Holland Focus January-February 2013

photo frontpage: see article 'The Stroopwafel' on page 40, photo by Hans Westbeek

CONTENTS

ARTICLES______________________

REGULARS_____________________

5 Nhunda Art Exhibition

9 interview with H.E. Mrs Annemieke Ruigrok 10 2nd and 3rd generation Dutch

in Australia and New Zealand 12 20 24 26 30 32 36 40 44 56 66 67

Footprints as Stepping Stones Great things come out of the blue... with Bavaria Ivan O'Mahoney The Orange Tulip -Ad Rem - a favourite in Australia Partij voor de Dieren celebrates 10th anniversary Bad Jazz Political climate and elections in the Netherlands The Stroopwafel - Paola Westbeek Abel Tasman's visit to Golden Bay - New Insights Bep Gomperts - My war started after the war Brieven uit een dodencel Thies Jan Jansen

alk has donated, and signed by her, 'Zo is Ria' COMMUNITY NEWS_____________ s , 'Doe's FF normaal man' CDs and her very lar birthday-calendars to give away to Australia the 22 Dutch Language and voorleesmiddag 59 Sinterklaas ers of Holland Focus.

61 nieuws uit Zuid-Australiё news - Henny Crijns-Coenen in the draw for 64 oneWA of the CDs, DVDs or 68 The Nachtwacht in Australia - Rembrandt Club news day-calendars answer this question: 70 Sinterklaas 71 Stirrers news

which country did Rocking Billy Ria’s first hit- migrate?

3 4 6 15 16 28 35 35 38 39 43 47 48 50 52 54 55 60 62

editorial write to hf and gezocht G'day - Geothermal Wonderlands Dutch/Flemish cinema - Darren Arnold A picture book called Middelburg events in the Netherlands - Erik Feenstra Gedicht Belicht - op een haas Crooke - Edo Fuijkschot Fond Memories Dutch Cuisine - Beetroot Salad book review Taals Taaltje - Verschrikkelijke taal Maria Douwes - Amsterdam Connecting Marcia - Making friends with the 'G' words de leesplank kids - Alieska Manintveld Verbeeldingen - Frans Hertoghs What's What?

Profiel van Jan en Val van de Giessen Kiwikorrels - De verre eilanden

COMPETITIONS_________________ 2 win double passes to screening

of the Nederlands Dans Theater 3 VIP tour through Anne Frank House in Amsterdam 21 Renew subscription and win a Lekker Bike 61 win DVDs Great Southern Land, Go back to

where you came from and Go back, series 2

your answer and postal address to ox 169, Olinda Vic. 3788, Australia mail to editor@hollandfocus.com boekbesprekingen

An evening with SOL LEÓN AND PAUL LIGHTFOOT 19 & 20 January 2013 BALLET 1 : SHOOT THE MOON - Choreographers : LEÓN & LIGHTFOOT BALLET 2 : SAME DIFFERENCE – Choreographers : LEÓN & LIGHTFOOT BALLET 3 : SH-BOOM – Choreographers : LEÓN & LIGHTFOOT

AU$16.50

Postage within Australia included send your cheque or money order to the writer

Alida van den Bos 86 Waikiki Road Bonnells Bay NSW 2264 Australia telephone +61 (0)2 4973 3397 e: alidavandenbos@bigpond.com

NDER VILLAGE

on Of Queensland Inc.

Welcome to the world of in-house choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. During this evening, they take you with them to their artistic universe for a whole evening. You can see the characteristic style of the successful Spanish-British choreographers duo in the humorous SH-Boom in a version that has never been performed in the Netherlands.

You can also enjoy the powerful theatrical Same Difference, set on music by Philip Glass.

The closing choreography Shoot the Moon, also on beautiful sounds by Glass, gives you a glimpse into the love lives of several characters.

We are giving away five double passes to the screening of the Nederlands Dans Theater on 19 and 20 January nationally.

Please email your postal details to editor@hollandfocus.com before the 15th of January 2013 to go into the draw for a double pass in selected theatres throughout Australia.

2

Letter from the editor Another magazine brimming with interesting articles has been produced for you. Unfortunately we cannot place everything we receive in the magazine, but luckily we also bring out an e-newsletter to inform you about the many events -that have a Dutch touch- being organised throughout Australia and New Zealand. Some giveaways are only placed in the e-newsletter, others only in the magazine. If you don’t receive the newsletter as yet, please send your email address to editor@hollandfocus.com and we make sure it will be included. The good thing is that it is free, gratis, belangeloos, for nix. Note that articles placed in the magazine will not be placed in the e-newsletter.

Again we have different competitions running and Lekker Bikes has donated another pushbike to give away to a new subscriber or a renewal before 31 August ,2013. Make sure you renew to go in the draw.

We haven’t been advertising it lately, but we still give one edition extra to subscribers that give a subscription to someone else. Make a note of that!

The NCCA had their end of year dinner at the end of November and they have introduced three different Cloggie awards that were announced on that night. I was the winner of one: the network award. I was very surprised as I don’t like to be in the limelight and just do things I like doing, but it is always nice if people recognise that. So thank you!

That reminds me of the Anne Frank exhibition. If you are travelling to the Netherlands soon and would love to have a VIP tour through the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and are willing to put some books in your luggage, please contact me at iet@annefrank.org.au and we will arrange the tour. If you know of a venue the Anne Frank Travelling Exhibition could be shown or would like to sponsor it, contact me as well.

Don’t just use the contents page to decide what you will read, but flick through the magazine as well. You might be pleasantly surprised and find more articles you like than the ones just ‘jumping out’ on the contents page.

On another note: we received a press release from SBS Radio that they are changing the broadcasting of ethnic languages. Instead of 68 languages it will increase to 74. However, the drawback is that the Dutch language section will lose ½ of its broadcasting time and will go from 4 hours analogue radio (and 3 hours on the National Radio Network) to just 2 hours on analogue radio per week, starting the end of April 2013. Although, the two hours will also be available via digital TV, online and mobile apps.

It is not known as yet what consequences it will have for the presenters. We will keep you informed.

3

f h 2 e t i wr

Ik ben zo benieuwd of iemand ooit geprobeerd heeft om worstenbroodjes te maken en wat voor’n bloem je moet gebruiken. Mijn man en ik komen uit Brabant en het is daar traditie om worstenbroodjes te maken. Ik heb verschillende keren geprobeerd om ze te maken, maar helaas nooit goed gelukt. Wie kan mij helpen?

M. Bastiaansen

PO Box 169, Olinda Vic 3788, Australia E: editor@hollandfocus.com

In haar artikel "Bring back Dutch butter" (een uitstekend artikel!) schrijft Paola Westbeek o.a. dat "the first butter replacements were on the market by 1960".

Nu, ik ben oud genoeg om me de vooroorlogse jaren te herinneren en in die jaren, de "crisisjaren" dus, was de "Blueband" margarine in de winkels te koop. Het werd met enige tegenzin gekocht, want wij Hollanders houden nu eenmaal van onze boter. Maar gedurende die jaren was er veel werkloosheid en de stuivertjes moesten nu eenmaal zo'n keer of drie omgedraaid worden voor ze werden uitgegeven, dus menigeen had geen andere keuze.

Over margarine gesproken, ik herinner me ook dat ik, toen in 1955 in Nieuw Zeeland arriveerde, de margarine daar volgens de wet niet kunstmatig botergeel gekleurd mocht worden! De zuivelindustrie daar te lande was toen zo invloedrijk dat dergelijke wetgevingen mogelijk waren!

Het resultaat was, zoals bedoeld, dat de margarine er zeer weining werd verkocht, wegens haar nogal ziekelijk aandoende kleur.

Ik moet U trouwens complimenteren met Holland Focus.

Ik lees het altijd from cover to cover met veel interesse en plezier.

C. Fieggen

t h c o gez

Ik weet weinig over mijn echte vader het enige dat ik weet is dat hij in 1961?? naar Australië is geëmigreerd, met zijn vrouw. Ik denk vanuit de gemeente Ede, omdat ik daar geboren ben.

Mijn echte moeder wil mij de naam niet geven van mijn echte vader en hij kan mij nooit opsporen, want mijn echte moeder heeft mij 2 dagen na mijn geboorte ter adoptie afgestaan, wat hij niet weet. Hij weet dat ik ben geboren en denkt dat ik bij mijn moeder ben opgegroeid.

Mijn vader heeft nog contact vanuit Australië gehad met mijn moeder in Nederland (1 of 2 jaar) en wilde graag veel informatie over mij en graag foto’s. Toen ze hem die niet kon geven, omdat ze niet eerlijk had verteld dat ik door de kinderbescherming bij haar ben weggehaald, heeft mijn moeder het schriftelijke contact met hem stopgezet en nooit meer zijn brieven beantwoord.

Ik ben echt wanhopig! Ik heb pleegouders gehad die allang niet meer leven. Ik heb kleine kinderen en hoop dat er ooit nog een kans bestaat dat ik mijn vader en mijn familie hun opa kan ontmoeten??

De naam van mijn moeder is Hendrika Mijnten haar roepnaam weet ik niet.

Ze was getrouwd met Rik Meijboom en is 1 maand voor mijn geboorte van hem gescheiden. Ze heeft gewoond op Nijverheidsplein 5 in Ede. Wilma van de Craats gabby659@hotmail.com

I am delighted with the presentation of our DASI's historical feature that you were so kind to publish for us. I have had very favourable reaction from many subscribers of your magazine and I wish to thank you very much for the effort that has gone into the production.

Thank you very much Iet, it is very much appreciated.

John Vlietstra - President DASI

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a VIP tour through the Anne Frank House Are you visiting the Netherlands soon and would you like to get a VIP tour through the Anne Frank House?

Are you willing to bring some books to Australia?

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4

Nhunda Art Exhibition in Amsterdam

12 April to 11th May 2013 th

some have ‘Dutch’ blood. That their ancestors had mixed with Dutch survivors of shipwrecks as far back as 350 years ago. Though the Nhunda did not record history as we did or do, their stories, nevertheless have been passed down through the families over decades, in fact centuries. Relics, artefacts, rock paintings and carvings do show some very interesting possible evidence.

In approximately June of the year 1712 the Dutch VOC ship the ‘Zuytdorp’ smashed against the cliffs that now bear its name just south of Shark Bay, Nhunda land; there were 286 living souls on the ship. Evidence was found many years later that there were survivors, that there were remains of a camp fire on the cliff and also artefacts relating to the ship and that time period, scattered about.

The VOC Historical Society in Western Australia lead by Tom Vanderveldt have been researching the possible Nhunda and 18th century Dutch shipwreck survivors link for 13 years now. With the consent of the Nhunda people DNA testing was undertaken and the results at this point in time look very encouraging.

Mrs Helen Nutter, founder of ‘Kalaya Dreams’ will be launching a collection of Aboriginal Art in Amsterdam early in 2013. Helen was born in Geraldton Western Australia, though her home town is Northampton. Known as Nhunda country - the country of her aboriginal heritage.

The Nhunda tribe of the upper Murchison district has received some limelight lately on account of the Zuytdorp incident of 1712. Recent research by the VOC Historical Society for the past 4 years has discovered a possible link between the survivors of the ship and the local Nhunda population - way back 300 years ago. Current DNA testing is showing some very encouraging results and in early 2013 the extent of this will be promulgated. This is likely to coincide with an exciting exhibition of ‘Nhunda Art in Amsterdam’. From the 12th of April till 11th of May these pieces of art will be on display at the ‘Connie Bos Gallery’ at Zwanenburgwal 78. The VOCHS is very privileged to have made contact with the curator of the art Mrs Helen Nutter who will be present at the launch on the 12th of April 2013. Further details can be obtained by phone 08 92073590 or email vocsoc@iinet.net.au The Nhunda (also known as Nanda) people have existed on the Western Australia side of this vast continent, once known as New Holland, long before any British settlement.

Their lands range from Shark Bay in the north to well below Geraldton in the south. In fact, if history and research can be believed then the Australian aborigine has been in this land hunting, gathering and fishing for approximately 50,000 years – a very long time.

The Nhunda people have been firm in their belief that

the VOC Historical Society in Perth WA

5

G'day

Geothermal Wonderlands words and photos Jaap van Splunter Apart from the touristic interest of this geothermal wonderland I was impressed by the geothermal energy generators I came across here. Geothermal energy is an important and sustainable solution to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the tapping of energy from the earth could reduce energy costs of many a country.

On the other side of the globe, Iceland especially has to maintain their edge. To be able to adhere the volcanic power into one of the cleanest energy technologies in the world, one needs more than a simple fireproof pipe to the centre of the earth. They are well aware of that in Iceland. Their fearless pioneers made their discoveries on a bubbling, steaming work floor on severe and desolated

It seems that the smell of rotten eggs still lingers in my clothes. Which is partly true, after having washed my swimwear and towel five times, the smell of the mud bath in Hell’s Gate, Rotorua is not quite gone. And still, I accept the penetrating sulphur smell wholeheartedly.

Sure, the rolling green hills on the Northern Island, the impressive Sounds on the Southern Island and the unique flora and fauna, undoubtedly turn New Zealand into a top destination. But the geothermal wonders make it really special.

Although volcanos and geothermal regions are more or less haphazardly spread throughout the world, they mainly are concentrated along the boundaries of the tectonic plates and around the mid-oceanic ridges.

Especially around the Pacific Ocean (Pacific Rim) such a concentration has been identified, the so-called Ring of Fire. New Zealand is slab-bang in the middle of this, with Rotorua and Ruapehu being the hotspots. It does not come as a surprise that many tourists from all over the world travel to New Zealand to visit this natural phenomenon. Although, one has to stay alert, it still is an active volcanic region, as the recent eruption of the Tongariro proofed.

6

volcanic planes, where the earth’s crust is ready to burst. Resulting in the brilliant result of clean energy for a quarter of nowadays country, which started off as a life threatening natural force. While the rest of the world worries about reducing CO² and the fast reducing oil supply, In Iceland they shrug their shoulders about this. Their technique to supply energy is clean, efficient and inexhaustible and directly available. Geothermal energy starts in the centre of the earth, where stones liquidise and gas sears. By using the right technology and many years of experience Iceland knows how to turn this natural force into a total profit, with particularly beautiful flowers and plants as the only noticeable greenhouse effect. And a very warm feeling.

I left the geothermal wonderland in New Zealand feeling the same, because here

too they are working innovatively on this sustainable energy supply. In this world of diminishing fossil fuels and greenhouse effects it is a reassuring thought. And isn’t it beautiful that smaller countries like Iceland and New Zealand – on both ends of the globe – are the forerunners in this.

NCCA, the business networking organisation for the Dutch and their associates in Australia

photos left: Taupo in New Zealand; above: Geothermal Iceland

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interview with H.E. Mrs Annemieke Ruigrok

Dutch community in Australia forms a bridge between both countries words Yolanda Edens By presenting her credentials at the Government House in Canberra on the 26th of September 2012, H.E. Mrs Annemieke Ruigrok has been appointed the new Ambassador of the Netherlands to Australia.

Annemieke Ruigrok was born in Pijnacker (Zuid Holland) and studied Eastern European History, Russian and International Human Rights in Utrecht. She started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986. “The work at the foreign service attracts me, because it is very versatile. It is very diverse, not one day is the same. You could be doing internal businesses in the morning and have meetings with ministers.

In the afternoon you receive visitors from the Netherlands and in the evening you may be part of a cultural meeting. It is a challenge to promote and represent the Netherlands and the Dutch interests in the best possible way.”

Annemieke speaking at her first function in Melbourne: the NCCA end of year dinner.

Lithuania. “Highlight to this posting was my involvement with the organisation of Queen Beatrix’ visit in 2008.”

Not a 9 to 5 job The position of an ambassador is not a 9 to 5 job.

