Emotional film about the sad Hunger Winter (1944/1945) in The Netherlands during WWII in color

This Part-3 of my series about The Netherlands during WWII focusses on a very sad period towards the end of the war during which the Northern half of the country suffered a terrible famine. It has been meticulously restored, enhanced and colorized with A.I.
Most parts of The Netherlands south of the three main rivers (Rijn, Maas & Waal) had been liberated by the allied forces at the end of autumn 1944. However, the North remained under German occupation. Food became increasingly scarce caused by cut off supply lines and the Germans plundering the country to the bone.
Hordes of Dutch citizens went to the country side to try to get some remaining food that some farmers still had in stock. Many trees were cut down and twigs were gathered to provide some heating and cooking fuel. Wooden blocks between the tram rails were gathered and used as well.
People illegally tore wooden panels, doors and other objects from bombed houses.
Many food stores were closed because of lack of stock and people desperately tried to trade their remaining posessions for any food they could get their hands on.
Especially the children suffered. Overall between 20,000 and 25,000 people are estimated to have died as the direct result of the famine. Indirectly there was an over-mortality of 58,000 people.
In my town of birth, The Hague (in Dutch Den Haag), approximately 2100 people died of starvation during the so called "Honger winter" of 1944/1945. People ate beatroot, tulips bulbs and sometimes even their cats and dogs.
In the last months of the war about 200,000 inhabitants of The Hague got their food in the form of soup from the so called "Gaarkeukens" (public kitchens).
Relief came in the days after the 8th of May 1945 when the whole country had been liberated. Allied planes dropped food packages in large numbers over The Hague and other large Dutch cities. For the first time in 5 years people and especially children could be properly fed, as can be seen in this rather emotional film.
Please watch the rest of this film without further commentary.
Kindly keep your remarks in the comments section respectful.

[@Rick88888888]

*Challenge* ! Who knows who the little boy is/was who receives a bowl of soup during and at the end of this film? If you know the name of any of the other children, then please share it here, such that they maybe can be interviewed. Thank you. Some may still be alive because they probably were born in 1940 or just before and thus would now be in their 80s.

[@joey2471]

Bent u dat??

[@Rick88888888]

@@joey2471Als je mij bedoelt: Nee, ik ben van een later 'bouwjaar' dan WO-II. Ik zoek overigens nog steeds naar een Polygoon filmpje van rond 1960 waar ik als klein jongetje met emmertje en schepje op sta nabij één van de oude stenen trappen op het Scheveningse strand. Dat filmpje was ruim 25 jaar terug bij Ivo Niehe te zien.

[@RM360CR]

It is incredible how fast people forget history specially your own history in that, some people from the so called rich nations called others uncivilized third world as if you were always rich, when we see that in less than 100 years it was not the case. God punishes this with the same thing we see in those days, history repeating it self....

[@andrzejpaciuszkiewicz6319]

@@RM360CR banxters organize wars, not people, people only suffer from it

[@arnhemseptember2009]

Vraag het Ivo.@@Rick88888888

[@smithwesson7765]

My mother in law nearly starved to death during the hunger winter. She and her husband emigrated to British Columbia in 1958 and farmed. I used to wonder why she horded food and when I see these children, I think of how she must have suffered.

[@smithwesson7765]

My grandfather, Ernie McNamara fought his way from Juno Beach to Tilburg with the Canadians. He helped distribute food and fuel oil to the local Dutch people. He was billeted with a Dutch family called the Oosterlings until 1946. He shared his rations with them and they made him feel at home, 2000 miles from Canada. Every year until Ernie died in 1968, the Oosterlings sent a dozen tulips to our home. This video touched me so deeply to see those children in such dire conditions. Thank you Rick.

[@Rick88888888]

Thank you very much for sharing these memories!

[@smithwesson7765]

@@Rick88888888 You're very welcome.

[@hermacoutts8587]

Thank you for your grandfathers’ service. ❤️🇨🇦🇳🇱

[@smithwesson7765]

@@marcgeerdink869 By the time all operations on the Anglo-Canadian front were ordered to halt at 21:00, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada had reached its D-Day objective and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had succeeded in pushing farther inland than any other landing force on D-Day. They sent the 21st Panzer division packing which caused the Germans to pull units from other parts of the landings. Had D-Day failed it would have been years before the allies could launch another offensive.

