupation and bombs raining down.
A favourite book from that period is ‘The Nightngale’.
Thanks for the book recommendation. On our Belgium trip we were also near Ypres, but I just couldn't take another war site field trip. I actually haven't read any WWII books lately, but last year I read The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which is set during the Great War, and I really recommend it.
Great post. And all so very true. My husband's ancestral home is in Tuscany, Ponte Moriano and Lucca. Those tiny villages farther up the mountains all had the statues you speak of. Very sad. One village -- all the boys were killed! A good book you'd prob like about the war is A Time in Between, by Duras. Highly recommend.
I sometimes worry about a WW3 and wonder where would actually feel safe. I’ve been longing to move to Europe, but then I think about history—France, Germany, and so many others weren’t exactly spared. History has a way of circling back.
That said, I visited the museum in Dunkirk with my family and walked that beach you mentioned. It was beautiful but sobering. The past still lingers there. You can feel it in the air.
I’m an American living in central Illinois but married to a Dutch guy. His parents lived through the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
I’ve been able to visit his country several times, and it’s striking how visible the wars still are. Reminders pop up where you don’t expect them, like American GI silhouettes inside the caves at Valkenburg.
The cemetery at Margraaten is striking snd impressive.
I can hardly believe we’re poised to do it all again.
The Netherlands is starting to send out a survey to young people asking what it would take to get them interested in joining the military. They want to grow the Dutch military from 70,000 to 200,000. I hope with a strong deterrence strategy a wider war can yet be averted.
It is so important to look back and see the parallels between history and today. Thank you for pointing these out in this world researched post, Sarah!
It's been a roller coaster few weeks with people scrabbling to understand new realities in many different countries. Ukraine battles on and I truly hope strong european alliances can be forged to support them. The alternative is so scary.
Thanks, I enjoyed reading this, although perhaps "enjoyed" is not quite the right word. I remain hopeful that a broader war can be avoided, because the costs would so obviously be immense. But things do look more and more worrisome. I'm grateful for those brave Ukrainians who, as you say, fight on. I wrote something related to that myself yesterday: https://frommybookshelf.substack.com/p/the-ukrainian-dialogue. Sorry, I know that feels like self-promotion, but since you are obviously also someone who loves books and history, I think you might appreciate it. (But please feel free to ignore!) We are in London for a few months, and my wife is from Germany, where her entire family lives, and Ukraine definitely feels a lot closer over here....
I'm so glad you wrote this. I graduated from Texas A&M University, a military school. So many of the grads died that we have a 12th man tradition. Our grads, under Sul Ross's leadership, scaled Pointe de Hoc in Southern France. Your post is a reminder in print and visually of what pieces of war look like.
Because Neville Chamberlain was neither an Idiot or Useful to THEM they had to not only remove him from power but blacken his reputation for all time. The man they chose to appoint in his place,a real IDIOT who would compliantly sign Death Warrants for millions in return for free booze WAS useful,to THEM. A man so incompetent he set in motion the action at Gallipoli that betrayed military incompetence and innate Strategy inability and was disastrous. But the perfect idiot for an idiot show. Apart from the fact that I now think Mr Putin is in cahoots with (as was) Biden + Harris,(now) Trump + Vance,plus Zelensky,Macron + Starmer plus Uncle Tom Cobley and all,it's my belief Russia has the right in this USA corporate hegemony doesn't intend to stop at Ukraine,they want the whole Russian land mass. And I also believe that Benjamin Natanyahu is a despotic murderer,so that makes me an appeaser. Well better that than a blood drinker like all you nasty normies.
My parents lived on the German border in the South of Holland during WW 2 and the Germans stole their farm their produce and my mother's family was evacuated to live in a chicken coop.
I remember the stories they told us. I have visited Holland and seen the bunkers that still remain, and the monuments. My husband has visited Auschwitz and Birkenau and war was still so apparent even when he was there 10 years ago. I worry now, living close to the American border, here in Canada, that today with the implementation of the US tariffs, what's stopping Trump from starting a war! Heck, he ha no qualms about stopping help to Ukraine, so now evil Russia can go back at it!!
I hope the tariffs don't impact you too badly. The whole world feels a little less stable these days, doesn't it?
Yes, our world does feel less stable. Too many scary leaders, if you can call them leaders, vying for power, money, domination. I try to be smart, and purchase local, thrift, re-use, and up-cycle. Prices have been rising since the beginning of COVID, but things are getting ridiculous now. How does the Dutch government respond to the MAGA? As an exPat, how does it make you feel? Thanks for your kind words Sarah.
I'm pretty sure Trump + Vance could have no conpunction whatever about rolling tanks across the border. They may well do that. A long not easily defensible border with a rapacious and aggressive neighbour. Welcome to how Russia feels.
Thank you for writing about this. I’m in the tiny town of Castel d’aiano in the Apennines. Just this morning I gazed a long time at the war memorial in the center square, which is dedicated “to the martyrs who resisted fascism.” I used to think that war, those dictators, were horrific enough to happen once only. I’m not so sure anymore.
Those war memorials are such stark reminders. We need them now, more than ever.