“Ambassador is a 24/7 job for four years. It is not always easy to go back after four years and say goodbye to the country and the friends you have made. The trick is to hand over to your successor - in the best possible way - what you have built up. That can be very hard, as you prefer to finish what you started.” An ambassador regularly returns to the Netherlands for a short or longer period to stay in touch with the home country.

Consular affairs Annemieke has had different postings, amongst others in Jakarta, Moscow and Washington. “One by one, they were all marvellous postings. Anyway, I have had a good time in each country both in business and private.” From 2000 to 2005 she was Deputy Director of Consular Affairs and head of the department of Consular Social Affairs of the Ministry in The Hague. “If I had to choose a position that stands out for me, it would be this one,” she says. “The department I worked for was chiefly concerned with Dutch people that had problems in foreign countries, like illness, death, people imprisoned in foreign countries, kidnapping or victims of a natural disaster. It was not an easy position; you are constantly dealing with family members and you often are their last hope. They expect you to solve it while that is not always possible.

But when you could do something for them, however small, it would be very satisfying indeed.”

Collaboration Netherlands-Australia What is the first impression she gets from Australia? A beautiful country and very accessible, but an extensive country with friendly people. Australia has several and large Dutch communities and a good relationship between Australia and the Netherlands on e.g. economical, military and political areas already exists for a longer period.

We have meetings with the state of Queensland about collaboration concerning water management. We also would like to organise a horticultural mission to Australia, as there is a lot of interest in Dutch products. And culturally we have recently started preparations for the Dick Hartog year in 2016, what would be a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relation between the Netherlands and Australia.”

Bridge During the short period that Annemieke has been in Australia, she has not had a chance to see much of the country. “But I hope to be able to travel a lot and to meet people, Australians as well as Dutch living here. The Dutch community in Australia is very active and forms a bridge that firmly connects both countries. Which makes working together and doing things together very approachable.”

Highlight From 2005 to 2009 Annemieke was ambassador to

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2nd and 3rd generation Dutch in Australia and New Zealand In search of the Invisible Dutch – Announcing a new research on 2nd and 3rd generation Dutch in Australia and New Zealand Dutch migrants have settled in Australia and New Zealand in considerable numbers since the 1950s. While much has been written about the lives of first generation Dutch in these countries, far less is known about their offspring, the second and third generation. In fact, we know so little about them that the term ‘Invisible Dutch’ is often used to describe them.

The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and the Netherlands Embassies in Australia and New Zealand are working on a research program about the role and meaning of Dutch heritage for the second and third generation immigrants of Dutch descent in Australia and New Zealand. Although there are no official records, it is estimated that there are more than 300.000 Australian, and 100.000 New Zealand second and third generation Dutch migrants. The two upcoming research projects will be running alongside each other, comparing and discussing results along the way.

Dutch immigrants to Australia and New Zealand have very successfully integrated into their host countries.

sinterklaasfeest in Sydney photo Saskia van der Put

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The first generation, who migrated in the fifties adapted very well to their new homeland. Unlike many other immigrant communities, the Dutch in general did not form a close-knit community and maintained a strong visible own national identity. There is no Dutch equivalent for example to the Italian or Greek diaspora in Australia and New Zealand. For their children and grandchildren, the notion of Dutch origin seems even more remote.

Although some argue that a trend can be noticed in particular among the third generation to rediscover their roots. On the one hand this almost perfect assimilation stimulates social and economic participation, and the Dutch immigrants have indeed been quite successful in that. At the same time it also raises the question about the significance of Dutch ancestry for this group. This question has both theoretical and practical implications.

From a theoretical point of view, it may shed light on the issue of the meaning of Dutch identity as such. From a practical point of view, it is important to investigate to what extent cultural and economic relationships between the Netherlands and the host country can benefit from this heritage.

The research will focus on five main questions: What is the meaning of Dutch heritage for second and third generation immigrants? To what extent are they still interested in Dutch culture and tradition?

To what extent are the experiences in Australia and New Zealand similar and how do they compare with experiences of Dutch immigrants elsewhere, such as for example Canada?

What sets Dutch migrants in Australia and New Zealand apart from other migrant diaspora groups who seem to sustain their cultural identity much stronger such as the Greek, Italian, East European and Asian communities?

How can the second and third generation Dutch migrants contribute in strengthening cultural and economic relations between Australia/New Zealand and the Netherlands?

In the first project phase a comprehensive literature review using document and policy analysis will be undertaken. In this phase qualitative, semi structured interviews also will be conducted with high profile key informants as well as a selected group of second and third generation Dutch migrants. It is the intention to present the results of the first phase at a migration conference in Melbourne second half of 2013. This report will form the basis for a possible broader follow-up thereafter.

One of the main objectives of this study for our two embassies is to formulate a joint strategy how we can best keep the Dutch heritage alive in Down Under. A heritage built on a long history but also very strong people to people linkages.

We count on your support and cooperation.

What can we learn from the Dutch migrants in terms of ‘successful integration’ for the discussion of national identity in the Netherlands?

WS-Adv-Holland Focus-92x136mm.pdf

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05-02-12

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Footprints as Stepping Stones Dutch-Australian Heritage Symposium on Dirk Hartog commemorations in 2016 This one-day symposium at the National Library in Canberra was organised by the Dutch Embassy and the Centre for International Heritage Activities (CIE), Leiden, on November 1, 2012.

Speakers were: Mark Corbould on behalf on the National Library and the Symposium Chairman, Alec Coles, the new CEO of Western Australian Museum. Further opening statements were provided by Alison Stone, of the Heritage and Wildlife Division, Department of Sustainability, Water, Population and Communities, and the new Ambassador of the Netherlands, Annemieke Ruigrok. Mrs. Ruigrok made a good impression and it was particularly heartening that she announced that Australia had recently become a priority country for heritage funding by the Dutch Government, a change strongly advocated by the DACC since 2007. words Klaas Woldring Dutch Australian Cultural Centre, Smithfield – Sydney participants of the symposium, centre front Dutch ambassador Annemieke Ruigrok and Klaas Woldring standing on her left

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Dr Philip Playford heritage (at the Maritime Museum) was part of that.

Nonja Peters devoted her session to the Dutch family migration after WWII which largely concentrated in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. She listed possible projects for 2016 and pointed out that no less than 320,000 people in Australia now claim Dutch ancestry. This knowledge is important in that many of these descendants could be regarded as potential audience for events during 2016.

Edith van Loo handled the military aspect of the themes and convinced the audience that there has indeed been considerable military cooperation between Australia and the Netherlands. She provided ample figures to back these claims up, also discussed the tragic Broome episode and the Battle of the Java Sea. Doug Hurst, author of The Fourth Ally, contributed to the session. A discussion of the stories and hardships of veterans and NESWA concluded this part of the proceedings.

The Introduction to Dirk Hartog was done by veteran scholar Dr. Philip Playford of WA, an early Australian author of note in this field. He also co-discovered the Zuytdorp wreck in 1954, wrote about the Hartog pole and pewter plate in 1955 and about the de Vlamingh’s travels.

He was asked to form an Ad Hoc Committee to restore the Hartog Island Light House in 2003, followed by another, permanent Committee in 2006. Playford produced some excellent maps of the 17th century period on screen.

This was followed by Workshop 1, by Peter Reynders and Rupert Gerritsen, of the 2006 Australia on the Map Committee. They talked about events that took place in Australia in that year celebrating 400 year of contacts between the Netherlands and Australia. In particular, these heritage activists were considering what were the lessons learnt from these experiences of use for the preparation for 2016?

Roelof Hol, of the Dutch National Archives, followed with an overview of the Dutch National Archive activities, which also cover mutual cultural heritage. He confirmed that Australia was now also a priority country and that finance would be available for education, culture, science and foreign affairs. A breakdown of actual amounts was presented, ranging from €200,000 to €900,000 for projects.

Workshop 2 was divided in three groups: thematic divisions were required, in quite a short time, to formulate thematic activities towards 2016. A PR specialist, Phillip Jones, spent rather too much time on the theoretical aspects of these approaches. In spite of the lack of time, representatives came up with remarkably lucid priority lines. The principal aspects were: What do we want to achieve? Who and how can we approach possible sponsors? And how do we go about implementing the plans?

Dutch Australian ‘thematic’ presentations were then made on maritime issues (Andrew Viduka), the military (Edith van Loo) and migration (Dr. Nonja Peters). Viduka convinced the audience that in all areas but certainly marine archaeology (e.g. finding more shipwrecks) are so many ways to interact that it would not be difficult to find relevant projects. Viduka emphasised the need for an overall theme and he thought, probably rightly, that the 164 years of Dutch-Australian history could best be presented as the recovery of the (nearly) lost history.

The protection of the ANCODS collection of underwater

An Intermezzo followed after lunch in the form of a book launch by Christobel Mattingley who has written a new book My Father’s Islands: Abel Tasman’s Heroic Voyages. The author explained that she had been inspired

by Tasman’s daughter from his first marriage, Claesgen (Klaasje). The dialogue is; this girl referring to the often away Tasman and his remarkable experiences around

13

Tasmania and the New Zealand islands. This is certainly an unusual approach and gives the book the flavour of a children’s book.

After this Chairman Alec Coles provided a summary of the finding of the two Workshops.

This was followed by Panel 1 comprising four eminent contributors: Prof. Malcolm Tull, an economist; Mark McCallum representing (Shell) David Galloway (Ferart Design) and Akky van Ogtrop, Curator, Dutch Link and DACC representative.

The principal objective of this panel was to consider Public and Private sector Partnerships: How to create ‘joint’ ownerships of the 2016 celebration.

Chaired by Arnold Stroobach (Zernike) there were real difficulties in this session as the initiators of these cultural and heritage events were not just public identities but rather community-oriented operators and also the Netherlands wants to highlight their contribution to this continent’s history. Malcolm Tull struggled with a very lengthy definition of a PPP that interacts with a cultural organisation.

Akky emphasised the benefits for community involvement

rather than governments or private sector corporations.

After this a short trailer film was shown for the 2016 celebrations, by Dutch TV, presented by Carole Overmaat.

The four-minute trailer was quite well received by the audience, but a film maker I spoke with later thought that, in spite of obvious enthusiasm, a lot more technical adjustment had to be applied to it before it would pass mustard professionally.

In Panel 2 further discussion took place about organising large-scale events – benefits and challenges again in relation to partnerships between public and private sector.

Chaired by Kevin Sumption, Director of the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney.

Sumption stressed particularly not to overestimate the potential audience. Who are your audience? How small or large is it? How do you communicate with this audience?

He even wondered: Is it worth doing? This should be one of the first research questions; a valid point as, in contrast with 2006, the Dutch migrants of the 1950s and 60s will have departed from this earth or will be too old to do much anymore. An excellent contribution came from Rebecca Millar from Kalbarra, WA, Events Manager of a highly successful recent event to commemorate the Zuytdorp disaster, just 300 years ago.

The research, at Leiden University, about the fate of the survivors who are believed to have mixed extensively with the Nhanda tribe, has added great interest to this event locally, regionally and even nationally, resulting in a huge number of visitors. Millar suggested that the region had come to life. Business opportunities had accompanied the influx of visitors, which was much appreciated. Apparently, most visitors were not Dutch migrants. The other speakers were all fairly optimistic about communicating effectively with the Australian community to generate interest. It was suggested that the ABC should be tapped into for educational and media support.

The key note speaker Dr. Peter van Onselen (The Australian/Sky News/Western Australia University) was introduced by the Dutch Ambassador who summarised outcomes of the day.

Peter devoted most of his speech on his education and experiences as a second generation migrant. His father was Dutch and his mother American. He talked about his period as a political science student. When he decided to join a political party he had difficulty in deciding which of the two major parties he favoured most. He went for the Liberal Party, as many would know. Regrettably, van Onselen had little to contribute to the proposals regarding the 2016 celebrations. However, he offered to write about it in the Australian if there was interest in that. He proved to be a humorous speaker who, as he said himself, could “talk under water”.

The closing reception was hosted by Dutch Ambassador Annemieke Ruigrok.

Mr Peter van Onselen 14

Dutch/Flemish cinema OUR CHILDREN words Darren Arnold

Last issue we looked at Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone, which has since won best film at the 2012 London Film Festival (bfi.org.uk/lff). This time around we have Our Children, another excellent offering from the festival that coincidentally is written by Rust & Bone’s screenwriter, Thomas Bidegain. Two of the actors in Our Children Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup - previously starred in the

Bidegain-penned A Prophet, which, taking us into a very neat full circle, was directed by Audiard.

Got all that?

Our Children was one of the toughest watches of the festival, yet also one of the best. The subject matter - and its treatment - will undoubtedly be too much for some, but Bidegain and Belgian director Joachim Lafosse handle this horrific tale with remarkable sensitivity; it may as well be said now, as the film’s opening shots all but spell it out, that Our Children’s story is one of a woman who kills her own children. Inspired by the 2007 real-life case of Genevieve Lhermitte, the film is largely driven by an electrifying performance from the terrific Belgian actress Emilie Dequenne (shamefully third on the bill here), who burst onto the scene back in 1999 with her Cannes-winning performance in the Dardenne brothers’ Rosetta. Quite rightly, Our Children saw Dequenne win a second acting award at Cannes.

Murielle (Dequenne) and Mounir (Rahim) are a young couple who decide to get married; four children follow in

fairly quick succession. All of which sounds pretty normal, but this young family has a problematic element in the form of Dr. Pinget (Arestrup). The wealthy Pinget brought the young Mounir from Morocco to Belgium and raised him as his own, and as benign as he initially appears, it’s soon clear that he has no intention of giving the family (or at least Mounir) their own space. The couple and their children share Pinget’s home -- Mounir has even been given an admin job in the doctor’s practice -- and as both parenthood and the suffocating domestic arrangement start to take a heavy toll on Murielle, Pinget becomes less sympathetic towards the struggling mother, which merely serves to exacerbate her condition.

As you would expect, and as already mentioned, Our Children is a very hard film to sit through, but it nonetheless deserves to be seen. Dequenne’s incredibly moving and entirely believable performance is reason alone to see this immaculatelyassembled film, in which superb performers Rahim and Arestrup wisely go the understated route, seemingly well aware that Dequenne pretty much commands the whole movie.

On a very different note,

there’s just time to mention

Excision, one of the most enjoyable horror films I’ve seen for some time.

Like Our Children, it’s a fairly grueling affair, although obviously in a very different way. As gory as it is in places, it proves that the modern horror film can be witty and intelligent.

It’s on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

15

A picture book called Middelburg

16

Approaching through the flat countryside surrounding Middelburg, the eye automatically gets drawn to the Lange Jan (Long John tower), as it is called. This more than 90 metres tall former abbeytower is perhaps the most striking element of the Middelburg skyline. As well as being the showpiece of arguably the most beautiful museum in Zeeland.

Heralding the fine treasures this museum annex provincial seat of government of Zeeland has to offer.

And Middelburg is well equipped with historical buildings. The town has a district court- a cantonal court and a prison within its walls. An amusement park north of the city centre, displaying a miniature version of the island Walcheren is an added attraction. It is very similar to Madurodam in The Hague. It is called Mini Mundi, displaying striking buildings of Walcheren -on a scale of 1:20- that are considered landmarks of the island.

The easiest way to get to Middelburg is taking highway A58 from Bergen op Zoom to Flushing (Vlissingen). Driving on a winding road along the outskirts of the town, you finally arrive at the market square (by the way, there are many affordable parking facilities in and around town).

words Jan Weijdt

previous page: market square; this page: Lange Jan (from town Hall); and St Joris Doelen

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Standing on the square, you really don’t know where to look first. The overwhelming architecture of the former town hall, in late gothic style, dating back to 1458, would be a good start. In 2004, Middelburg had the honour to welcome the first university of Zeeland within its city walls. This university, called ‘The Roosevelt Academy’ has been accommodated in this historic building.

The Academy has been founded in cooperation with the University of Utrecht.