[@JvKintheUSA]

My parents grew up in Rotterdam. My dad who passed away a few years ago told me about the Honger Winter where they had to eat tulip bulbs, sugar beets and scraped out the bottom of barrels just like depicted in this film. To see this in a film is heartbreaking.

[@claudiacarmen2771]

Goed om de beelden te laten zien hoe het in die tijd er aan toe ging. Mensen realiseren nu niet hoe goed men het heeft. Ook die het minder breed hebben kunnen nog naar de voedselbank. In de oorlog was er gewoon helemaal niets…😢

[@andrewroozen9151]

My dad went through this in the Hague, he was about 22. He always used to be so strict about not wasting food. I heard a little bit about it from my mum, dad never spoke about it, but I didn't know it was this bad. After the war he moved out to New Zealand to get as far away as he could.

[@jjns5600]

Amazing how heart felt grateful those little children are to receive that bowl of soup, which I can only assume is probably not highly nutritional. Very sad times, save for the gratitude of those little souls!

[@jjns5600]

The Netherlands is also the west remember...so is the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, ...all considered Western industrial nations. The time period was different, as were the circumstances, which is why we all can't "rest on our laurels", but instead, take advantage of the opportunities we have to become educated, and to educate!

[@joey2471]

Het is een schande dat wij als mensheid nog niet slimmer zijn geworden na alle die jaren.....

[@OHFORPEATSAKES]

Thanks for uploading this. My father was 5 during the hunger winter, living in Amsterdam. Near the end they'd eat almost anything.

[@corneliusoliver7984]

My father was identified by the school system as he kept falling down from malnutrition. He was sent from Gouda to a farm in northern Holland. That small dairy farm probably saved his life. He is 89 and lives in Green Bay, WI. My generation has no idea what hardship is!

[@marjonvanamerongen6052]

Mijn moeder was 16 toen ze vanuit Amsterdam naar een meisjesinternaat werd gestuurd tijdens de hongerwinter. Dat ging uit van de fabriek van Wessanen. Het heeft haar leven gered, daar was tenminste eten. Ze is vorig jaar op 93 jarige leeftijd overleden, tot haar dood bleef ze over de oorlog spreken... Ze was dement en beleefde alles opnieuw. Ik had t voorrecht voor haar te mogen zorgen, ik zal haar oorlogsverleden en verhalen nooit vergeten... 😢

[@majagoedegebuur9451]

Ja inderdaad ,mijn Moeder was ook die leeftijd ik zal haar verhalen Nooit vergeten .

[@marjonvanamerongen6052]

@@majagoedegebuur9451 Precies, die verhalen zijn zó waardevol. Zeker doordat de oorlogsgeneratie langzaam uitsterft.

[@danamarcotteseiler7423]

I’m sorry for your loss, please pass on some of your mothers stories don’t let the past become lost , may she rest in peace

[@marjonvanamerongen6052]

@@danamarcotteseiler7423 Oh yes, I will certainly do that. We may never forget what happened during the war. Thank you for your kind words. I miss her very much but I know she is at a better place now.

[@hjon9119]

little boy stooping down to scrape something up the bottom of the container :(

[@keesjager7749]

My mother always tells stories about the war. She was 14 when the war in Holland started, and lived in the town of Schiedam. She tells horrific stories about her father (my granddad) dying if hunger in Februari 1945. Your films made a huge impression on me. Now I can see "through" my mothers eyes during this grueling period in her life. I will show her some of your movies tomorrow, and will let you know her reaction. She is 97 at the moment and still going strong! Again, thank you so much for all the time you must have put into this. I hope more people see these films, and finally understand where "right" or "left" attitudes can lead to.

[@Rick88888888]

Great! Thank you very much

[@barryboushehri1707]

Thank you for this. It broke my heart watching those children.

[@kimvanderlinden1842]

Gosh... My heart hurts so bad... The children. These poor sweethearts. They had to suffer so much. I hope they all got to grow up well.

[@Tanishk-ot7dx]

This proves one thing that war can never be solution to a thing. Its only the hatred of one human that caused this fate.

