Visioning Freedom:
Then and Now
Leo Bruseker
In the early evening of May 4, 1945, the residents of Amsterdam were safely
settled into their homes, or at least most of them were. This included my
father, Theo Bruseker, and his parents and siblings living at 262 Admiraal de
Ruyterweg. They were all inside because curfew had begun, and anybody
caught outside after curfew was summarily executed, no questions asked.
So, when the Bruseker family saw somebody run past their living room
window, they were stunned. When another person ran past, they
went to investigate. Keeping their feet inside, they peered out into
the street to observe a small crowd gathering. They learned that the
fighting was over and that the occupation of their country would be
soon over. The next day, May 5, the surrender of the Nazi army in the
Netherlands was accepted by Canadian General Foulkes. Canadian
troops marched through the streets of Amsterdam to the cheers of
the Dutch people.
The Dutch peoples’ longing
for freedom began on May 10,
1940, with the invasion of their
country by Nazi Germany, but
grew stronger during the fall and
winter of 1944 and 1945. Many
Dutch had been liberated after
two battles, one in the southwest
of the country and the other in the
southeast, but not the people who
lived in the west. Life for them
became harder and harder. An
unfortunate result of the failure
of Operation Market Garden, a
battle depicted in the 1977 movie
A Bridge Too Far, was that most
train and truck transport ceased.
This meant that very little coal
and food came into the large
cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
and the Hague. These cities
went cold and dark, and the
citizens began to starve. Some
took to eating tulip bulbs to
survive. News about what was
happening in the war was difficult
to find. Occasionally somebody
would tune into the BBC with
a forbidden battery-operated
radio, type out what they heard,
and pass on the information.
News was so coveted that these
tidbits of news on small pieces
of paper were never thrown out.
The lack of news is why most
Amsterdamers, including the
Brusekers, were among the last to
find out about the impending end
of the war.
Every May 4, the Netherlands
holds remembrance ceremonies
commemorating the end of
the war. These are held at the
three Canadian cemeteries and
on Dam Square in the heart of
Amsterdam. My wife, Sandy,
and I were to have been in
Groesbeek, the largest of these
cemeteries holding the remains
of 2,300 Canadian soldiers, but
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The relief on the front of the National
Monument in Dam Square is entitled
De Vrede (Peace) and represents the
suffering endured during the war.