Just for the readers that do not know Middelburg all too well, some additional information about the place: It is the capital of the province of Zeeland, situated on the former island Walcheren. At present Middelburg has a population of approx 50,000. In recent decades the surrounding villages Nieuw- and Sint Joosland, Arnemuiden and Sint Laurens have been consolidated with Middelburg.

Some time ago we went to visit Middelburg for a decent town walk. It was an early and rather chilly Sunday morning. But, luckily for us, a small restaurant on the square had already opened its doors, on the menu a hearty, homemade pea soup (snert) with smoked sausages, rookworst. First class food to get early bird walkers ready for a leisurely stroll through the town.

Consequently the following two hour walk would be no problem with a satisfied stomach and warm feet to start off.

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It soon turned out that the record for looking around and walking backwards would be broken that day. From whichever angle you look at the old town hall, the Lange Jan tower or the other monumental landmarks’ perspective and constructional details, they never cease to amaze.

Especially the old town hall reminds of that majestic town hall of Leuven in Belgium. The difference is that, compared to Middelburg, Leuven’s town hall has a profusion of baroque statues and ornaments on its façade. Fitting in with the regional character. As they put it over here: “Ons Zeeuwen bint zuunig” (we from Zeeland like to live frugally). But throughout the centuries Middelburg certainly has not been frugal in embellishing its town centre.

Walking from the market square to the next eye-catcher, the Norbertijner Abbey, being guided by the towering Lange Jan. This abbey was founded around 1125-1130.

To get a more complete picture: the abbey consists of Lange Jan - the Abbey Tower, a Canonical Church (Koorkerk) and the (built in the 15th century) New Church (Nieuwe Kerk). Presumably, Count William II, father of Count Floris the V, has been buried in the Canonical Church.

left top: Pandhof in the abbey (Johan Bakker); above: tomb of Cornelis and Johan Evertsen (BasvD); left: Fragment of the façade of the eighteenth century mansion ‘De Dolfijn’ at the Lange Delft 64. It accommodated the Provincial Library since 1898. It was destroyed on 10 May, 1940 by German bombs. In 1988, parts of the façade have been placed throughout the city and named The Explosion.

built in 1607 and has been named after the people who originally used it: the kloveniers of Middelburg.

Kloveniers were marksmen armed with muskets using gunpowder. A ‘Doelen’ was a kind of a shooting range for musket marksmen. After that the building has been used as a military hospital. The Kloveniersdoelen has been renovated extensively. Despite the excellent condition it is in now, it is not being used. But it’s a fine example of the efforts made to restore Middelburg to its former glory using the available funds. And to be honest, looking at the pictures, they have succeeded very well in Middelburg, thank you very much. On the other end of the street is a canal where boats depart regularly for tours through Middelburg.

The marble tomb of Zeeland’s nautical heroes Cornelis and Johan Evertsen are in the New Church. Close to the abbey is the 15th century Munttoren. Nowadays the abbey accommodates the Provinciehuis (County Hall) and the Zeeuws Museum.

Middelburg received its city rights as early as 1217, from Count Willem the First of Holland and Countess Johanna van Vlaanderen. In those days the sea-inlet ‘het Sloe’, east of the town, was still navigable. This enabled Middelburg to develop into a prosperous merchant town. Second only to Amsterdam in the Republic of the United Netherlands.

Both the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) and the Verenigde Westindische Compagnie (VWC) had a so called ‘Chamber’ in Middelburg.

During World War II Middelburg and Walcheren have suffered extensive bombing. The inner city got badly damaged by the Nazi bombardments on May 17th, 1940.

Which happened again in 1944 by Allied bombing, trying to smoke out the Nazi-troops. Many old buildings, including the town hall, have been rebuilt and restored after 1945.

A pleasant addition to visiting Middelburg is that the seaport town of Flushing (Vlissingen) is less than 5 kilometres away. It is not too troublesome to make a trip to the jetty where a huge statue of our national hero Michiel de Ruijter is keeping an eye on the Schelde-river as well as the North Sea. There is always a lot of action going on, with pilot boats coming and going into open sea, hopper dredgers loaded with sand dug out of the Schelde river. Dumping it a few miles further on into the North Sea. And of course, the RoRo ferryboats to England.

So, hope to see you soon in Walcheren.

A few streets down from the abbey, standing in front of a mansion called the Kloveniersdoelen, one cannot but endorse that this is another fine monument that withstood the centuries remarkably well. It’s a prominent building on the ‘Pottenbakkerssingel’.The mantion was

photos this page and page 16 and 17: Promotion Zeeland Delta and Beeldbank Middelburg

right: town hall; below: Mini Mundi; below right: Kloveniersdoelen

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19

Great Things come Out of the Blue… with Bavaria In 1719, Bavaria beer was already being brewed with its secret “blue” ingredient: love and care in selecting the best ingredients. 300 years down the track, the careful selection of barley, the Brewery’s own first-hand quality yeast, pure 100% mineral waters from underneath the Brewery itself and the passion of brewers’ centuries old recipe make Bavaria a unique, true blue beer.

Down 3 centuries and the hands of 7 generations within the Swinkels family, Bavaria revamped its image this year.

Blue has transcended the passion and ingredients to its conquering of people’s taste buds in over 140 countries around the globe.

Far from the traditional barrel, a beer is now presented in a passionate, held-grabbing, colourful and emotive blue label. Welcome to the new World of Bavaria, where Great Things come Out of the Blue.

Summer 2012/13, whatever you do, wherever you go, Bavaria will transport you to all occasions: Catch the Blue line as they say and may the brewers’ passion for this family beer tilt your taste-buds.

Greetings for a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.

Enjoy Bavaria responsibly this Festive Season.

Bavaria comes in a 5% Premium 330ml stubby, 500ml can and 660ml long neck. Bavaria recently extended its range to include the 2.8% Bavaria Light, 8.6 by Bavaria, a 7.9% specialty beer in a 500ml tube and 650ml long neck for serious lovers of beers with character.

For more info, email us at info@unwinedliquor.com.au or visit www.unwinedliquor.com.au

20

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21

sponsored by

Dutch Language Australia and voorleesmiddag

Corry Pynaker

In 2009, Ann Sneyers and Renee Feikema started the Dutch Teachers Association to promote the Dutch Language in Australia and create a community of teachers and students of the Dutch Language.

The organisation has been redesigned into one that focuses on promotion of the Dutch language in Australia as opposed to teaching only. This means a new name ‘Dutch Language Australia’, but the same goals, i.e.

To promote the Dutch language in Australia, To build stronger ties among the Dutch-speaking communities, To build cooperative partnerships with other organisations and groups interested in the Dutch language, To support students and teachers of the Dutch language in Australia.

One way the Dutch language has been promoted is by doing Dutch reading sessions for children between ages of 2-8 years to encourage them to read, sing and talk in Dutch. The sessions are run by Corry Pynaker, a native Dutch speaker who loves to sing and read with these young children. The sessions have been very popular in recent months.

The sessions are set up typically for children who are trying to learn and understand Dutch. They include children (with their parents and grandparents) who were born in the Netherlands and speak Dutch at home as well as children that only speak English or some that speak no Dutch at all but have grandparents originating from Holland.

Some parents are trying to learn the Dutch language themselves, a very diverse group indeed.

De voorleesmiddagen op 27 oktober and 1 december in Camberwell waren een geweldig succes.

Beide middagen waren gericht op het komende Sinterklaasfeest.

Dus werden er volop Sinterklaasverhalen verteld en ook heel veel Sinterklaasliedjes gezongen.

Wij kregen het voor elkaar het hele boekje door te zingen, en voor iedereen had ik een boekje gemaakt met diverse sinterklaasliedjes.

Het was gewoon heel erg leuk om samen met de ouders, opa’s, oma’s en kinderen weer de favoriete Sinterklaasliedjes te zingen.

De kinderen zongen volop mee en dat is gewoon een genot om te zien.

Wij lazen een leuk verhaal over twee stoute Pietjes en ook van de paardekeutelpiet.

Dat is de Zwarte Piet die achter het paard van Sinterklaas aanloopt over de daken. Machtig mooi zulke verhalen.

Wist je ook dat er een paardekeutelpiet bestaat?

Die meeloopt wanneer Sinterklaas de daken over gaat?

Hij loopt achter het paard aan en door de goten op het dak met zijn paardekeutelprikker en zijn paardekeutelzak.

Ziet Piet ergens weer een keutel, roept hij ‘Wacht! Die is voor mij’, en zo houdt hij alle daken paardekeutelvrij!

Ouders, opa’s en oma’s zijn ook van harte welkom, maar laat even weten als je van plan bent te komen.

The sessions have an informal and playful character, with singing, dancing, story-telling and gezellig koffie for the adults and a way to socialise with others.

Details voorleesmiddag 1st Saturday of the month (usually) Next session Saturday 2 February at the Dutch Library: 940 Toorak Rd, Camberwell. It starts 2:30pm till 4pm approx. Short 5 min break around 3:30pm.

We ask a gold coin donation for coffee and to support the library. New members please advise children’s names, ages and contact Corry Pynaker sopranocorry@tpg.com.au

Please note: books are available to buy/borrow at the Dutch Library for adults and children.

In order to borrow books you will need to pay a membership fee of $10.

Donations of good and fairly new and popular Dutch books are always welcome.

22

Ivan O’Mahoney I will never ever take such notions as freedom for granted Ivan O’Mahoney is a documentary director and television producer. He is the man behind the series Go Back To Where You Came From and Great Southern Land. The last one has been shown on ABC-TV very recent and was - like all his documentaries - a great success.

Not so well known is that Ivan has a Dutch background. His Dutch mother, from Amsterdam, met his Irish father in the UK where subsequently Ivan was born, the family moved to Amsterdam soon after. His father was a golf-professional and for many years, has been the coach for the Dutch National Golf Team and under his guidance they won the Eisenhower Trophy for the first time ever.

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After Ivan had finished a master degree in International Law at Leiden University, he first had to do his duty for the country and join the military force for one year.

“I did my Dutch military service with the Royal Military Police (Marechaussee) who seconded me to a UN platoon in Tuzla, Bosnia,” Ivan explains. “As a peacekeeper, seeing one of the century’s major conflicts play out before my eyes, I was often struck by the role of the media in keeping the eyes of the world focussed on a problem most people would rather ignore. When several years later – after 4 years as a lawyer – I decided to become a journalist my experience in Bosnia definitely played a role in the types of stories I wished to tell. It certainly drove me to focus heavily on human rights.” Ivan was awarded the UN Force Provost Marshall Commendation for Performance Beyond Duty.

The Bosnian experience has influenced Ivan’s life considerably.

“I will never ever take such notions as freedom for granted. There is a saying on the RSL club in Rose Bay, where I live which says, ‘Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom.’ This is really true. We can never become complacent about such matters.”

Ivan started his professional career as a Litigation Attorney with a firm in Rotterdam. Even then Ivan won an award (Winner of the National Young Bar Association’s annual moot court championship) and many awards followed. “After a career in law in Rotterdam with big city firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke, I moved to New York in 1999 to do a post-graduate degree in journalism at Columbia University’s Journalism School”, Ivan says. “When I graduated I was offered a job as an associate producer with CNN in Atlanta. From there, I moved on to London.”

Ivan’s master’s project at the New York uni was a documentary on the US Navy and the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques, which was acquired by PBS/Thirteen in New York.

In London, Ivan met his wife Tash, who is Australian.

“After eight years in London, she got quite homesick.

She missed the fresh air, the beach and the wide open spaces”, and they moved to Australia in February 2008.

Australia. A second series has been made, but was not directed by Ivan. “I am on staff with the production company that made Go Back. Great Southern Land, my recent project for the ABC, was simply commissioned before the second series of Go Back (for SBS) got up. It was a new and exciting challenge,” Ivan explains.

On our question if it was as confronting for him and the crew as it was for the participants, Ivan answered: “For me personally, truthfully, it was nothing I hadn’t seen before after a decade of covering conflict and poverty.

I think it had a much bigger impact on the participants, although needless to say the crew was very moved by what they saw and, at times, outraged.”

Ivan’s latest series was Great Southern Land for the ABC. By taking a unique aerial perspective this three part series unlocks the otherwise hidden patterns, systems and networks that keep Australia fed, powered, on the move and thriving.

“The show wasn’t my brainchild to be honest, but developed by our executive producer Steve Bibb. It was inspired by BBC shows like Human Planet, Britain from Above and Inside the Human Body. It looks at how modern Australia works and by taking a unique aerial view, allows us to unlock otherwise hidden patterns, systems and networks. It is a ‘BIG’ show that looks at big themes like agriculture, electricity production, transport, telecommunications and our complicated relationship with the natural world. The cool thing though is that the narrative is mainly driven by the stories of individual Australians who are in the type of jobs that drive the nation. It is thus both grand in scale and personal in its storytelling.”

Ivan is very proud to be living in Australia and will soon become an Australian citizen. “Like every country (Holland included) it has its flaws, but generally it is a fantastic place to live. My two young sons are growing up with a great love of the outdoors and we try to get them into nature as much as we can. Sydney is terrific for that.”

win win win

In the meantime his professional career took off. Like everything he does he gives it 200%. Ivan developed, produced and directed many documentaries for different channels. He became a director with BBC Current Affairs and founded StoryLabTV. After moving to Australia Ivan worked for different companies and also had a stint at lecturing at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School for one year.

Baghdad High (2008), Law & Disorder, Code of Silence (both 2009), Umoja: No Men Allowed (2010), Go Back To Where You Came From (2011) and Great Southern Land (2012) were the documentaries he made while living in Australia. Many people will have watched the 6 part miniseries Go Back To Where You Came From.

Where six ordinary Australians agree to challenge their preconceived notions about refugees and asylum seekers by taking a reverse refugee journey themselves for 30 days, retracing the steps of real refugees who came to

To go in the draw to win one of these DVDs please go to page 61

25

The orange tulip a favourite in Australia AD REM, Australia's favourite

In 1960, tulip grower Dick Bakker, his wife Judy and three of their children left Hoogkarspel for Australia. In Australia they bought a farm to grow tulips again. Very soon he could plant the first 1000 tulips on their newly bought farm in Monbulk, situated in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. Through the years they grew different flowers, apart from tulips. Initially, Nick, the oldest son, was not interested in taking over his father’s business and decided to work in construction.

Nick married Els, also a child of migrated tulip growers, Nic and Martha Koomen. “Originally we lived in Grootebroek, Noord Holland, later we moved to Luttelgeest in the Noordoostpolder. We lived there for about 14 years before migrating to Australia in 1968,” Els explains. “At 14 I did not like our move away from the Netherlands. But I did not have a choice: only the offspring over 18 (6) were asked If they wanted to go (they all said yes), but the youngest 5 were expected to go! They tried to keep me positive and told me about the pleasant girl’s school they had heard about and that I would go to that school.”

words and photos Yolanda Edens

Els and daughter Nikki

26

7 years after Nick and Els’ marriage they joined Dick and Judy on the farm and traded under the name of TA & NL Bakker. Apart from tulips they produced different flowers, the variety of crops dependent on market demands.

However, tulips were the constant factor in the business.

The fact that Els too grew up between tulips made the decision to take over the company of Nick’s parents easier. The new company was renamed TNB TULIPS (T and N Bakker).

In the meantime Els’ parents’ tulip growing business was taken over by her brothers. “In reality we are competitors”.

approx. 40 varieties. “The Dutch prefer to buy short stemmed tulips with the flower heads just starting to open. Australians do prefer long stemmed tulips. The orange tulip, Ad Rem, is a favourite in Australia, mainly due to its weight and large size. The demand of varieties varies per season: February, March and September are favoured months to get married and the white tulips are in high demand. Also, tulips are the second most sought after flower for Valentine’s Day.”