[@JoscelinTrouwborst]

My parents have experienced it. As a result my mother conditioned me thoroughly to always finish my plate. It still hardly needs a dishwash.

[@nic4863]

Next time I find myself feeling sorry for myself I'm going think about this.

[@melancholymonkey1880]

Such beautiful children. Heartbreaking.

[@snd5705]

Thank you for bringing focus to this. May we all have empathy and act to relieve hunger that happens currently in other parts of the world.

[@joebrown1382]

So sad so pitiful. Bless the children. What they going through is not from their doing.

[@alexmorgan3435]

Thank you for showing this remastered footage. I never knew the terrible hardship the Germans inflicted on the Dutch people towards the end of WW2 in northern areas that they still occupied. It must have been dreadful. The Germans finally surrendered 7th May 1945. It would indeed be good to know if any of those children now elderly citizens are still alive and would be prepared to be interviewed for another video?

[@Rick88888888]

Indeed, see also my pinned comment asking people who lived through this period to come forward.

[@tylero8595]

Its crazy how when you see something in colour it instantly becomes relatable and relevant to you now. This could be now. Unfortunately this is always happening. People are always suffering and starving. We are so lucky here in the west.

[@john07973]

This should be compulsory viewing for all under about 50 years old in Holland and Britain

[@pjgold8018]

My parents went through this.. My Mum lived in Voorschoten and she told me of those very tough times for the Dutch.

[@lefebvresandra]

Thank you for this. Please, no more wars!

[@christophernewman5027]

I cried like a baby watching this. I'm sixty-six and l don't cry easily...

[@Rick88888888]

Indeed, it has that effect on me too, especially the little boy thankfully receiving his bowl of soup.

[@20kilovolt]

A story about my grandmother that she told me, she had a cat that she was very happy with, she can dress the cat like a doll and the animal had no problem with that. She lived in Rotterdam, which was badly hit during the war, almost everything was destroyed. one day the cat was gone and during dinner she noticed that her cat was on the table as food. Her life was never the same as it was before it marked her and she didn't never get over it. I remember my grandmother as a damaged woman my mother reminds my grandmother that she used to hurt her when she was a child.

[@CmdrPPanda]

Nobody from my family have ever talked about the war. So thank you for a little inside of the horror they lived through.

[@ltfmel]

Same here, I was forbidden to talk about it or ask my grandmother anything......I had a lot of german toys, they had german shepherds....I really don't know what to think about it.....

[@drmarkintexas-400]

Thank you for sharing 🤗🙏🇺🇲🏆

[@L1V2P9]

In the early 1950s there were still food shortages in Europe. In those days it was common for children (such as I was at the time) in North America to be told to " eat up all your dinner because children in Europe are starving." You notice that there were no picky eaters among those poor children. They ate everything they got.

[@Rick88888888]

Till this day I also hate wasting food, a trait I inherited from my parents who lived through WW-II (in London).

[@lindadejonge]

My mother was born on a farm just outside of Rotterdam in 1929. She witnessed the bombardment and she experienced the hunger winter. Granddad hid Jews, young German soldiers (who didn't want to fight) and stranded British airmen all over the farm and kept them alive during the hunger winter by feeding them tulip bulbs, the farm cats and whatever he could give them. So many Dutch people were sacrificed, but also sacrificed themselves to help others. It goes to show that war achieved nothing.....except a lot of sorrow!

[@rjvanhouten]

The reason why (after WW2) my father refused to stand in line for food EVER again - not even a walking buffet or dinner - was that he survived the 'Hongerwinter' as a 17 year old in Rotterdam. Totally understandable.

[@Rick88888888]

Indeed. Is he still alive? It would be great if he (or you) could share some of his memories here

[@criminalitycollective]

My grandmother is the same way. Towards the end of the war she has to leave her home in Schiedam and walk to the farmlands to have a small chance of getting more food. Then when the war ended she was sent to live with a host family in Denmark for 6 months. Being hungry and taken from her family to live with people who she couldn’t communicate with had a real effect on her. She never wanted to go back to Denmark and also hates eating rice now. She’s still alive today at 92 and I’ve sent this video to her iPad.