I loved reading this! Feeling much the same here in NZ, minus all the dark European history but with a weird, keening no-one's-coming vibe instead. A sort of vertigo, isn't it? History and the present flattening out together. That board game was real. To put your hand on a wreck at Dunkirk, my god. Ten minutes ago, it was. Stay safe up there!
It was so surreal. My brother is in the army and collects water from significant places he visits, so I bought a little corked bottle at the gift shop and filled it up for him in the shadow of that wreck.
Nice. A sacred place for sure. Whatever comes, may your brother stay safe, and all of us!
We’ve been to many of the war sites in France & Belgium. Verdun (Great War) with its cratered landscape and concrete bunkers brought the horrors of that war into my imagination.
The Canadian cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer was profoundly moving in its peace.
North Americans cannot imaging the horror of occupation and bombs raining down.
A favourite book from that period is ‘The Nightngale’.
Thanks for the book recommendation. On our Belgium trip we were also near Ypres, but I just couldn't take another war site field trip. I actually haven't read any WWII books lately, but last year I read The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which is set during the Great War, and I really recommend it.
Great post. And all so very true. My husband's ancestral home is in Tuscany, Ponte Moriano and Lucca. Those tiny villages farther up the mountains all had the statues you speak of. Very sad. One village -- all the boys were killed! A good book you'd prob like about the war is A Time in Between, by Duras. Highly recommend.
Thanks for the recommendation. I looked it up, and it seems there's a movie adaptation too!
Yes, it’s in Spanish. Not sure if subtitles— but I recommend the book. Truly. Unforgettable.
My Spanish is a bit rusty, but I like watching movies to keep it up. Will definitely check out the book first, though.
It’s better —like the book usually is… said by a bookshop owner ):
I sometimes worry about a WW3 and wonder where would actually feel safe. I’ve been longing to move to Europe, but then I think about history—France, Germany, and so many others weren’t exactly spared. History has a way of circling back.
That said, I visited the museum in Dunkirk with my family and walked that beach you mentioned. It was beautiful but sobering. The past still lingers there. You can feel it in the air.
Eloquently written
Thank you!
I’m an American living in central Illinois but married to a Dutch guy. His parents lived through the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
I’ve been able to visit his country several times, and it’s striking how visible the wars still are. Reminders pop up where you don’t expect them, like American GI silhouettes inside the caves at Valkenburg.
The cemetery at Margraaten is striking snd impressive.
I can hardly believe we’re poised to do it all again.
The Netherlands is starting to send out a survey to young people asking what it would take to get them interested in joining the military. They want to grow the Dutch military from 70,000 to 200,000. I hope with a strong deterrence strategy a wider war can yet be averted.
It is so important to look back and see the parallels between history and today. Thank you for pointing these out in this world researched post, Sarah!
It's been a roller coaster few weeks with people scrabbling to understand new realities in many different countries. Ukraine battles on and I truly hope strong european alliances can be forged to support them. The alternative is so scary.
Yes, I've thrown in my lot with the Europeans, and I have more faith in their institutions these days than the country of my birth.
Thanks, I enjoyed reading this, although perhaps "enjoyed" is not quite the right word. I remain hopeful that a broader war can be avoided, because the costs would so obviously be immense. But things do look more and more worrisome. I'm grateful for those brave Ukrainians who, as you say, fight on. I wrote something related to that myself yesterday: https://frommybookshelf.substack.com/p/the-ukrainian-dialogue. Sorry, I know that feels like self-promotion, but since you are obviously also someone who loves books and history, I think you might appreciate it. (But please feel free to ignore!) We are in London for a few months, and my wife is from Germany, where her entire family lives, and Ukraine definitely feels a lot closer over here....
Thanks for sharing, Peter. Yes, it's hard to convey how much closer everything feels from here.
I'm so glad you wrote this. I graduated from Texas A&M University, a military school. So many of the grads died that we have a 12th man tradition. Our grads, under Sul Ross's leadership, scaled Pointe de Hoc in Southern France. Your post is a reminder in print and visually of what pieces of war look like.
We need those reminders to hopefully steer clear in the future!
This is very well put. We are all worried and I feel so for the Ukrainians, who are left suffering with their country under siege.
Yes, for Ukraine none of this is just history; it's happening right now.
Too bad you aren’t curious enough to research the events leading up to the war
Because Neville Chamberlain was neither an Idiot or Useful to THEM they had to not only remove him from power but blacken his reputation for all time. The man they chose to appoint in his place,a real IDIOT who would compliantly sign Death Warrants for millions in return for free booze WAS useful,to THEM. A man so incompetent he set in motion the action at Gallipoli that betrayed military incompetence and innate Strategy inability and was disastrous. But the perfect idiot for an idiot show. Apart from the fact that I now think Mr Putin is in cahoots with (as was) Biden + Harris,(now) Trump + Vance,plus Zelensky,Macron + Starmer plus Uncle Tom Cobley and all,it's my belief Russia has the right in this USA corporate hegemony doesn't intend to stop at Ukraine,they want the whole Russian land mass. And I also believe that Benjamin Natanyahu is a despotic murderer,so that makes me an appeaser. Well better that than a blood drinker like all you nasty normies.