The tulip bulbs needed to produce the cut flowers are cultivated in two different districts. “We import about 5 million bulbs from the Netherlands for the February to August production. For the months Aug/Dec we grows bulbs in Tasmania, approx. 1-1.5 million bulbs for flower production, as the climate there is better for growing tulip bulbs than here in Victoria. These bulbs are processed here in Monbulk.” That farm has been expanded substantially over the years: new sheds, cool rooms and hothouses that meet all standards to create an optimal climate to grow tulips throughout the year. The hothouses are entirely climate controlled. Trays filled with tulips move, completely computerised, systematically through the hothouses. At specific spots the flowers are watered and fertilised. “Even contacts from the Netherlands came to have a look at our set up”, Els says.

Nowadays Els Bakker calls Australia home, but she still has her Dutch passport. “I am Dutch, but also Australian,” she confesses. “When I am in the Netherlands I feel at home, but after I return to Australia it also feels like coming home.” Nick and Els both maintain their Dutch identity. “We don’t speak Dutch at home, but both of us still speak it fluently. Our daughter, Nikki, grew up here and mainly speaks English. She does understand and speaks some Dutch, (her father teaches her the local dialect!) and she stayed in Lutjebroek when on holiday in the Netherlands, two years ago. I don’t know if she wants to take over the business eventually. But it would be great to keep the Dutch heritage in the business.” In the meantime Els and Nick Bakker stay responsible for the production of more than 6 million tulip flowers per season. That makes them one of the major tulip growers Down Under.

Tulips are very popular in Australia. TNB TULIPS sells

See TNB's advertisement for more information.

27

eropuit.blog.nl

Events in the Netherlands What’s up in The Netherlands? Summer is over, the days are getting shorter. Amusement and theme parks close their doors and events change from summer into winter activities: from open air to indoor events. The upcoming year will be a remarkable one for the Netherlands and its capital. The Kingdom of the Netherlands will celebrate its 200th anniversary, the Amsterdam canals will be 400 years old and all major museums will have reopened their doors to the public. For more actual affairs please visit: www.eropuit.blog. nl, a Dutch infotainment website about events in the Netherlands. words Erik Feenstra

Amsterdam - city of museums Many major museums in Amsterdam were closed for about a decade, but they are reopening one after the other. Starting with the opening of the Hermitage in June 2009, a new museum along the river Amstel, a branch of the famous Hermitage in St Petersburg. October 2011, the Scheepvaartmuseum reopened after an extensive renovation and in September the Queen reopened the Stedelijk Museum: the museum of modern art. The building, dating from 1895, has been completely renovated and a new wing has been added, nicknamed the ‘bath tub’: because of the distinctive shape of the high-tech rooftop. The result is fabulous. In the meantime, the neighbouring Van Gogh Museum is closed until May 1st for obligatory safety renovations. Part of the collection moved temporary to the Amsterdam Hermitage along the river Amstel. A red thread

literally connects both museums: visitors can follow the 2.2 kilometre long thread, 5 metres high above the streets, from the Van Gogh Museum to the Hermitage. Along the road they can listen to ‘voices of Van Gogh’ through speakers, reminiscing about his art and the world around him.

The Rijksmuseum is finished Last but not least on April 13th the Rijksmuseum will reopen its doors to the public. For ten years the building has been closed due to drastic renovations; meanwhile, famous works like Rembrandt’s Nachtwacht and Het Joodse Bruidje were shown in a small wing. But tourist could always visit other big attractions in the city. Like: the Anne Frank House, the Jewish Museum and several canal houses, for instance the Bible Museum, Purse Museum, Museum of Cats and canal houses with stijlkamers (furnished in period style). Besides,

English: Arrival King William I of the Netherlands in Amsterdam, December 2, 1813.

Book “Panorama van Nederlands verleden” 1880

Herengracht

locks at Zeedijk 28

canals: by opening one and closing another, the water could freely flow through the canals and clean them. Despite this system, the canals were not clean at all. The canals were used for many things: transport, washing, to get rid of garbage and to brew beer. Drinking canal water was a health hazard; everybody –even children – drank beer. Fresh water was transported by boats. The smell must have been horrendous , especially during summer: reason for the rich and famous to build country houses, along the river Vecht, behind the dunes near Haarlem and later also in het Gooi.

In summer they moved their family, furniture and servants to their houses in the fresh country air. Nowadays, many of these country estates are part of the Dutch heritage.

Amsterdam has a large variety of theme museums,: about the history of Amsterdam, Madame Tussauds, the Tattoo Museum, the Hash Museum, the Sex Museum and many more. This spring, Amsterdam will be back on the list of world cities, hosting a diverse range of interesting cultural attractions.

Amsterdam Canals 400 years old Talking about canals: in 2013 the famous Grachtengordel of Amsterdam will celebrate its 400th anniversary. In August 2010 it was placed on the World Heritage list of UNESCO. The Grachtengordel is typical Amsterdam’s: four semicircular rings of canals enclose the old city centre, planned and built in the Golden Age, the 17th century. In those days, when a city expanded, a canal was dug around it, to give protection against enemies. Amsterdam grew rapidly and the four canals are the result: Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and an outer singel. Along the Herengracht the rich and famous built their houses, some looking like stadpaleizen: city palaces: including elaborate entrances, French gardens and carriage sheds at the back (some along the next canal, the Keizersgracht). Along the Prinsengracht many warehouses arose. Bridges over this canal are much higher, because of the ships carrying cargo.

200 years Kingdom of The Netherlands In the 17th century, the Dutch Protestants fought their way to freedom during the Tachtigjarige Oorlog (1568-1648) against Catholic Spain. It was the first independence war and the country became a republic, led by a stadhouder: Willem van Oranje, the ‘Vader des Vaderlands’, who led the war against Spain and was killed in Delft in 1584. The brand new country was called Republiek der 7 Provinciën and included Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen en Overijssel. Drenthe was a remote ‘uncivilised’ area (nowadays we would say: a nature reserve), Limburg wasn’t part of the country and Noord-Brabant was quite a different story. It became part of the new republic, but the Dutch were unable to persuade the inhabitants of Noord-Brabant to become Protestant. As the province remained Catholic, it never became the official 8th province of the Netherlands.

The province was a wingewest (administrative district): the republic only profited from it, without investing in it at all.

Canal water system An ingenious system of locks guaranteed fresh water in the

Napoleon led the way to a Kingdom When Napoleon Bonaparte took over the Dutch Republic, his brother Louis Napoleon became King of the Netherlands in 1805. The Amsterdam town hall – built in the 17th century as ‘one of the world wonders’ – became his palace. After the fall of Napoleon, the son of the last Stadhouder, Willem V – who fled to England - arrived in 1813 on the beach of Scheveningen and was crowned souverein vorst of the Netherlands on December the 2nd. During the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the decision was made that France should return the southern Netherlands (Belgium and Luxembourg) to Austria. Despite the wish of the inhabitants, Austria didn’t want the southern Netherlands anymore: it became part of the Koninkrijk der Nederlanden. The northern part of the country was very poor, the southern part was booming: because of steel and coal mines, for a while it was the 5th economy in the World. Apart from historical and religious differences, language was a big issue (and still is in Belgium): French speaking inhabitants refused to speak Dutch.

Confrontations finally led to the separation of Belgium in 1830. Part of Luxemburg would stay Dutch, as long as a man was on the helm. When King Willem III died in 1890, he did not have a son, only a daughter, Wilhelmina. The small country was now an independent Groothertogdom (Grand Duchy).

Wilhelmina Levensavond On November 28th, 1962 Wilhelmina died. She became Queen of The Netherlands in 1898, at the age of 18, and reigned until 1948. After her abdication she lived quietly in the palace she loved: Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn. Far away from protocol and official affairs, she lived in a few modest rooms in the palace. Until April the exhibition ‘Wilhelmina Levensavond, de stille jaren op Het Loo’ is open to the public. With her death in 1962, an era ended for many older Dutch: not because of her long reigning period, but mainly her role during WWII. In London she led the resistance against the German occupation and broadcasted messages over radio Oranje to the Dutch. She called Hitler ‘archenemy of mankind’; Churchill called her ‘the only man in the Dutch government’.

Please go to www.eropuit.blog.nl , if interested in main news (in Dutch): www.wereldnieuws.blog.nl. Do you have any questions or comments about this site: you are most welcome to react under ‘plaats reactie’).

photo Princess Wilhelmina (1962): ©H. Stokhuyzen 29

Partij voor de Dieren celebrates 10th anniversary words Birgit Blankers

It’s party time for the Dutch Partij voor de Dieren, Party for the Animals, world’s first and only political party that concentrates on animal welfare. On October the 28th, about 500 guests celebrated the 10th anniversary of their favourite political party in the Orpheus Theatre in Apeldoorn. It was exactly ten years ago that their political party became official. But it wasn’t always this joyful.

Long before 2002 four people got together, Lieke Keller, Niko Koffeman, Ton Dekker, and of course Marianne Thieme, the party leader from the start. The four brothers and sisters in arms against cruelty to animals share a similar background.

Niko Koffeman was the initiator of the foundation of the party. In a short speech he compared the animal rights movement with the abolition of slavery and women’s rights movements. Firstly people believed this couldn’t be done or the economy would suffer. But these groups have succeeded and so will the animal rights groups, according to Koffeman.

Ton Dekker, worked at the Meertens Instituut (19632000). He studied change in people’s attitude, opinion and culture. From 1979 he worked for animal rights groups such as Dierenbescherming (SPCA), Bont voor Dieren, rights for fish and the foundation Animals’ home Alkmaar, Stichting Knaagdierencentrum, CDON en de Partij voor de Dieren.

Ton likes to consider animal wellbeing and policy to improve animal lives. He is convinced that people need

to stand up against growing cruelty towards animals, but also to improve animal treatment.

Marianne Thieme studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and studied law at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, particularly animal rights and administrative law. She graduated in 1997. During her student years she became a vegetarian. Marianne Thieme was an active member of the board of the Bont voor Dieren an animal rights movement protesting against the killing of animals for their fur. In 1995, she became the director of the foundation Stichting wakker dier, another animal rights group that stands up for animal welfare in the bio industry. Thieme also tries to convince people to eat less meat or become a vegetarian.

Lieke Keller studied Andragogiek, with a major in communications. From 1991 to 2005 she was the president of the Bont voor Dieren and from 2005 to 2007 she was the president of the Sofia vereniging tot bescherming van dieren (animal protection movement).

Lieke Keller suggested that they should found a political party for animal rights. Once agreed the Partij voor de Dieren took off. While often criticised for being focussed too much on one topic or being unrealistic in their goals, the PvdD grew into a serious political party with 12,250 members on January the 1st 2012, and 182,162 voters at the latest election compared to 122,317 voters in 2010.

The Partij voor de Dieren has two seats in government.

Right from the start the PvdD has the support of Dutch celebraties like: Jan Wolkers, Kees van Kooten, Belinda 30

Meuldijk, Marijke Helwegen, Rudy Kousbroek, Maarten ‘t Hart, Judith Visser, Harry Mulisch, Georgina Verbaan, Robert Schoemacher, Tijl Beckand en Paul Cliteur.

Famous supporters from other countries are former Beatle Paul McCartney and the 14th Dalai Lama, the Indian politician Maneka Gandhi and philosopher Peter Singer.

Party Marianne Thieme thanked Esther Ouwehand, second member of parliament for the PvdD, for her everlasting energy and creativity which she used in, at times humorous, actions to shine a light on the importance of animals rights. The celebration started with the premiere of the documentary ‘De haas in de marathon’, the hare in the marathon. The PvdD considers itself the hare, the frontrunner in politics in the field of animal welfare. The documentary was made by Joost de Haas.

Earlier the party had made the famous award winning documentaries: “Meat the truth” and “Sea the truth”. The documentary showed ten years of hard labour, action and achievements by the leaders and members of the PvdD to improve animal lives. Some activities were hilarious like Marianne Thieme showing up on Prinsjesdag in a military style coat and a beret. Her sash was made of carrots.

It also showed images of unsedated halal slaughter.

To make the use of sedatives before halal slaughter mandatory is a big issue for the PvdD, but also for the entire Dutch parliament and society. Early 2012 the House of Commons agreed with the Partij voor de Dieren, but the members of the Senate were having their doubts.

Especially freedom of religion was the main reason to oppose sedated Halal slaughter. But the PvdD hasn’t giving up. They will keep on fighting for sedation before halal slaughter.

three and look at the number of people that celebrate our 10th anniversary, it’s amazing.”

Why do we need a Partij voor de Dieren?

“We have a programme based on four principles: compassion, sustainability, personal freedom and personal responsibility. We cannot continue to live the way we are living now. We live with huge debts at the cost of animal welfare and human welfare, especially people in developing countries.”

Animal right groups are very important, but as a political party we can achieve more. Just by being there we can motivate the other political parties to take animal welfare in their programme into consideration.”

In the meantime political parties are active in Belgium. England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, USA and Canada. But not one made it into parliament, due to their political system. That makes the Dutch PvdD the first and only Party for animals active in parliament.

In December 2012 Marianne Thieme spoke through Skype during a conference about animal rights in Sydney, Australia.

Canadian political philosopher Will Kymlicka who, in 2001, published the book: Zoopolis, a political thesis on animal rights, about citizenship for animals, spoke about his view on animals as fellow citizens of this world.

Kymlicka considers the Netherlands as a hope giving situation with the PvdD as a great source of inspiration.

“Once citizenship was a tool to shift slaves away from their unjust situation”, he said. “With citizens we have a way of cooperation, we trust each other, there is a physical proximity. This goes for animals as well.”

Philosopher, author and professor at the Leiden University, Paul Cliteur pointed out that there are restrictions to freedom of religion. He compared halal slaughter to the Bible story in which Abraham heard God’s voice telling him to sacrifice his son. ”If you want to sacrifice your children for God we would still call it illegal and forbid it.”

But in the end the members of the Partij voor de Dieren sincerely hope that in ten years there will be no need for the party anymore, because they’ve achieved their goals.

During the break Marianne Thieme finds a moment to answer some questions.

“How do you feel standing here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Partij voor de Dieren?

Marianne; “It feels very special. We started our party with 31

BAD JAZZ words Robert Lastdrager It was beautiful luck, pure and simple. Roy had played cards with a group at the rear of the aeroplane for hours on end and although only for matchsticks had endured an unholy and sustained losing streak.

Approaching Amsterdam after an exhausting thirtyhour flight from Sydney via Jakarta,

Abu Dhabi and Paris, Roy ordered his first beer and calmly suggested they finally play for money. Within forty minutes as the Captains announcement came to prepare for landing he’d stripped them all of their cash, loose change, goodwill and wads of Indonesian rupiah.

At the baggage carousels his fellow passengers felt uneasy and continued to look at him with suspicion as he made his way to the train station for the twenty-minute trip from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam’s Central Station.

Travelling with two heavy bags he decided to chance his luck in the empty and plush compartments of first class, knowing that the inspectors would spend most of the short journey trawling the huddled, lost and tired masses in economy. As Amsterdam came into view the inspectors finally entered the carriage and requested his ticket. “Oh oh oh? Sir, you are in the wrong carriage, you have an economy ticket!” he explained in Dutch. “Sorry, is there a problem? I speak English” he replied innocently.

Within minutes Roy was escorted back into the cramped confines of economy as the train arrived at Central Station. “Next time Sir it will please me to fine you for ticket evasion” the inspector pronounced in a loud and stern voice to the temperamental glares of his fellow economy ticket holders. The doors opened and the smell of coffee, tobacco and cold diesel infused air invaded the carriage. Roy gathered his bags and disembarked quickly nodding and thanking him in Dutch “Bedankt!” before the momentum of the crowd flushed him down the tunnel and out onto the streets of Amsterdam.

32

First stop was a bureau de change where to his surprise the card game had delivered a tidy sum of almost $300.

“However we are currently not accepting the Indonesian rupiah sir, they are not even worth one Euro” the attendant advised sliding the large wad of red notes back in front of him. “Can I suggest you give them to children on the street or just throw them into the canal”. The teller mused.