[@rjvanhouten]

@@Rick88888888 No, regretfully he passed away in 2011, when he was 84 years of age. During that last winter of the war (when he was 16, turning 17 in february 1945) he had to go in hiding from the Nazis because of the 'Arbeitseinsatz'. When he occasionally had to go out on the street, he dressed as a 12 year old: in short trousers and a cap on his head. That way he tried to avoid being picked up and sent to Germany. He succeeded, and lived to tell the tale.

[@criminalitycollective]

One thing that’s always stayed with her is that she never ever wastes food. She could hate the food she’s eating but she’ll eat it anyways. Sometimes because dangerous as she’d eat and serve us expired food…

[@ridderstalpers]

My Dad left Amsterdam for the US in 46. He told us it was the best thing he ever did. Went back to Holland to pick up my Mom in 49. He got everything setup here in the states, house, car, in a rural area of Los Angeles. He past in 83 before he saw his 1st grandson. If there was a war movie, or TV show on that featured Nazi's he go ballistic, lots of swearing Dutch and English and just fit to be tied.

[@carmelbrain7399]

Ended with hope when they were getting fed, glad to see the food reached them in time

[@jimmyhillschin9987]

Wonderful Rick. Love to the Dutch people and to you for showing this. Children eating after being starving. There is nothing better than that.

[@Hebrews13.8]

Heart-wrenching video…to see people, especially kids, ravaged by famine.

[@PlanetImo]

Thank you Rick. Very well made, as always.

[@Rick88888888]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@wan4891]

Thank you very much for making this video about these circumstances with which people had to survive only a few months before I was born in The Hague in late 1945 🙂

[@Rick88888888]

Glad it was helpful!

[@edberg3589]

En bedankt voor dit beeldmateriaal .mag nooit vergeten worden😢

[@Rick88888888]

Graag gedaan

[@clivewebster1288]

So sad! Thank you for sharing this film

[@joeeagles7528]

My mother and her siblings went through this. It had a profound effect on them, long after the war. My mother and her sisters were sent to a farm to stay there and find shelter and nourishment. They had to walk for two days to get there because all transport had stopped. It was a very harsh winter then so they must have been quite cold. Along they way, they would ask for a piece of bread at farms. After the winter, they returned to the big city and did what the children in this footage did: scrape the bottom of the food barrels. All of them survived the war but it left marks on them. Don't think that it can never happen again. WWII and the 20th century in general are example of what humans and States are capable of of doing against their fellow human beings. Food has always been used as a weapon. Thanks for this footage. You never fail to deliver.

[@DaveSCameron]

Such an unfortunate and unforeseen catastrophe and as an English man I have to feel more than most due to the major part my country played in this often overlooked horror. Of course it was down to the German army and it's typically selfish actions of that era flooding the area and holding futile fortresses which tipped the balance of an already precarious food supply over to nothing grown along with the appalling cold of one of the most fierce winters ever but the failure of Market and Garden clearly played it's part too. Many thanks as always Sir and God bless you and yours over the 'sea. 🙏The Netherlands 🇳🇱

[@joeeagles7528]

Operation Market Garden was overambitious and probably never could have worked, even if the conditions had been better. Still, it liberated large parts of the Netherlands and many young British men died or were injured during that operation. I was once at a local cemetery where some of these British and Common Wealth men were buried. It was truly a humbling and sobering experience. These men were so young. Some of them had families who had to go on living without their husbands, fathers, brothers. Mothers lost their sons. I recently came across a small documentary by Mark Felton on how after the operation, the Germans made several attempts to drive the English and Canadians back. The Germans lost many men. The situation was so tense and fierce there. Also, the situation in South West Netherlands (Zeeland) was very tense. The operation to liberate that flooded part was huge and also overlooked by history. The 'hunger winter' was also partly the result of the Dutch railway company going on strike after being instructed to do so by the Dutch government in exile in London. They themselves of course did not go hungry...The Germans, however, did not care much and only allowed food droppings at the last days of the war. Unlike other countries in occupied Europe, which were under the administration of the Wehrmacht, the Netherlands was under the administration of the SS and they were quite nasty, as the SS were all over Europe. My mother and her siblings went through this dark period. She and her sister were sent to a farm. That was arranged by the church. They had to walk through severe cold for two days to get there. After the winter, they went home and until the liberation they had to experience the hunger and hardship there. She told me that she also scraped these food barrels. Nowadays we think that it cannot happen again but history has shown that food always has been used as a weapon. Anyway, God bless the English and yours over the 'sea. We owe you a lot of gratitude.

