The 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands from World War II German occupation was commemorated across Canada and the Netherlands on Monday. Decades ago now 91-year-old Yoka Lissenberg made a promise that she, and her entire family, have kept. “Today, this means everything and I’ll go back, way back,” she said. “I go to my grandfather who became 103 and one Sunday, after church, he called us together and the great-grandchildren and the grandchildren had to promise him that they would always remember the Canadian people and the Canadian soldiers.” That promise was because of Canada’s involvement in the liberation of the Netherlands 80-years ago. Lissenberg says her grandfather lost one son and one daughter during the war. It’s a time, she said, that had an impact on her entire family. “I was, of course, a child of 11-years-old and had to walk from the town house, two ways, which would be approximately 45 kilometres, in clomps, without any food,” she shared. “[I] come there, I was supposed to bring some papers that my father had gotten from my uncle before he was shot and when I came to the address, they said ‘No, you can’t bring it here. Go away. You’ll have to go to another place’ and I had to go further and I made it. I made it.” Originally from the Netherlands, Lissenberg moved permanently to Canada in 2016. On Monday, she stood surrounded by her community in Petitcodiac, N.B., as a special ceremony took place to mark the milestone date. Her childhood is filled with stories that, until now, she’s never been able to share out loud. “Fear is the worst,” she said. “When you’re in your bed and the bell rings and the German come into your house because they know that there must be something going on, but they would take you and you had to stand by your bed and wait until they took the rods from the curtains to see and look.” For many, the anniversary serves as an important reminder. “It’s very emotional in many ways because so many of the veterans that fought in the war are celebrating with the people from the Netherlands who were also in the war together,” said Governor General Mary Simon who was in the Netherlands. “It’s been really both an inspirational and a bitter sadness and hope. There’s hope. People have fought for our freedom and this is just an indication that we will never forget that and we should always remember that our freedom came at a very big price.” She said over the weekend there were a number of young people participating, bringing generations together. “That to me is a very strong message that we should always make sure that our history, no matter what it is, should be carried by generations to come,” she said. In Petitcodiac, the Dutch community who now call New Brunswick home, the veterans and family members who still have ties to the war took part in the ceremony. “It’s such an honourable day that we should remember it. We should never forget these celebrations and things that our veterans fought hard to give us our freedom,” said Petitcodiac Royal Canadian Legion Branch 41 president, Charlene McCully. “I think it’s important because the children now-a-days do not realize what the war was and how it reacted to different people and how they survived and the ones that didn’t survive, that didn’t make it home, they should know these things,” McCully said. As for Lissenberg, she was almost 12-years-old when the liberation happened and, to this day, she says her memories are filled with stories, both good and bad, that she’ll never be able to forget. “It was a good day and a sad day because they came, Canadian jeeps, I had to lay down,” she said. “I had a sickness and they came to the door and said ‘Why isn’t she outside’ and my mother told them that it wasn’t allowed and they said ‘While we’ll come back tomorrow’ and they took me in the jeep and gave me chocolate!” With both countries commemorating the day, there’s proof that the ties between Canada and the Netherlands live on, as do the meaningful memories of their shared past. “It’s the first time at the 5th of May that I remember my father and mother having a dance around in the town like when it was all going, and it was wonderful to see your mother and father who had such a difficult time after the war,” she said. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