Roy hadn’t been back to the Netherlands since childhood and waves of emotion washed over him as he wandered the busy fish market before being drawn to the distant cheers and jeers of a large crowd in the Town Square.

He soon found himself amongst a group of boisterous students throwing fruit at a gangly bespectacled man in a blue pin striped suit on the main stage and innocently asked in Dutch who the gent was. Immediately everyone stopped and stared in silent bewilderment and annoyance. “Where the hell are you from?” they mocked and cackled. “Australia… I’ve been out of town for over twenty years” Roy added in Dutch. “Aha, ok, well this is our Prime Minister” they smiled offering him the bucket of fruit. Roy grabbed a large red apple and rubbed it on his jacket before throwing it over the large crowd and onto the stage. “Welcome back, you’ve got a good arm” the students joked.

As sleet began to fall Roy made his way into a small backpacker’s bar behind the Red Light District and secured the last available dormitory bed before preparing himself for an evening on the town.

To the sound of his boots crunching snow Roy noticed what he thought was a large otter frolicking amongst the moored boats in the canal.

Across the lane he entered a small traditional brown café and through a curtain of thick blue smoke took a seat at the bar. An older bar Madam appeared, her ten-storey blonde beehive

and heavy make up momentarily distracting his gaze from her caramel spray tanned neck and deep cleavage, which hid under a mass of gold necklaces. “Hallo, something to drink?” she announced with a detached voice “A beer thanks” replied Roy in English. “Pint? All English gentlemen drink pints, yes?” she said nodding her head with the stern disregard of a customs official. “I’m from Australia, but a pint is a good idea, and a croquette also thanks” replied Roy. “Hey you’re a long way from home, no skippies here!” she nodded and began to pour the beer. “No kangaroos but I think I saw an otter in the canal while I crossed the bridge” Roy offered earnestly gesturing across the lane.

The Madam barkeeper stared sternly into Roy’s eyes before tilting her head back and laughing uproariously, her long pointy yellow teeth and blood red lips reminding Roy of a breaching white pointer shark. “Dat was no otter! Dat was a rat! A Muskus rat! Speaking in Dutch she

then took great delight in belittling Roy

as a half wit from down under for not knowing the difference between an otter and a rat, much to the muffled chagrin of the local customers.

Resting the croquette on a paper plate and pouring the second pint the bar Madam began to share a story in English. “Yes they are big, they came back on the Dutch ships from America centuries ago, they do nothing but eat all of the ducks and fish. In spring it was always so nice to see little ducklings on the canals, but hey they won’t let us kill them…animal rights, can you believe it? Last century the old farmers would catch them in little cages and keep them until almost harvest time, then in the open fields they would lower the animals into pots of boiling oil. The screaming rats would scare all the others away from that farm for the season, and they still won’t let us use boiling oil either!” she added while pouring drinks before rolling her eyes and winking at a table of locals.

“You could have fooled me by the taste of that dirty croquette!” Responded Roy dryly in Dutch for the first time before casually pushing the half-eaten croquette away. A tremendous wave of laughter erupted in the bar as the Madams annoyed blushing face turned to an approving smile announcing a round on the house, and an apology to the Dutch speaking Skippy. Hoorah! The locals cheered and that night they introduced Roy to a Dutch drinking custom “Head Butt” it translated, a beer followed by a shot of Dutch gin and by last drinks he was all out of cash and ready for bed.

The empty snow-covered cobblestone streets tested his balance as he looked at his watch. He thought it read 4.15 and continued to dawdle disorientated whilst trying to roll a cigarette as two tall men approached and asked for street directions in English. “Don’t ask me fellas I’m from Australia, I wouldn’t have a clue” he announced with all the cocky stupidity he could muster.

33

©Jos van Zetten

©Le Deux Alpe

Two short blocks later alarm bells went off in Roy’s head and adrenalin flooded his body as the same two men appeared again on an empty bridge walking swiftly toward him, their intent and body language aggressive and foreboding. In the darkness there was no escape and Roy walked straight up to them and held out his wallet.

“I don’t want any trouble boys, just leave me my licence and cards if that’s ok” he offered. “SHUT UP MAN!” bellowed the leather-clad giant immediately swiping the wallet from Roy’s grasp momentarily exposing the thick wad of red Indonesian notes before pocketing the bankroll to the affirming nods of his accomplice. “You be a good skippy, understand?” his partner whispered menacingly, towering over Roy while forcefully poking his fat silver skull ringed index finger into his chest. “I don’t want any trouble” he repeated staring at his wallet in the dirty snow while preparing himself for a drunken brawl. With that the thieves ran, and so did Roy. “First streetlight they’ll realise” he thought panicking as he stumbled toward the city centre looking for a crowd, his heart pounding like a wounded bird trying to get back to its cage sensing the cats could pounce around any corner and deliver revenge.

The reassuring glow and buzz of red light district came

into view and Roy made his way into the crowds. “That was close” he thought staring into the filthy canal, momentarily mesmerised by the colours of a rainbow in an oil slick held captive by foam coffee cups and cigarette butts. Landing on the stoop of the backpackers he made his way up three flights of steep stairs, creeping into the moonlit 16-bunk attic dorm where a cacophony of snoring, coughing and mumbling sounds awaited him.

“Must be Pirate night” he joked to himself finding his bunk before undressing and manoeuvring his passport and travellers cheques down the front of his long Johns and slowly drifting off to sleep, safe at last.

Without warning a hand gripped his right foot in the dark. “Psssst! You’re in my bed man” whined an American voice.

“What do you want?” answered Roy abruptly, kicking his foot free of the strangers’ grasp.

“Number three man, you’re in my bed,” said the yank again.

“This is number eight you moron, feel the brass number on the bed head” Roy scolded under his breath.

“Ha ha, you tell em Aussie!” chirped an Australian accent out of the darkness before adding, “How’s Amsterdam treating you mate?”

“Like a bloody king” Yawned Roy placing both hands firmly on his groin.

www.tnbtulips.com.au

GB edicht

elicht

Op een haas Een jager in het land van de Regge Wist steeds met succes aan te leggen; Zelfs een haas die hij schoot Sprak nog kort voor zijn dood: ’t Was een prachtschot, meer kan ik niet zeggen.

De limerick is een even geliefde als moeilijke versvorm.

Die populariteit is vooral te danken aan het laatste rijmwoord. Dat moet perfect rijmen op de eerste twee.

Zo ontstaat er een gesloten geheel, een soort rijmdoosje met het laatste rijmwoord als slot. De klap op de vuurpijl waarmee letterlijk het laatste woord gezegd is.

Er zijn meer slechte limericks dan goede. Veel mensen weten niet dat het laatste woord van de eerste regel een plaatsnaam moet zijn. Ook het metrum, het versritme, is ongebruikelijk en nog niet eens zo eenvoudig. En dan is de versvorm ook nog gekaapt door de ondeugende vorm, de zogenaamde schuine limerick.

Maar deze limerick toegeschreven aan Trijntje Fop – de schuilnaam van Kees Stip - is een kaarsrechte en in zijn

soort volmaakt. Dat het afgeslachte dier

met zijn laatste woorden zijn

moordenaar prijst om diens

trefzekerheid is natuurlijk op zich al

absurd. Maar dat de doodgewone

uitdrukking “meer kan ik niet zeggen”

hier ook letterlijk de laatste woorden zijn, is

ronduit geniaal.

En plezierdicht of niet, misschien ga je toch serieus nadenken over de jacht.

Frans Hertoghs

35

Political climate and elections in the Netherlands

words Chris Lampe

The result of the elections in June 2010 shocked the Netherlands.

The Dutch had voted for a new government and the 150 seats in the house of parliament.

One of the largest political parties, CDA (conservative middle party) lost 20 of their 41 seats and was doomed to sit on the sideline.

Furthermore the VVD (Liberals) became the biggest party, gaining 9 seats from 22 to 31.

On the other hand, the PvdA, (Social democrats) lost 3 seats, but maintained 30.

The biggest surprise was the victory of the ultra right wing party PVV and their leader Geert Wilders.

It should have been logical that VVD and PvdA would negotiate, assisted by a third party, to form a new government. But due to different political views it did not work out, there were too many obstacles.

Mark Rutte, leader of the VVD, then started negotiations with the CDA and included the PVV. The negotiations of the VVD and CDA resulted in a government that was ‘tolerated’ by the PVV. This was quite a unique situation. In fact many a Dutchman thought that this would not last long.

They were right.

36 36

The ‘Tolerated’ Government struggled for several months, it was never comfortable.

PVV leader Geert Wilders talked his way through this period, but nearly always from his points of view.

Several negotiations between the three parties took place. Then finally, on the 21st of April 2012, after a meeting that lasted more than a week in the Catshuis (official residence of the Prime Minister), Geert Wilders said that he would not tolerate this government any longer.

Negative comments from all parties, left and right wing: not only about the ‘doomed to fail’ tolerance agreement, but also the collapse of the government at a time of an economical crisis.

New elections were set for the 12th of September 2012.

Between April and September, many discussions and heated debates took place, even life on national television.

For a while it seemed that the SP (Socialists) was going to be the biggest party. Their leader, Emile Roemer, was convinced that he had a chance to become the new Prime Minister.

to negotiate together to outline new policies and form a new government.

Surprisingly the two leaders, Mark Rutte (VVD) and Diederik Samson (PvdA,) get along very well. Quite soon after their first careful meeting, they announced that serious negotiations will take place. They asked the media to accept the ‘silence’ of reporting. They would organise a press conference when an accord was reached.

After several weeks, Mark Rutte and Diederik Samson proudly presented the new government policy in front of the assembled media.

To cut a long story short, this was a compromise of the Liberals and the Social Democrats directly resulting from the economical crisis and it revealed many economical cuts.

It was not a surprise that critical comments appeared in the media soon after these plans were presented.

One of the issues that was criticized immediately was to make the payment of health insurance income tested, causing a storm of protests. Prime Minister Mark Rutte even apologised and talked about misjudgement.

The VVD and PvdA started to negotiate again about the health insurance issue.

After nearly two years of living with a ‘Tolerated Government’ the Dutch hope that the new government will be stable enough to govern the country for a good four years and get it through this difficult time.

The Prime Minister announced that everyone has to make sacrifices, small or big.

Looking at the result of the election, the Dutch voters were already aware of that.

But it turned out that the VVD, lead by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, became the biggest political party again. His party gained 10 seats, climbing to 41.

The second highest score was earned by the PvdA, who gained 8 seats, climbing up to 38.

Geert Wilders’ PVV lost 9 seats, falling to 15.

And again there was a big loss for the CDA, going down from 21 seats to 13. In a relatively short period of three to four years they decreased from 41 seats to 13 seats.

Although, during the months preceding the election heated political debates took place. After the election it became clear that the VVD and the PvdA were expected

Photos starting top previous page: 5 November 2012, the new government has been sworn in, in the presence of Queen Beatrix (©RVD, Rob Vermaas); 2010, presentation of coalition agreement by Maxime Verhagen (CDA), Mark Rutte (VVD)and Geert Wilders (PVV); March 2012, Diederik Samsom elected as leader of the PvdA, during a congress (PvdA); Prime Minister Mark Rutte working in ‘Het Torentje’ (office of the Prime Minister).

37

fond memories Thursday: market day in Delft

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e n i s i u C Dutch

beetroot salad Beetroot salad is one of the dishes that were served traditionally on New Year’s Eve. There are many varieties, of course. Every family had their own recipe. This one is a bit more of this day and age.

3 fresh beetroots, peeled and grated 1 onion, finely sliced 1 granny smith apple, peeled and grated marinated herring, sliced in small pieces (save a few to decorate) 3 cooked potatoes, grated fresh chives, chopped finely 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 small tub sour cream or yoghurt

Mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt (or sour cream) with the chives. Then mix all the other ingredients through it and leave in the fridge for a few hours.

Serve on a bed of lettuce and decorate with sliced tomatoes, cucumber, boiled eggs and whatever you thing that will go well with the salad.

We found out that cherries and/or pineapple slices go very well with it.

eet s

k j i l e mak 39

The Stroopwafel I have often been told that stroopwafels are one of the products that Dutch expats miss the most. Understandable, in my opinion. The thin, caramelly cookies are hard to resist and nothing quite beats an afternoon break with one of them slowly warming up on top of a steaming cup of tea. I became acquainted with this delicious Dutch ritual through my mother-in-law. Somewhere in the early afternoon, she’d put a kettle on the stove for tea and I would watch in anticipation as she opened the bottom door to her antique buffet and took out a tin of stroopwafels. She would then pass them around and everyone would help themselves to one and place it on their cup, as a sort of edible lid. It was the ultimate indulgence, I thought. Until I discovered stroopwafel stands at Dutch markets. words Paola Westbeek photos Hans Westbeek

A Sweet History 40

The first time was in Stadskanaal. As we made our way through the crowds of shoppers one Saturday afternoon, I detected an enticingly warm, buttery scent wafting through the market stalls. It delighted me and made me incredibly hungry. The aroma was somewhat reminiscent of my grandmother’s fried eggs- only sweeter. I had no idea what was producing the appetising smell, but I sure knew I needed to try whatever it was! When I realised that it was coming from a stand selling freshly-made, hot, plate-sized stroopwafels, I swore I had arrived in heaven. The first bite was unforgettable: crisp, gooey, delicate and absolutely perfect. I also loved the red and white checkered paper that it was wrapped in. At that moment, I too fell in love with the stroopwafel and fifteen years later, it remains one of my favourite Dutch cookies. But where did this delicacy come from? And how did it become so popular?

The history of the stroopwafel originates in Gouda and dates back to the beginning of the 19th century when a frugal baker wanting to make the most out of everything, made a cookie composed of crumbs, leftover dough and lots of syrup.

Because it was inexpensive and quite filling, the cookie was often referred to as banket der armen or ‘pastry of the poor’. That first stroopwafel baker was probably Pieter Willem Kamphuisen.

In 1829, he opened his own bakery on the corner of the Hoge Gouwe and the Peperstraat in Gouda and since then, his stroopwafels became the most sought-after of their kind. In fact, many other bakers tried to emulate the recipe, yet none succeeded. Queen Juliana was quite partial to the Kamphuisen stroopwafels and would often send her chauffer to the bakery in Gouda to get her some.

The Kamphuisen company was even awarded the special title of hofleverancier or ‘supplier to the court’. Towards the end of the 19th century, stroopfwafels were being sold outside of Gouda and during the course of the 20th century, the Kamphuisen stroopwafels continued to be offered as a speciality in some of the better delicatessens in Amsterdam and The Hague.

It wasn’t until the late 1960s, however, that the popularity of the stroopwafel soared. During the time there was a general interest in nostalgic Dutch products and one of them happened to be the stroopwafel. The prosperous Dutch economy also meant that new weekly markets and fairs were sprouting up throughout the country.

Enough reasons for smart stroopwafel bakers to come up with the ingenious idea of selling them at stalls outside of Gouda. Much like me, the Dutch also fell in love with the stroopwafel at the market. There was something special about seeing them made on the spot and eating them 41

warm, fragrant and freshly-baked. The stalls also offered packs of ready-made stroopwafels and bags of ‘snippers’ or small, broken cookie pieces. Soon enough, stroopwafels were also sold at supermarkets. They had become one of the most loved Dutch cookies.

Approximately 300 million of them are consumed in the Netherlands on a yearly basis.

As for the original Kamhuisen bakery, it closed its doors for good in the early 1970s — a few years after Cees Kamphuisen, the fifth generation of stroopwafel bakers, had passed away.