[@eamo106]

When I visited Amsterdam in the 2004-6 , we were supposed to visit the Grand Dutch museum. I took my kids to a special Museum event covering this time instead. I and they have never had hunger. We are an Irish/ Venezuelan family, both of us recalled hunger in our families in past years. This is a powerful film, thank you.

[@marcelmoulin3335]

Hartelijk dank voor het filmpje. Vanuit het voormalige Nederlands-Indië in januari (?) 1946, gingen mijn Indische ouders naar Den Haag waar ze bij een tante woonden. Het was nog een moeilijke tijd. Ik wist echter niet hoeveel de Nederlanders aan het eind van de oorlog geleden hadden. In 1957, verhuisde mijn familie naar Californië waar ik opgroeide. Toen ik jong was, spraken ze nooit over de vreselijke tijden. Nu met pensioen, woon ik weer in het vaderland. Rick, ik waardeer uw werk!

[@Rick88888888]

Dank je wel!

[@e.l.dobber1489]

Mijn moeder ging in de ijzige kou op hongertocht naar het oosten. Over de kale vlakte bij Eemnes op een fiets zonder banden. In Harderwijk kregen de hongerige mensen soep bij de California-fabriek. Ik ben daar als zoon nog steeds dankbaar voor. Eet het liefst California-soep !

[@asfsfafafafafaf3382]

Dat lag niet allemaal an de Duitsers, ik hoop dat u dat begrijpt. "De oorlog die veel vaders had".

[@midnaurthqua6773]

Your bits of film are priceless! How quickly people forget....

[@corneliusoliver7984]

Thank you to all responsible that put these videos together.

[@billkunert7281]

Heartbreaking

[@Rick88888888]

Indeed, it makes me emotional every time I watch it (especially the kid who reaches out to get his bowl of soup). The music enhances the emotion too.

[@TheNwest]

Hartelijk dank voor het delen van dit beeldmateriaal. Het is heel ontroerend om dit bijna 80 jaar later te zien, en ook in kleur. Het lijden van burgers in oorlogstijd is in deze film maar al te reëel. Dit mag nooit vergeten worden, vergeten is het verleden herhalen. Greetings from Tasmania/ Australia. ❤️🤍💙🌷🦘🇦🇺🇳🇱

[@TheMaxpit]

unbelievable and sad times......

[@raaf4678]

This is so saddening. Especially seeing children having to go through this.

[@prairiehills416]

My wife's family lived in Nymeigan, and had to move to the country during this period in order to survive. A 5 year old brother died from Allied Bombing in 1944. There's a book written alone, about the civilian losses of the City during the War.

[@abcdef.fedcba]

I think you mean 'Nijmegen'.

[@PoekiePoekie79]

@prairiehills416 Bart Janssen (a Dutch author) wrote two books about the civillian losses of the city of Nijmegen. I don't know if there are English versions available. The Dutch titles are: (First book) De pijn die blijft -------------------------------------------- (Second book) Het verdriet van Nijmegen 1940 - 1945 A question: Is your wife able to read the Dutch language?

[@rb239rtr]

My dad fought for the Canadian army in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. If i remember right, he was billeted with a dutch farm family 1945-1948, before he was demobilized back to Canada in 1948. Also if I remember right, he was talking with his hosts regarding feed corn for the cows, not pleasant but perfectly edible.

[@Rob-ky1ob]

When that boy at 3:10 put out his hands to receive some food, I could not stop crying. This is so sad.

[@Rick88888888]

Indeed, it touches me too every time I watch the film

[@everexpanding1]

My mum was a child in Holland at this time. She never talks about her childhood 😢

[@elcasho]

So sad. War is evil

[@herberthartwig8544]

This was so sad 😭 so Rick! Those poor Children 😞😞

[@robinsalario4372]

my grandmother had a grocery store in slikkerveer, ridderkerk. she was a widdow. my mother was 12 when the war started and had to go on her bike to get food and got milk from the farmers she visited. my great aunt ate a cat, my mother told me, and shot crows. my mother had a wartrauma. she will be 95 next thursday.

