Today US President George W Bush visited our country. Together with his wife Ms Laura Bush, our Queen Beatrix and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende he paid tribute to the thousands of young American and Canadian soldiers who gave their lives to liberate Europe from the terrible Nazi regime (1940-1945). This picture shows just a small part of the enormous green fields at Margraten with thousands of white crosses and stars of David. If you look at the next picture, you get an impression of the size of the graves area.
Years ago Lydia and I went on our first summer vacation together. We had decided to go to Limburg - the part of the Netherlands that is squeezed in between our eastern (Germany) and southern (Belgium) neighbours. It was great to spend this romantic holiday together on a camping site in Epen. I remember our bicycle trips from Maastricht to Epen and from the camp site in Epen to the city of Aachen in Germany (quite a climb for untrained cyclists like us!).
We were 18 (Lydia) and 22 (Paul) years old and of course it was great to go camping, cycling and hitch-hiking for the first time together! But I also know how we stopped at the memorial site in Margraten and how shocked we both were by the sight of thousands of white marble graves. Of course we knew what happened in our little country during the Second World War and of course we were aware of the fact that many young soldiers from friendly countries came to Europe to end the Nazi terror. But being there - at the beginning of our first holiday together - and seeing the names (and the ages!) of all these young foreign soldiers made an unforgettable impression on both of us.
I especially remember having a feeling of guilt - strange as it may seem. Here I was: a young Dutchman, ready for his first vacation with the love of his life, but fully unprepared for this terrible sight: thousands and thousands of graves. These fallen soldiers were young and hungry for life as well and every cross or star of David represented a name, a person, a loved one. Suddenly it seemed not right to have this worriless, joyful time together. How could I have a great time on the same soil where so many young guys paid the highest price: the sacrifice of their lives?
I thought about that for a while. Then a thought came to my mind (I guess God was whispering to me…): I can have a great time in a free country because of the sacrifices made by these young men. I was able to study, start a family, pursue a career and enjoy political and religious freedom in a democratic country because of these heroic sacrifices. It would have been unthankful not to have a great time.
Still, I can only think of our freedom as a precious gift and I will never take this gift for granted. I am highly thankful for the sacrifices made by so many American, Canadian, British and Polish families (to name just a few of the countries where our liberators came from).
If you are an American, a Canadian, if you are from Great Brittain or Poland - and if one of your ancestors is among the people who gave their lives for the liberation of our country - please accept my little sign of respect and gratitude and may God (who gave his only Son to liberate us all from evil) bless you and your family!
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
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2 comments:
i just read yer entry on the fallen soldiers and the nazi regime...i agree...it was beautiful
Hi Naxuk! Well, you are a quick reader (your comment was added to this entry while I was still in the process of writing it ;-) Thank you for your friendly comment and I do hope that you value freedom and democracy as much as I do. Although it is terrible that so many young people had to pay this price - the alternative (living under a Nazi regime) would have been far worse for civilisation as a whole. May God bless you.
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