Fortunately, the recipe was passed on to the Joh. Verweij bakery located on Markt 69 in Gouda. In 1995, both recipe and bakery were re-purchased

by Jan Anker who established Banketbakkerij de Vlaam. The famous stroopwafels are still being sold there to this day. And it isn’t just the Dutch that still love them — they are also a favourite of tourists visiting the Netherlands. During the summer months, approximately 50,000 stroopwafels are baked every week at Banketbakkerij de Vlaam. Stroopwafels are even popular outside of the country. Today they are sold in many places all over the world and thanks to the internet, they can easily be purchased online and shipped worldwide. No need to hop a plane, in other words. Unless of course, like me, you prefer your stroopwafel hot of the iron. In that case, I’ll see you at the market!

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BOOK REVIEW A Grave Too Far Away

By Kathryn Spurling

In the Netherlands are 374 Australian gravesites in 99 graveyards all over the country and Australian airman are buried at Terschelling Island. Three of them, Upper Hunter men who served in the Bomber Command Europe in World War II, feature in a new book titled A Grave Too Far Away. The book describes the highs and lows of their training and military service through letters, interviews and remembered stories.

The demands of the bombing campaign on men and aircraft were enormous and the horrors of war deeply felt by the youthful Australians ordered to carry out operations.

The book contains images of paintings by the painter Margaret Hadfield-Zorgdrager.

Margaret lives in Australia, but has family ties to Terschelling. The Australian soldiers killed in action have been immortalised by Hadfield. She played an important role in finding the grave of Wadya Bell-Towers, who was killed in action in August 1941 and is buried in the Netherlands. However, the family did not know where he was buried. With the help of Hadfield, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Australian Embassy in The Hague, the grave of Bell-Towers was found on the military cemetery Longway on Terschelling. The cemetery on Terschelling was constructed during the war after many bodies of soldiers washed on the beaches of the Waddeneiland. After the war the cemetery was adjusted, in a way most war cemeteries were done. Using crosses with the name, rank, age, the coat of arms of their army unit and the date of the burial printed on them. A memorial has been placed in the centre of the cemetery. All graves have been adopted by the residents of Terschelling and are maintained by them. Yearly, on Anzac Day a commemoration takes place at the cemetery.

ISBN: 9781742571614, Category: Second World War RRP AU$29.95

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by Isaack Gilsemans, Alexander Turnbull Library

ABEL TASMAN’S VISIT TO GOLDEN BAY

NEW INSIGHTS

words Penny Griffith Coordinator / AT370

After 370 years, the story of Abel Tasman’s voyage of discovery in the Southern Ocean still presents challenges and attracts interest among scholars and a wider audience. People in both the Netherlands and New Zealand, including historians and archaeologists, continue to analyse the evidence and ask questions. Questions such as “What did Maori think was happening when the Dutch ships arrived?”, “Where did the 22 waka come from?” or “What do the images tell us about Maori life and technology in 1642?” “Was the sailor who was taken ashore alive or dead?” And of course the big one: “Why were Maori in Golden Bay so aggressive towards Tasman and his crew?”

As is clearly recorded in the Dutch accounts, that first meeting between two peoples of vastly different cultural backgrounds and languages ended in conflict and death on both sides. But the exact cause of the confrontation is by no means clear, as initially it appeared that there was mutual interest in establishing contact. What occurred and was made known through various published accounts would inform all subsequent voyages of discovery. It would be another 127 years before the next voyage, under James Cook, came to investigate, but he did not enter what Tasman had called Mordenaers Baij on any of his three voyages.

Much of the energy for commemorative events during 2012 has come from the current Netherlands ambassador to New Zealand, Mr Arie van der Wiel. His background in anthropology makes him particularly interested in the impact of the voyage on the first people (tangata whenua) of New Zealand, the indigenous Maori. In particular Mr van der Wiel has been keen to explore the dramatic events that unfolded on 18/19 December 1642, when Tasman’s ships the Heemskerck and Zeehaen were anchored in what is now called Golden Bay. There the first recorded meeting between Maori and people of another race took place, and the first descriptions of Maori were written and drawn, the latter by the voyaging merchant Isaac Gilsemans, about whom Nelson researcher Grahame Anderson has written. The significance of this historical milestone inevitably generates fascination about what took place, and what is confidently known to have occurred.

In order to progress understanding of that first meeting between Tasman and Maori, Mr van der Wiel invited eight scholars from around New Zealand and two from the Netherlands to come together in a special seminar held in Nelson in mid-June 2012. Lively discussion and dramatic images from Abel Tasman’s voyage of discovery were highlights of the day, and a particular focus was to try and reconstruct what happened from the Maori perspective.

One insight, for example, is gained from analysing the sounds made by Maori and described by Tasman, who would not have known the implications of particular instruments. In one powerfully evocative session, Richard Nunns, famous for his work recreating traditional music, played several replica instruments as well as a Dutch horn. What did the musical exchange signify for the different groups of listeners? One of the most popularly held beliefs is that the confrontation between Maori and Tasman resulted from 44

cultural misunderstanding about this musical exchange. The seminar participants, however, considered it very unlikely that it caused the attack and discussed other possible explanations.

In early European accounts, Maori are often presented as a strong warlike community. So, were Maori simply treating their visitors conventionally, as they would any tribal enemy caught trespassing within their territory? Dame Anne Salmond also observed that the firing of the Dutch cannons after the first encounter may have totally upset them, as such a loud noise would never have been heard before by the local people, creating great confusion. She considered that confusion may have provoked the attack the next day. For many, this fact that Tasman had blown-off all guns from the upper deck of the Heemskerck in the evening of the 18th was new. In most English versions of the journal this is translated as cleaning the guns, but in fact it was testing the cannons.

Maori historian John Mitchell argued that the distrust on the part of Maori was more likely spiritually based. He gave as possible reasons for the conflict, the fear that the intrusion of the Dutch ships might reawaken a dreadful monster which lived in a nearby cave; or that the Dutch had breached a sacred ban that had been imposed over the waters. Or, as archaeologist Dr Ian Barber proposed, was the fateful encounter linked more to economic reasons? Tasman’s arrival took place in the middle of the kumara (sweet potato) growing season, which runs between October and April. In his view it was therefore primarily a defensive action to protect their food security.

For a number of years archaeological research has been carried out in Golden Bay, helping historians gain a better understanding of how many Maori were actually living there. Radiocarbon dating has indicated that the first settlements in eastern Golden Bay started around 1450 and studies of storage pits have shown that the crop grown was large and valuable, and close to where Tasman’s ships anchored. Archaeological evidence also seems to indicate that the size of the population in Golden Bay at the time Tasman arrived was actually much larger than previous estimates of between 400 and 500. One still unresolved question is the great number of large voyaging waka (canoes) recorded in Tasman’s account, and whether the waka were local--or passing through perhaps by chance, or for a special meeting.

Another interesting challenge discussed at the seminar is that there is no single authoritative account of the voyage. While sources available include contemporary manuscripts, they are almost certainly compiled from what would have been a variety of ships’ records, and at least one is known to be a copy taken from another. The fine details of one singlesheet manuscript (the Blok fragment held in The Hague) might be all that remains of a unique original source, or at least of the images.

Other images seem to come from a different but now lost source; Rudiger Mack argues that one shows Dutch boats going ashore, though this is not recorded in the available texts. What really happened? Is a definite answer still buried in an archive somewhere?

Are the images themselves accurate?

Was there sufficient time for the scouting team on the 18th to reach the shores? Given it is possible to identify the Golden Bay (and other) anchorages with some accuracy from data recorded in the journals, it would seem that it should be possible to verify this.

Several participants, including ship historian Robert Jenkin, were particularly interested in the depiction of Maori boats hoisting a sort of ‘tingang’ sail, in what are the earliest images of Maori sailing rigs. Since the seminar, a group has already begun investigating the style of small boats shown in the image, relating these to evidence in other sources.

For all scholars, however, there are textual challenges, as the example of the cleaning of the guns referred to above shows. Non-Dutch speakers are of course dependent on English-language translations, of which there are half a dozen since the first was made in 1776, and opinions vary as to the differences and which is the best. Even for Dutch researchers, seventeenth-century Dutch is quite different from modern Dutch. Fortunately, two scholars from the Netherlands who also attended the seminar, Diederick Wildeman and Vibeke Roeper, have recently published a modernised transcription of the Netherlands State Archives text. Their knowledge of the associated records of the Dutch East India Company (‘VOC’) and of shipping history will also be of great help to New Zealand researchers. Why, for example, did Tasman

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decide to send a small boat for a meeting, creating such an easy target for Maori warriors? Vibeke Roeper stressed in her presentation the importance of the command structure on VOC ships, which obliged Tasman always to consult his officers. Diederick Wildeman emphasised that a better understanding of the VOC instructions to the commander might explain more about the intentions of Tasman’s voyage.

Could it have been that VOC’s prime interest was actually to find new sea routes to South America--known for its richness in gold and silver--rather than in discovering the South Land?

That may explain Tasman’s relatively low interest in setting foot on land. In several instances Tasman’s actions were hasty, hardly allowing time for more careful exploration of the land.

Grahame Anderson elaborated on Tasman’s reputation, as historical literature often presents him in a negative light.

Overall he concluded that without any doubt Tasman’s voyage was a remarkable achievement, and that it is high time for a more balanced study of Abel Tasman to be carried out.

Among the audience of 30 were representatives of the local iwi (tribes) including a descendent from Ngati Tumatakokiri, the tribe that occupied Golden Bay at the time of Tasman’s visit. Others with specialist knowledge in art history and archaeology also became participants in the discussion, so the occasion opened up stimulating possibilities for research. One specific suggestion was that funding be found for someone to go through the whole of the archives of the Dutch East India Company to establish if there is any additional evidence.

Mr van der Wiel said he was confident that there was a new beginning for Abel Tasman scholarship. It was certainly a rare opportunity, and the next may represent a new generation of researchers, each with their own questions.

The seminar Chair, Professor Lydia Wevers, herself born in Holland, took a special interest in the discussion, and proceedings concluded with drawing up a “wish list” for future research. Everyone agreed that the seminar had allowed for valuable sharing of ideas and increased understanding of different cultures in interpreting historical events.

by Isaack Gilsemans, Alexander Turnbull Library

Images can also be valuable as evidence of cultural history. For example, the multi-level narrative format of the Mordenaers Baij (Golden Bay) image demonstrates an interesting blend of inventive and documentary illustrative styles. In comparing that complex image with other earlier Pacific sources, Dr Patricia Wallace provided persuasive evidence of the integrity of the information in Tasman’s account. Features such as hair, dress and paddles are recorded with surprising accuracy, given the brevity of their stay. It is also possible that the depiction of some warriors in the waka with exceptionally large heads (often criticised for being unrealistic) may actually reflect that person’s status. In Maori society the head is the most tapu (sacred) part of the body, especially the head of someone in a high position, and hairstyle can also reflect a person’s identity. Patricia Wallace concluded in her presentation that the earliest images seem more accurate than later versions.

Verschrikkelijke Taal TaalsTaaltje door Frans Hertoghs

formidabel geweldig verschrikkelijk akelig walgelijk erg vreselijk ontzettend Taal is ons mooiste werktuig. Taal gebruiken we overal voor. Om gedachten of gedichten vorm te geven, om informatie te krijgen en uit te delen, om de tijd te doden en om gevoelens hanteerbaar te maken. zo bij na, maar het woord geweldig heeft te maken met geweld en ontzettend met ontzetting.

Dan is het natuurlijk niet gek dat taal zich dan ook weinig aantrekt van de logica. We denken in taal enne… zo logisch zijn we zelf nou ook weer niet. Hoe logisch is verliefdheid? Of driftbuien, of heimwee? Voor al die situaties gebruiken we taal. Als inpakpapier, als buffer, als uitlaatklep. Geen wonder dat taal soms zelf ook zeer vreemd is en zelfs absurd.

Vreselijk En als we nou toch bezig zijn vreselijk is natuurlijk afkomstig van vrees en schrikbarend veroorzaakt schrik.

En ook akelig heeft een uitgesproken akelige oorsprong.

Het oude woord akel betekent pijn en akelig is dus gewoon pijnlijk. Een akelig goed boek doet dus gewoon pijn, zeggen we.

Verschrikkelijk Neem nou het woord verschrikkelijk. Je gebruikt het om de haverklap. Je zegt: “Ik heb verschrikkelijk veel zin”.

“Dat is verschrikkelijk mooi.” “Hij is verschrikkelijk aardig.”

Niks bijzonders, toch. Het is iets sterker dan: “heel veel zin, erg aardig, knap knap”. Maar létterlijk betekent het woord verschrikkelijk dat je ervan moet of kunt schrikken.

Het zit in dezelfde taalkundige hoek als verwerpelijk en verraderlijk. En dan ineens klinkt verschrikkelijk aardig wel een beetje vreemd. Zo aardig dat je ervan schrikt? Of dat het afschrikwekkend is?

Formidabel En het woord formidabel, dat we uitsluitend in positieve betekenis gebruiken, komt van het Latijnse formido en dat betekende afgrijzen, kwellende angst.

Krachttermen Het is duidelijk dat we hier te maken hebben met versterkende woorden die overdrijven, een soort krachttermen om aan te geven dat we sterke gevoelens hebben bij wat we zeggen. Gevoelens die lijken op die van pijn. Of van afschuw. Want we hebben ook nog woorden als afgrijselijk, afschuwelijk, gruwelijk, walgelijk en weerzinwekkend. Woorden die we nog niet zo gemakkelijk zullen gebruiken bij iets positiefs. Hoewel, je kunt toch al wel zeggen dat iemand afschuwelijk goed voetbalt of walgelijk sterk is?

Afgezwakt Het is duidelijk. Het woord verschrikkelijk is in de loop van de eeuwen afgezwakt. Van schrikwekkend naar abnormaal tot uitzonderlijk. Dat ging zo’n beetje van: hij is verschrikkelijk gemeen - hij is verschrikkelijk groot - hij is verschrikkelijk aardig. We gebruiken het woord verschrikkelijk tegenwoordig dus gewoon als een versterking van een bijvoeglijk naamwoord. En dat is natuurlijk verschrikkelijk leuk om te weten.

Steeds positiever Het grappige is dat er hier bij al die versterkende bijwoorden een verschuiving optreedt van negatief via neutraal naar positief. Iemand is erg bruin, of vreselijk bruin of akelig bruin. Hij kan ook gerust afschuwelijk bruin zijn en desnoods walgelijk bruin zonder dat het negatief klinkt. Maar iets positiefs zeggen met een versterking van weerzinwekkend, dat is nog een beetje raar. Nee, hij is weerzinwekkend aardig, dat kan echt niet.

Nog niet misschien.

Erg Wacht even, is er met erg ook niet zoiets aan de hand?

Zeker, erg hangt samen met ergernis en ergeren. De oorspronkelijke betekenis was ‘slecht, verachtelijk’. En die betekenis heeft zich ongeveer hetzelfde ontwikkeld als verschrikkelijk. Erg interessant!

Geweld en ontzetting En als we in deze richting verder gaan zoeken, dan vinden we een heleboel van die versterkende bijwoorden die te maken hebben met negatieve gevoelens. Je denkt er niet

Walgelijk leuk om te weten toch?

47

Anefo-RC Croes

AC

words and photos Maria Douwes

msterdam onnecting

CCC Inc. When I was thirteen we came back to Amsterdam from Australia in December 1964 and after half a year in a boarding house, we came to live in the Wouwermanstraat, near the Concertgebouw. Our house had seven rooms on the second and third floor and we had no shower. That was strange for this upper-class neighbourhood. Many of the old working class neighbourhoods didn’t have showers and people went to a bathhouse once a week. So that’s what we did, to the one on the Albert Cuyp Market, until our bathroom was finished in one of the smaller rooms.

That was only one of the things I had quite some trouble with to adjust to when we came back to Amsterdam. We practically came straight from the bush, always walking barefoot, playing outside or being active at sports and taking a shower three times a day if we wanted to. Now we were bluntly put in a house with neighbours on all sides, with no garden and no bush around us and I had to go to a catholic school with only girls and nuns. No school grounds for sports, no showers, just a small gym.