[@hermankranendonk]

My father lived also in Slikkerveer,He died 2 years ago in the age of 92.A Lot of stories heard from him.

[@lg5819]

The look on those faces when the two kids received their meals broke my heart. 3:20 No child or adult should live without food when our world is blessed with so much. War never serves a purpose unless you are defending your country from an illegal invasion from an occupied force. Hitler will never leave purgatory for the evil he, and his lackeys inflicted on the innocent people and children of the Nederland’s. 🙏🏻 ⛅️

[@mejuffrouwvandalen]

My grandparents had to send 5 of my dad’s siblings to the eastern part of the Netherlands because of hunger in Utrecht.

[@runwayyield4531]

Very interesting footage. Thank you for posting. People who grew up after WWII - at least in the West - have been conditioned to believe that hunger and misery is an anomaly, something they and their (grand)children will never experience. They are mistaken. 8 billion people on the planet now, and growing by approx. 200.000 daily, against the very quickly deteriorating biophysical basis of our existence means that soon we will see famine and disease return in a big way to our societies. During WWII many people did in fact survive because they had knowledge and skills for growing and preserving food. People nowadays are totally clueless. Nobody knows or understand where their water and food comes from and how fragile the system is. Instead they are playing around on their smartphones and ordering out pizza.

[@Rick88888888]

I fear there is a lot of truth in what you are predicting.

[@mahraz1]

The weight of humiliation on humanity's shoulders....It's never been heavier...

[@narvul]

Both my parents lived in The Hague during the Hongerwinter. My mother was so malnourished that she was selected by the Red Cross after the war to live in Denmark for a year to strengthen. She never changed part of her baby teeth.

[@ridderstalpers]

My Mom and Dad went thru that. Never spoke much about it was only when my Tante (Aunt) came in 57 did my bother and I hear about it. Pretty harrowing to be there during that time.

[@fumblerooskie]

These are truly heartbreaking images.

[@marvinhaagsma9177]

Dankje wel Rick! My mother lived in Voorburg during the war. She starved. She was 21 years old and weighed only 90 lbs in April 1945.

[@sanderp1440]

Mijn vader Coen van der Pol was geboren in Juni 1940 in Den Haag. Door zijn zeer jonge leeftijd heeft hij nagenoeg geen herinneringen aan die tijd. Op een zeer levendige na die hij me wel eens heeft verteld. Bij hun thuis stond een pannetje warme melk in de keuken die hij in zijn speelsheid per ongeluk om gooide. Zijn moeder mijn oma die een hele lieve vrouw was werd toen ongelooflijk kwaad op hem. Mijn vader had zijn moeder nog nooit zo boos gezien en is dit nooit meer vergeten. Zo waardevol moest dit ene pannetje melk zijn in die tijd.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video rick,so very sad,hard to watch,a sad time in Dutch history 😔

[@allartbyramona]

Awful... just awful. Really good this stays under our attention! But so sad to see and realize my grandparents live this. Generations after should be way more grateful we live in peace and wont have to suffer like this.

[@williamtraynor-kean7214]

My late father flew a Lancaster on Op Manna, always said it was the only operation he enjoyed in WW2.

[@Anonymous-xb2km]

Heartbreaking.

[@iceblueaquamarina7389]

Nobody should go through something like this, no matter which age, no matter which country. 🙁 My mum was a kid during WW2. I remember her telling me that there was nothing but a bed and a big wooden box in her bedroom. The box was full of flour…and flour worms. She always told her mum that she was not going to eat anything that was made with this flour. Grandma put the flour in a strainer to get rid of the worms. When the meal was cooked - roasted flour soup, bread, flour dumplings - my mum had been so hungry that she put aside the disgust.

[@asfsfafafafafaf3382]

Mijn hart huilt.....vreselijk. Vergeet niet dat iedere oorlog, ook de in 1947 begonnen Korea-oorlog, en Vietnam, en en en.... kinderen laat hongeren. Neem dat mee in de toekomstige keuzes!

[@julianciahaconsulting8663]

This is superb documentary film making; the film footage is simply amazing. A true historical document this is.

