Stories

Gelderland Remembers

Thousands of deaths, huge numbers of evacuees, unimaginable damage to homes and other buildings—all the result of the final year of the Second World War in Gelderland. From 17 September 1944 to May 1945, this province was at the frontline in the Netherlands. Cities and villages were under fire; Arnhem, the Veluwezoom and the surroundings of Groesbeek were evacuated and flooded. All regions of Gelderland were affected by the war in that period.

On 17 September 1944, Gelderland and Noord-Brabant were the battlegrounds during Operation Market Garden. Tens of thousands of paratroopers landed near Arnhem, Groesbeek, Veghel and Eindhoven. A ground army of tens of thousands more soldiers and heavy equipment advanced north from the Belgian border. The Allies intended to conquer the bridges over the great rivers and advance into the Ruhr area—the heart of Germany—via Gelderland. The operation was only partially successful, Arnhem turned out to be a bridge too far, and the battle there was lost. The south of the Netherlands was liberated, the north and the middle remained occupied, and the big cities in the west were facing a terrible famine. Until the liberation in April and May, Gelderland and, more specifically, the region of the great rivers formed the frontline of the war.

Gelderland Remembers - 75 Years of Freedom

5 stories

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden

A bridge too far

The year is1944, and the war is raging at full force. During Operation Market Garden, tens of thousands of Allied paratroopers land in occupied territory and a ground army advances from the Belgian border. The…

View story
Frontline period

Frontline period

Flooding, shelling and evacuations

After the failure of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the area between the Waal and the Rhine forms the new frontline. The battles are fierce with heavy shelling from both sides. The civilian population…

View story
Jodenvervolging

Persecution of the Jews

Threat, terror, exclusion, persecution and deportation

At the end of 1942, Jewish Gelderlanders are arrested and transported by train to Westerbork. Many of them end up at Auschwitz where they are gassed. Jewish patients from Het Apeldoornsche Bosch psychiatric facility undergo…

View story
Operation Veritable

Operation Veritable

Attack on the Rhineland

The winter of 1944: British Field Marshal Montgomery is planning a large-scale operation to conquer the left bank of the Rhine. In just a month and a half, the army grows to almost 500,000 soldiers….

View story
Liberation

Liberation

Canadians liberate Gelderland

At the end of March 1945, Allied units enter Dutch territory in the Achterhoek. After heavy fighting, the path to liberate the rest of the Netherlands is open. On 5 May 1945, German General Blaskowitz…

View story

Experience ‘Gelderland Remembers’ at the following events

1 Aug - 31 Dec

‘De Vergeten Executie’ – Audiotour

Audio tour through Sonsbeek park about 'The Forgotten Execution' during WWII.