“What can you possibly do here?” I would ask my parents in the weekends. My father would then say: “So many tourists from all over the world come to Amsterdam to see our famous paintings and you don’t know what to do here? Here you have fifty cents, now go and have a look in the Rijksmuseum.”

A couple of years later I didn’t need any encouragement anymore and I didn’t find Amsterdam boring any longer.

The Leidseplein with all the shops, bars and dancing was stone’s throw away, so was the Vondelpark. In summer there would be the love-ins or you would hear Simon Vinkenoog orating in the speaker’s corner on a wooden box. In winter we would skate on the frozen ponds in the park. On the Museumplein there was always something happening. If there were no protest manifestations at the American Consulate, there would be a press release for a new album of Dave Berry or some other artist. At the Lieverdje on the Spui you would find provos offering flowers to the police. There was always something going on.

And there was Paradiso where CCC Inc. played, my favourite folk and blues group. I wasn’t allowed to go there because it was common knowledge that everybody there smoked joints. But my love for music was stronger than a prohibition. I still know almost all the songs CCC played there. I listened to their album ‘To our grandchildren’ endlessly. Traditional songs, their own words and music were to be heard.

Once after a concert in Paradiso, my friend Fenna and I got in touch with some members of the band and they asked us where we came from. Fenna said she lived in Utrecht which was true, but we didn’t tell them she was staying with me in Amsterdam for the weekend. So when they offered us a lift to Utrecht in the middle of the night we happily accepted. I don’t remember how we got back to Amsterdam the next morning but I do remember my father’s punishment. I was grounded for a month. I

48

thought it was worth it. We were invited by CCC Inc. to come to Utrecht with them (and there the story ended) and which girl at school could compete with that?

On November 19th CCC Inc. gave a concert at the Kleine Komedie where they released their new CD ‘Jack Owned A house’ and I was there sitting first rank. A bunch of oldtimers on stage and a theatre full of old-timers, a nostalgic celebration. All their old famous songs like Little Maggie, I don’t care, Tennessee Waltz and the Midnight Special were sung. Ernst Jansz, Jaap van Beusekom en Joost Belinfante were always my favourite musicians, but this time Huib Scheurs with his long and gangling body was dancing wildly round and round, waving his long arms and became the star of the evening. He’s also a great harmonica and concertina player.

With washboard, accordion, violin, mandolin, banjo, guitar, autoharp, concertina and harmonica CCC played at their best. At the end they received a standing ovation.

Even though they are old-timers, their music was the same. If you would close your eyes you wouldn’t hear the difference compared to 45 years ago. Only the smell was different.

Schardam Last winter I installed a large woodstove in my house in Hungary. The radiators of the central heating are connected to this stove which really works great. What I didn’t know was that there would also be a large water kettle in my living room next to the stove which I find pretty ugly. I already had a solution for the kettle. I would build a nice cupboard around it so you couldn’t see the kettle any more.

Back in Holland I even got a better idea. The cupboard should have some really nice stained glass doors in it, so people would say, “Wow, that’s a nice cupboard you have there!” I went looking for stained glass doors. And came across an advertisement from someone in Grootebroek in the north of Holland who had two identical doors, just the right size for me. He said they came from the old Catholic

church in Grootebroek. I thought they were gorgeous and bought them.

On the photograph you can just see the scaffolding in the background which is placed all around our house in Amsterdam at the moment. The facade is being cleaned and new windows are put in, that’s why. The work is not really going according to plan: eight of the nine new windows didn’t fit and after that being solved they found asbestos in the ceiling of the bay window. A specialist came to inspect the asbestos and a special team will be sent in to demolish the bay window. The new bay window is ready to be built in, but now we don’t know when. We just hope everything will be done before Christmas.

Anyway, driving back from Grootebroek, my friend Carmen and I took the long way home. From Hoorn driving on the dike from Scharwoude to Schardam along the Hoornse Hop gives you a fantastic view over the water. In Schardam you cross a bridge on which you see a ban-post from 1761 with a unicorn on top.

The red coloured unicorn with a golden horn is holding a shield with a horn on it. This is the image of the coat of arms of Hoorn, under which jurisdiction Schardam came in the old days. The horn of the unicorn is facing to Hoorn.

This ban-post indicates the border of the town and this was the exact spot where people who were punished with a ban, would have to go. If it was a stranger, not much harm was done, but if it was a citizen of a certain town, it would be quite a severe punishment, because it meant he or she would lose all contact with friends and relations. Later on ideas about the condemned changed and they were sentenced to a prison camp or penal station to improve themselves. So from 1788 and 1868 British convicts were banned to Australia. About one hundred years later lots of Europeans migrated to Australia voluntarily, like our family did in 1960. That didn’t feel like a punishment at all. I’m sure this is the case for most of you down under.

49

Marcia

MAKING FRIENDS WITH ‘G’ WORDS Connections with Dutch people over the years have brought many pleasant experiences and, through these experiences, as one Dutch friend taught me, ‘Elke dag leer ik wat’ – every day I learn something.

This time the experience came about through giving the De Groot name when making a reservation at a restaurant. The young woman organising the booking repeated my name with the proper Dutch ‘g’ and so we got talking. At the end she taught me a sort of tongue twister – ‘heel erg groen gras’ which she translated as ‘very green grass’. The use of erg in this way was interesting – usually I’ve heard it spoken in a very negative way, describing something bad or serious - Wat erg - perhaps ‘How awful’? Now I see it in the dictionary also as ‘very’, so I learnt more than one thing on that day.

Thinking of the Dutch ‘g’ got me thinking of some other ‘g’ words – often connected with family and friends – my sister-in-law’s first name – Gijsberdina, an aunt’s fondness for griesmeelpudding (a toetje – a dessert, made from

50

semolina) and a friend showing us the way to pull up the weights (gewichten) when winding his clock. The expression ‘Graag gedaan’ sounds very gracious – indeed it is a nice way of saying ‘It’s a pleasure’ when someone is responding to thanks for something done. A rough translation could be ‘Done gladly, with pleasure’.

Some years ago, meeting people for the first time, we ‘broke the ice’ through the De Groot name. This was because in Australia in earlier days the name was connected to a Captain Edward Francis (Frank) De Groot.

His father was of Dutch Huguenot descent and his mother was of Norman Irish background. He was born in Ireland, migrated to Australia in 1910 and returned to Dublin in 1950. Elderly people meeting my husband would become very animated when they heard the name De Groot and would ask if he was related to Captain De Groot. This was because of something rather daring which had happened in 1932. There are details about the event on the net – located by typing in ‘Francis de Groot’. Briefly told, he

Large picture: Montferland (Michiel Verbeek); book about Francis De Groot and griesmeelpudding. next page: Holle Bolle Gijs at the Efteling (Hullie)

upstaged the Premier of New South Wales at the official opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, when, on horseback, he charged in among the officials and cut the ribbon with his army sword. He was a member of an organisation called the New Guard and there was political background to the action he took. His action set a trend - in the following years, pranksters or tricksters (bedriegers) upstaged the chosen official on the day by ‘doing a De Groot’ at the opening of roads and bridges in New South Wales. While on the De Groot theme and remembering that one of the meanings of groot is ‘large’, Groote Eylandt (modern Dutch – Groot Eiland) was named by the Dutch explorer Abel Janzoon Tasman in 1644. As can be expected, it is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in north eastern Australia. Other voyagers had been to the island before Tasman, including Willem Joosten van Coolsteerdt on “The Arnhem” in 1623.

My list of other ‘g’ words is growing. Today I saw a building which indirectly reminded me of the word gemeente (municipality) and there are other meanings – parish and congregation. The word gemeen then came to mind – in fact I can hear it even now. It has eight meanings in my dictionary and the one I most remember is the English ‘mean’ referring to an unkind action. I heard it in conversation.

Someone was describing a trick which had been played on one of the family. There was laughter, but the mother of the family, sticking up for

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the tricked one, said in with a smile (een glimlach), but in a gently rebuking voice, quite emphatically - ‘Gemeen’.

Many years ago my husband introduced me to the next ‘g’ word when we were travelling through the countryside in the Netherlands, perhaps near Montferland in the Achterhoek. He looked around him and commented with great enjoyment on het glooiende landschap– literally ‘sloping’ but perhaps rolling landscape is a better translation. I didn’t ask him for an exact meaning – I just liked the sound of it and his happiness. Other words on my list are gezondheid (health), geluk (happiness, luck, chance, fortune) and een grap (a joke) – with the slightly sarcastic expression – een dure grap - sometimes referring to an experience which turned out to be more expensive than expected. Then come Giro and Girobank, much used in the Netherlands, groeten (greetings), not to be confused with groenten (vegetables or greens), Holle Bolle Gijs (Hungry Chubby Gus, according to a site on Google) – the food-loving nursery rhyme character, glad, which surprisingly for the English speaker, means slippery – like an icy road or footpath, a gift schenken is giving a present and gif which is sometimes poison or venom! Easier to guess correctly is geld (money), especially if we remember my husband’s advice when he was encouraging me to learn about the Dutch language – if you were to change one or some letters which English word might you find? Thus geld becomes gold. I like geest – using the same method, and by ‘teasing’ it out we find ghost. It also means spirit or spectre in this sense and also means mind, intellect, wit. As I write this, it is becoming quite late at night and my mind is distracted by the word ‘spirit’. The Dutch dictionary also includes a definition of spirit as in alcohol – sterke drank, so to anyone thinking of a nightcap –jenever (gin) for example? I’ll say Proost!

Cheers! What is ‘nightcap’ in Dutch? – in this sense not slaapmuts (sleep cap), but there is a figurative variation – slaapmutsje, so perhaps that’s it?

Tot de volgende keer Marcia de Groot

Dutch Clocks in Oz • Zaanse, Sallanders, Schippertjes, Frisian Tail Clocks • and a variety of other clocks from Holland located in Springwood, Qld, 4127

visit by appointment only ring Rob Schmidt on 0432 832 800

www.dutchclocksinoz.com.au 51

Welkom bij

‘de leesplank kids’

Het schooljaar 2012 zit er al weer bijna op. Donderdag 20 december is het onze laatste Leesplank les.

Het was een erg enerverend jaar vooral voor Nathalie die met de diagnose van borstkanker en de gevolgen van dien te kampen kreeg. Ik wil hierbij iedereen nogmaals heel hartelijk danken voor alle lieve steun, bijdragen, meals on wheels een luisterend oor en in het bijzonder de kinderen met hun prachtige tekeningen, knuffeltjes, brieven en spontane inzamelakties. Heel heel veel dank lieve mensen!

In deze Hollland Focus, kunt u het verhaaltje over de ‘spontane inzamelaktie voor Juf Nathalie’ lezen geschreven en uitgevoerd door Tess Reuter en Puck Okhuizen (7j).

Inmiddels zijn Nathalie en ik al weer begonnen met het schrijven van de jaarlijkse Leesplank-rapporten, die de kinderen op de laatste dag van dit termijn mee naar huis krijgen.

52 52

Foto (links boven) Puck, Tess en juf Nathalie.

Met het opgehaalde geld hebben ze ‘gezond fruit’ gekocht.

Door de grote toename van het aantal aanmeldingen voor 2013 is het gewenst uw kind zo snel mogelijk op te geven via het aanmeldingsformulier op de website, www.deleesplank.com .

Wij wensen alle lezers een prettige kerst en een heerlijk 2013.

Alieska

A TOUCH OF DUTCH shop and café

Tekening Leona Boek , 9 j

Come and enjoy traditional, and not so traditional Dutch food and Douwe Egberts coffee. a touch of Dutch for only the best and the latest in Dutch groceries and products.

just arrived..... lots of new products

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Shop 3 & 4 Village Arcade 46-50 High Street, Berwick, VIC 3806 Tel. 03-9769 7999 Open Mon-Fri shop 9am - 5pm; café 8am - 4pm Sat-9am - 3pm check out our facebook page for café specials and updates

Jan en Kaspar Luiken: Het Menselyk Bedryf

The Warrior

De Militair Twee dingen strijden hier om de aandacht: de gigantische ontploffing in de verte en de prachtig uitgedoste figuur met de enorme hoed. Hij ziet er niet uit of hij spoedig zal gaan vechten, deze ijdele krijgsman. Hij lijkt eerder elegant en glimlachend te poseert voor een van de vele schuttersstukken die in Luyken’s tijd in de mode waren. De lange sabel tot op de grond lijkt voornamelijk ceremonieel. Aan opsmuk geen gebrek: de opzichtige hoed met de struisvogelveer, de brokaten jas met de stijve borduursels, de modieus afhangende mouwen en de sierlijke sjerp laten al zien dat oorlog wel ongeveer het laatste is wat deze krijgsman voor de geest staat. Verdragen en lijden staan zeker niet in zijn vaandel.

De sjofele figuur naast hem - zijn wapendrager? - ziet er al evenmin krijgshaftig uit, al leunen er achter hem verschillende lansen tegen de takken. Het lijkt wel een marskramer.

Aan zijn bandelier hangen allerlei voorwerpen. Hij heeft zijn hoed afgenomen. Zijn gezicht en houding hebben iets slaafs.

Is het een beeld van de duivel die de mens verleidt? De vijand die je aan je zij hebt? Misschien wijst deze officier ook wel simpelweg een van zijn mannen waar hij hem hebben wil.

In schril contrast met die twee staan de oorlogstaferelen op de achtergrond. De overgang wordt gevormd door twee ruiters. We zien ze in silhouet, met als enige detail hun merkwaardige hoofddeksels die niet op hoeden of helmen lijken.

Rechts achter de ruiters zien we een warreling van vormen, waarin we misschien een paar witte broeken herkennen.

Zien we hier soldaten met lansen die boven hun hoofden uit pieken? De spectaculaire ontploffing tussen de huizen van de stad is wel degelijk ernst. Luyken beperkt deze oorlog tot een geluidloze vuurwerkachtige ontploffing, ver op de achtergrond. Is deze krijgsman een bekende, een opdrachtgever misschien?

Two things are fighting for attention here: the gigantic explosion in the distance and the beautiful togged up figure with the enormous hat. It does not seem likely that he will start fighting soon: this vain warrior. It looks more like he is posing elegantly and smiling for one of the many marksman paintings that were very fashionable in Luyken’s time. The long sabre, reaching the floor, looks mainly ceremonial. Frills everywhere: the flamboyant hat with the ostrich feathers, the brocade coat with the starchy embroidery, the stylish wide cuffs and the elegant sash show that the war is about the last thing on this warrior’s mind. Suffering and bearing is not what he considers of paramount importance. The shabby figure next to him – his flag bearer? – does not look warlike either, although behind him different lances are leaning against the branches. He looks like a hawker. Different objects hang from his belt. He took his hat off. His face and pose look a bit slavishly. Is it an image of the devil tempting the people?

The enemy close at hand? Perhaps this officer simply points to where he wants one of his men.

A glaring contrast to these two is the warfare in the background. The transition is made by two horsemen.

Two silhouettes are visible; the only detail showing is their remarkable headwear not looking like hats or helmets at all. Behind the horsemen on the right a whirling of shapes is visible, different pairs of white pants could perhaps be recognised there. Are we seeing soldiers with lances peaking above their heads? The spectacular explosion between the houses in the town is indisputably serious. Luyken limits this war to a soundless fireworks-like explosion, far away in the background. Is the warrior an acquaintance, or perhaps a client?

Verdragen en lijden Is Christelijk strijden.

Suffering, bearing Is Christian soldiering

Vechtlustig? Ga niet oost of west, Blijf liever in je eigen nest: Dat wordt bedreigd, en haast verdoemd!

De vijand heb je aan je zij Die loop je argeloos voorbij, Wie hém verslaat wordt pas beroemd!

You like to fight? Go East nor West But just stay home in your own nest That is besieged and nearly taken: Your enemy is close at hand Unnoticed; slay him and you will To your eternal fame awaken

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Frans Hertoghs

What is What?