[@LisetteHamers]

Dankjewel voor de mooie video’s die je laat zien ❤️

[@Rick88888888]

Graag gedaan. Er komt nog veel meer (staat in de 'startblokken')

[@EowynRises]

My mother, born in 1931, was sent off in 1944 from Amsterdam to a farmer family in Noord Scharwoude. This was arranged via the church. She went partly by barge via the Noord Hollands kanaal. She told me there she could drink as much karnemelk as she could handle. Later that winter she got pneumonia but survived. They didnt have anti biotics. She had a very robust health and lived to be 89. No food was wasted when I grew up. Every left over was saved for the next day. My grandmother had a miscarriage due to malnourishment in '44. It was said that the baby suffered from sugar beet poisening. When my mum returned to her parents after the liberation, apparently my oma said: Are you back already? There was not much food available in Amsterdam right after the war.

[@vluggejapie]

Mijn oma heeft destijds haar dure en mooie Engelse kinderwagen moeten ruilen voor een rotte zak aardappelen, zo hoog was de nood. Dit heeft haar de rest van haar leven achtervolgd tot haar dood, zoveel pijn deed het. Blij toe dat wij dit waarschijnlijk nooit zullen meemaken

[@Xandra02051970]

Het is te hopen dat wij dat niet zullen meemaken, maar alles wijst erop dat het wéér staat te gebeuren. Voor minstens 1 miljoen Nederlanders is het al de realiteit. In de oorlog waren er ook mensen die weinig merkten wat er gaande was, net als nu. Er zijn steeds meer mensen die een beroep moeten doen op familie, vrienden, buren, kennissen of voedselbank. Er is een hoop verborgen armoede! En het zal nog erger worden, want er zijn nu maar liefst 130 voorstellen van belastingverhoging. De crises worden veroorzaakt door de ware machthebbers, die nu een wereldwijde staatsgreep zijn begonnen. Verdiep je erin, want dan ben je beter geïnformeerd en voorbereid en kunnen we het misschien nog tegen houden. Een prima boek hiervoor is; 5Gates van Benjamin Adamah.

[@majagoedegebuur9451]

Ik ben het helemaal met je eens Hoe zal ons plaatje er de komende winter uit zien ,? ik denk dat het geen kwaad kan om houdbare dingen in te slaan Serieus en kaarsen of iets om eten op te warmen gr maja@@Xandra02051970

[@bazza945]

I remember being told that due to the hunger many dogs were killed for food, including the Keeshonden; and tulip bulbs, also.

[@achimschmidtke8404]

Rick, you have done and are doing a great, unique job. I admire you. This film is so touching that it makes me cry...

[@EL-IZ-At-BETH-sarim]

My father had the same experience, but then in Rotterdam. He told me how he scraped every bit of food from the big pans. I remember him, upset and crying when watching famine, especially children....

[@rubinkuppel1]

This appears to be not midwinter (when i was born in Voorburg) but more in spring. Terrible times. Thank you for showing this in such a special way

[@Rick88888888]

Some of this film was after the liberation (8 May 1945)

[@morethancurtains]

my father was also born in Voorburg 1928. My grandfather kept bees as a hobby (he used to own a drapery store but it ceased trading early in the war). He also had a small garden plot. He kept his 6 kids fed during the famine, combined with a few irregular visits from my Aunts boyfriend who worked for the Dept of Agriculture and used to smuggle the occasional fish to them. When we were growing up in Australia in the 1960s, Dad would be upset if we refused to eat Mum's dismal cooking..he always threatened to feed us tulip bulbs!!

[@Penpalinflorida]

Very powerful film. Thank you for colorizing it.

[@wtfbuddy1]

A very powerful piece of important history preserved by you, thank you for this and sharing with us. Cheers and stay safe

[@jourwalis-8875]

Very emotional!

[@bertiewooster3326]

The Royal Air Force put a massive effort into delivering food to Holland .

[@Rene_Sintemaartensdijk]

Yes they did, but only in may 1945 for many too late.

[@gomorikaroly2626]

I think the main problem that we already forgot this period even it was happening in our past…. Unfortunately , we have to do without again in order for what is now natural to be valuable Thankfully from Hungary 🇭🇺

[@chrisgay9623]

I didn’t known there was actual starvation in such an advanced country. The misery Hitler wrought is incalculable. It almost seems fictional.

[@alexandrau6096]

Not just hitler… try searching for cannibal island here on KZbin. It was the place where the Russians had send ppl during ww2 so they could starve or eat each other. On that note the situation of the Dutch ppl was far more favorable. And no I don’t judge them for scrapping every last bit out of those containers, if that’s the way to survive then that’s a better way to survive than eating your neighbors! Compared to back then, we would nowadays be in an even bigger pinch. I know how to hunt and scavenge plants in the woods, but I also know most of it can’t be eaten anymore, because of certain diseases being spread as a way to diminish the numbers of certain wildlife and diverse substances being spread on plants that make them inedible…

[@Brandos_channel]

It was the Netherlands own government that banned and took away their food. Everything is not hitters fault..

[@SurfinScientist]

@@Brandos_channel You don't know what you are talking about. Oh, BTW, the Netherlands were governed by the Nazis at the time, just in case you didn't know.

[@petcatznz]

@@Brandos_channelThe German forces in northern Holland were by this time starving too. They took everything they could plunder and as a consequence let the Dutch civilian population starve. Time to brush up on your history a little perhaps?

[@Rene_Sintemaartensdijk]

​@@Brandos_channelthat is true, the Dutch government in London ordered the Dutch railway workers to go on strike during "operation market garden" so the Germans where forced to use only German railway workers and as punishment they only transported goods for the German army. Up that time the Dutch railway transported food from Germany and the east part of the country where was plenty enough food.

[@clinteastwood9420]

😢

[@aarnouddegroen]

Heel hartelijk dank voor deze - en andere - beelden op uw kanaal. Indrukwekkend!

[@Rick88888888]

Graag gedaan!

[@ismael_Rtp]

It makes me very sad what those children experienced at such a young age. 😢

[@alvashoemaker8536]

I’m familiar with the history of this time, but…SEEING those children’s’ faces ties me in knots. Even in those horrific times, those children were so well behaved! (I wonder what, if any, the long-term effects of this period had on their health?). 😲😔

[@j.a.schuurmans3790]

Indrukwekkend. Dank voor de uitleg. De beelden breken mijn hart.

[@BullishBearNFT]

Ik ben er ook even heel stil van. Hoorde altijd een verhaal van mijn Oma dat ze moesten lopen van Den haag naar Groningen om eten te halen. Met deze beelden erbij snap ik het dat je de gok neemt om 200 km te lopen voor eten.

[@turkishpunisher6386]

Its so sad to know, that these people had a tough life. Even more sad is, that misery still exists in 2023 and probably will last few hundred years.

[@curly8029]

Thank you for this wonderful film.

[@pa4tim]

Mijn moeder vertelde dat ze in de hongerwinter bloembollen aten. Weer een mooie video, bedankt, weer wat historisch materiaal gered.

[@Rick88888888]

Het zit allemaal diep verscholen in stoffige bunkers en vrijwel ontoegankelijke internet archieven die bovendien vrijwel niemand weet te vinden: Beeld En Geluid, NIMH, Stadsarchieven, Eye etc. Ik roep al jaren dat ze al hun materiaal op KZbin zouden moeten zetten (net zoals bv. British Pathé) en ook met software eerst behoren te restaureren, maar ze doen er geen fluit aan. Straks is iedereen dood die nu nog interesse in zulk materiaal heeft...

[@burhanhavuz3161]

Als immigrant die momenteel in Nederland woont, wil ik mijn dank uitspreken aan de mensen die destijds hebben geleden. Moge God medelijden hebben met degenen die zijn gestorven en gezondheid schenken aan degenen die achterblijven.

[@MrChiel78]

And when you open facebook or Twitter you see people, with their well fed bodies, complaining about how bad their life is. I hope those people get to see this some time in their life for a good realitycheck.

[@willemdederde6669]

wat is 'gezichtsboek' en 'vogeltjes' .. ?? Volgens mij gaat dit over nederland . . .toch?

[@radarplotextractor3168]

My father was in the Canadian army, and the soldiers would sneak as much food as they could to the children who were at their camps fence.

[@morethancurtains]

my father always spoke highly of the Canadians. Apparently they used to hand out chocolates to the children during liberation

[@Innok888]

Thank you for video ❤

[@geraldbandala]

A really heart broken view of the children's starving is so much more emotional