The subject of this Dutch item is famous all over the world. Strangely enough people know the name, but do not know where its name comes from!

The history goes back to the times when the Romans ruled Europe, including the Netherlands.

The great Emperor Julius Caesar already wrote in his book ‘Bello Gallico’ (57 BC) that this product was consumed in this area.

During the Middle Ages, Holland was already recognised as thè country where this product originates from.

Now why did this Dutch product become so famous?

Is the landscape crucial or the agrarian culture together with the animals that are bred in this area?

By the way, it’s not specifically named after the town, but after the region surrounding this town, which happen to have the same name.

Anyway, the liquid used to make this product, was originally processed on the farms itself, but nowadays mostly in factories. The handcrafted ones are still the ‘traditional’ products.

An important part of the procedure is that solids are extracted, while rennet and salt are added and sometimes spices.

Sometimes they are sold ‘young’ but many are placed in warehouses to mature.

A finished product weighs about 15 kilos and is called a wheel, because of its shape.

Although there are countless varieties of this item being produced throughout the world, this one is the authentic one and the most delicious!

Even though it is extremely hard, the people from the area try to protect the name of this special product, but imitations are being made worldwide and even claim to be made by a recipe from this area.

I can assure you that the originals are the best and to be preferred! ①

What is the name of this product? ② What is the nickname (in

! n i

Dutch) of the people living in this area?

© Chris Lampe

W

last issue’s “What’s What?”

The right answers are:

This issue’s correct answers will go in the draw for the book (English)

KORFBAL and Nico Broekhuysen

The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker Send your ANSWER, NAME and ADDRESS (before 10 February 2013 to: Holland Focus, PO Box 169, Olinda Vic. 3788, Australia or email: editor@hollandfocus.com (don’t forget to include your address)

THE WINNER OF THE André Rieu's collector's edition King of the Waltz is C. Broeren (Vic) 55

!

Cong

ons i t a l u rat 55

Bep Gomperts

My war started after the war The Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre in Melbourne is an institution dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. It is a memorial to all victims of racist policies and an educational program which aims to combat anti-Semitism, racism and prejudice in the community and foster understanding between people.

The permanent museum features state-of-the-art technology alongside traditional museum displays of original material from the Holocaust period, documents, photographs and artworks. Highlights include a large model of Treblinka, created by one of the few Jewish survivors of that camp, the late Chaim Sztajer, who settled in Melbourne after the Second World War, as well as powerful artworks by survivors and other Australian artists.

There are 18 sections which explore the rise of Nazism and the horrors of life and death in the ghettos and camps across Nazi-occupied Europe. The exhibition commences with the ‘Vanished World’, focussing on pre-war European Jewry, and ends with To Life, to life, l’chaim looking at the survivors who came to Australia and made it their home.

words and photos Yolanda Edens 56

Hiding Mother Gerritse suspected that her husband would not come back anymore. From then on she was on her own and decided not to go into hiding as yet. One day the doorbell rang. Two Dutch ‘gentlemen’ (probably policemen) were standing outside and summoned my mother to wake her daughter and to come with them.

My mother refused and simulated a fainting fit. The men did not know what to do and finally asked a doctor to come, who happened to be our GP. He immediately understood what was happening and told the gentlemen that my mother was too ill to be transported.” However, the need to go into hiding was confirmed now. The family Gerritse stayed at different hiding places in Amsterdam, The Hague, Scheveningen, with a Catholic family and even with a German couple who both worked for the Grüne Polizei. Staying together was getting too dangerous and mother and daughter were separated. Bep ended up staying with a childless couple in Heemstede and was supposedly a ‘niece’, who needed to regain some strength. When the couple was forced to accommodate a German pilot for a short time, the parents of Bep’s school friend were asked to look after her. “Only after the war did they find out that I was Jewish.”

Star of David One of the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust is Bep Gomperts-Gerritse. She was born in Amsterdam, but has been living in Australia since 1979. Bep was 2 years old when the war started. “Large scale persecution of Jews did not occur during the first two years of World War II. There was a war going on, but normal life continued.” In 1942 all Jews –older than 6 years- were forced to visibly wear a yellow Star of David, inscribed with the word Jood (Jew), on their garments - on the left side of their chest. ”In the 1930s many Polish and Russian Jews had escaped to the Netherlands. Because my mother came from a family of communists our house was a halfway house for these people. My mother understood from their stories that the future for the Jews in the Netherlands did not look very promising. One of my mother’s friends found a hiding place for us. On the day they were supposed to go into hiding, my father went to tie-up some loose ends at his tobacco brokerage firm. On his way back he had been rounded up during the first raid in Amsterdam.

During the transport my father handed his jacket to a girl who was feeling cold. After arriving in Auschwitz he was immediately taken to the gas chambers, because (that is what I think) he was not wearing a Star of David.”

The Holocaust Museum stores many stories of survivors. Together with the photos, images, texts and personal belongings they make up the memorial to the millions of Jews killed between 1933 and 1945.

photo above: different Stars of David; a button for every Jewish child that died in the Holocaust; a poem by Dutch born Ida Vos, printed on the wall in the museum

The Train

by Ida Vos the train departs say goodbye now and go to strange countries where together with your illusions also your body will be burned

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Last transport As Bep was very young, she did not realise what was happening. “I do remember a time that I was frightened.

I had to sleep in an attic room at one of the hiding places in Amsterdam. I was frightened, because I thought that I could constantly hear people walking on the roof. Now I know that that really happened: nobody was allowed to walk on the street after curfew and they were walking on the roofs.”

During the hunger winter Bep stayed with a Dutch Reformed couple. “I learned to pray, went to church and Sunday school. When the children at school asked me when I would be baptised, I invariably answered next Sunday.” Bep’s mother was arrested in 1944 and taken to the ‘Oranjehotel’ in Scheveningen (a prison, nicknamed Oranjehotel, because many people of the Dutch Resistance were kept there). She was reunited with her sister there. Together they were on the list to go on transport to Auschwitz. As the railways were bombed regularly it took them three days to travel from The Hague to Westerbork. “That was the reason they were not on the train taking the last transport to Auschwitz.

Up to the liberation, my mother and her sister stayed at Westerbork and survived the war,” Bep says. “Recently, I realised that my father was on the very first transport.

Of the thousands of Jews that were on that transport only 8 came back. My mother would have been on the last transport. A bizarre coincidence, I only found out recently, when I read about the 70-years remembrance get-together for the first transport on 16 July 1942, at Westerbork.” Most of Bep’s family members perished in concentration camps.

Displaced Coming to terms with what happened started for many survivors after the war. Many found it difficult to talk about this. Some kept quiet and tried to rebuild their lives, sometimes in another country. Others were very

Anne Frank Travelling Exhibition

From the 4th of February till the 28th of April 2013 the international travelling exhibition ‘Anne Frank- a History for Today’ will be at the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre in Melbourne. The exhibition places Anne Frank’s life story against the background of the Holocaust. Quotes from the diary of Anne Frank and photos of the Frank family form the red thread. They are complemented by other personal stories about all the consequences of exclusion and persecution.

After having been at the Jewish Holocaust Museum it will 'travel' to different places in country Victoria, before going to Sydney and Canberra.

More information: AnneFrank.org.au

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much traumatised. Bep too, years later she realised what had really happened. “My war started after the war,” she says. “Of course, when a child is constantly taken from one family to the other without understanding the reason behind it, it will have an impact on your development and your identity. You want to know who you are and where you belong. I was Jewish, but had lived with a Catholic and Reformed family too. Who was the real me? I did feel displaced. Luckily it did not traumatise me; neither did it have psychological consequences for me, like many other children. For them the war never ended. But I must say that I don’t like it when doors are closed and I always want as many lights on as possible.”

More stories To regain strength many children were sent to Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark, after the war. Bep was one of them. She stayed with a Jewish/Danish family in Denmark, who had been in a concentration camp in Theresienstadt. Later Bep inherited their belongings, including memorabilia from the war. She shipped everything to Australia; she had earlier migrated to with her husband and children. “I wanted to find a good home for it and I offered it to the Holocaust Museum.

They asked me if I would like to work for them.” In the meantime Bep has been working for them on a voluntarily base for many years. She is mainly occupied with the digitalising of all the old material in the archives.

“Of course, the story of Anne Frank is the best known of all hiding stories of Jews during World War II. But there are many more stories of other people who were in hiding and about survivors. Every story is a story on its own. Young people who only know Anne Frank’s story think that people in hiding were all hiding in small rooms.

But that was not always the case. I could just walk around and play outside. It is important that these stories are heard too. But it will still just be an impression; someone cannot feel the pain of your Holocaust.”

above: princess Måxima and her three daughters the princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane greeting Sinterklaas in Scheveningen Š RVD.

sinterklaas in Petersham park, Sydney, photos supplied by Saskia van der Put 59

: n a v ofiel

Pr

JAN en VAL van de GIESSEN Johan de Rooy Het is onmogelijk om alleen maar een profiel over Jan te schrijven. Jan en Val zijn één in hun liefde voor muziek, alles dat met Nederland te maken heeft en ook als huwelijks partners. En die liefde voor ‘everything Dutch’ is opmerkelijk met betrekking tot Val, want zij is een rasechte Australische.

Wat Jan betreft: hij zag in 1939 het levenslicht in Den Haag.

De ‘Johan van Oldebarnevelt’ bracht Jan en zijn ouders in 1957 naar Australië. Ze reisden direct van Melbourne naar het Woodside emigratiekamp in ZuidAustralië. Pa vond al gauw werk als telefoontechnicus bij het toenmalige P.M.G. dept.

Na zijn schoolopleiding ging Jan op kantoor bij het Public Service Dept werken. Op zijn 21ste verjaardag kreeg Jan van ma een gitaar. Pa speelde mandoline en ma dacht dat het wel leuk zou zijn als Jan zijn vader op de gitaar begeleidde. Jan was bezeten met zijn gitaar. Na twee jaar speelden pa en zoon klassieke muziek voor mandoline en gitaar. Jan speelde ook in showbands. Eén van die orkesten had een leuke

zangeres, Valerie Redfern. Jan zag wel wat in haar en Valerie ook wel wat in hem. In 1969 zijn ze getrouwd.

Samen werkten ze in een orkest waarmee ze veel succes behaalden. Ze waren geziene gasten bij de Amerikanen in Pine Gap en gedurende live shows op TV. In 2003 deden Jan en Val mee aan de ‘International Peace Song contest’. Ze bereikten de finale en moesten daarvoor naar Tipperary (Ierland). “A long way”, grapt Jan. Van de 12 finalisten eindigden ze op een eervolle zesde plaats met het lied Someday. Jan en Val hebben 5 CD's op hun naam staan die gretig aftrek vonden.

Helaas zal Zuid Australië Jan en Val moeten missen. Ze gaan namelijk naar Sydney verhuizen waar een van hun dochters een groot huis heeft met genoeg ruimte voor Dutch Treat. Het gevolg is dat Jan en Val nationaal gaan met optredens in het verschiet in Sydney (Rembrandt Club), Tesselaar (Vic) en het Dutch Festival in Adelaide op 29 April 2013.

We zullen ze missen, maar Jan en Val verzekeren u dat ze geregeld voor ons zullen optreden.

Hun vakanties brengen ze in Nederland door. In Vlaardingen ligt een boot dat hun ‘thuis’ is als ze in Nederland zijn. Die boot heette bij aankoop ‘zweetdruppel’, maar werd direct omgedoopt tot ‘Aussie Dream’.

Een droom die werkelijkheid werd voor Jan en Valerie van de Giessen.

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This landmark series will take your breath away as you witness the mysterious island nation of Australia, her people and how they live, work and play from a remarkable angle – above.

Out now on DVD and Blu-ray.

r e t en toin! w

Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports, six participants board a leaky refugee boat, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp, visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military. series 2: six Australians face mortal danger on the streets of the world’s deadliest cities - from the sweltering, war torn capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, to the riotous streets of Kabul, freezing amidst the mountains of Afghanistan.

They travel directly into the eye of a storm - inside the walls of Christmas Island Detention Centre

To go in the draw to win one of 5 DVDs of Great Southern Land or one of three DVDs of Go Back To Where You Came From and Go Back, series 2, send in a photo of a spot in the Netherlands that you have fond memories of and tell us in about 20 words why this photo brings back memories. An example photo is placed on page 38.

The photo should be royalty free and name of photographer provided (taken by you, family member or friend).

The winning photos will be placed in upcoming Holland Focus editions.

Send you photos, text, name and address to editor@hollandfocus.com (high resolution photos) or PO Box 169, Olinda Vic. 3788, before 10 February 2013.

nieuws uit Zuid-Australië D.S.W.C. Het was een denderend St. Nicolaas kinderfeest op zondag 2 december, zegt Dhr. Mullaart van de Dutch Club. Er waren ongeveer 80 kinderen om de Sint te verwelkomen. Voor zijn aankomst werden ze vermaakt door Boppa de clown, de Greenfield Klompendansers en het duo ‘Dutch Treat’.

De Sinterklaasliedjes werden hoofdzakelijk gezongen door de meer dan 300 ouderen.

De club zal weer op zondag 20 januari 2013 open zijn.

: admin@naasa.org.au

Holland House in the South Deze club zal tot dinsdag 15 januari 2013 gesloten zijn. Voor inlichtingen belt u naar Dhr. J. v.d. Belt 7007-3437. community-admin@naasa.org.au

Johan de Rooy 61

S.A.

kiwikorrels De verre eilanden Frans Hertoghs Zeeland, want die zorgt er mede voor dat Nieuw-Zeeland de op vier na grootste exclusieve zone ter wereld bestrijkt, namelijk dik vier miljoen vierkante kilometer zee. Ter vergelijking: AustraliĂŤ heeft er tien en Canada nog geen drie.

Nieuw-Zeeland bestaat uit twee grote eilanden die in elkaars verlengde liggen in een grote lege zee. Ze worden weinig fantasierijk het Noorder- en het Zuidereiland genoemd.

Daaronder ligt een veel kleiner eiland Stewart Island genaamd. Maar er is nog een vierde groep permanent bewoonde eilandengroep, bijna zevenhonderd kilometer pal ten oosten van Christchurch. Het zijn de Chatham Eilanden, een groep van tien eilanden met een totaal oppervlak van bijna duizend vierkante kilometer. Twee van de eilanden zijn permanent bewoond door in totaal ongeveer vijfhonderd inwoners.

Moriori Meer dan vijfhonderd jaar geleden arriveerde er een groep Pacific Eilanders, die Moriori genoemd werden. Ze noemden het Rekohu of Rangiauria. Het is niet duidelijk of vandaaruit Nieuw-Zeeland is bevolkt of andersom. De Moriori werden in elk geval door niemand benijd en leefden er ongestoord in een soort pacifistische staat. De tweeduizend inwoners pasten zich aan het koude klimaat aan en leefden vooral van vis, vogels en zeezoogdieren als zeehonden.

Miljoenen vierkante kilometers Het is een vrij ruig gebied. De gemiddelde temperatuur schommelt tussen de acht en de vijftien graden, het waait er hard en het regent er veel. Veel landbouw of industrie is er niet. De bewoners leven vooral van de vis- en zeekreeftvangst. Er is ook wat toerisme, maar dat loopt gezien het klimaat niet echt storm.

Toch is die eilandengroep heel belangrijk voor Nieuw-

De eerste Europeanen Op 29 november 1791 landde er een Brits schip, de Chatham. De eilandengroep werd zonder slag of stoot toegevoegd aan het Britse rijk. De Moriori werden met rust gelaten, maar besmettelijke ziekten begonnen hun tol te eisen.

62

Kannibalisme In 1835 zette een Britse koopvaarder vijfhonderd tot de tanden gewapende Maori af op het eiland. Twee weken later volgden er nog eens vierhonderd. Ze slachtten de Moriori letterlijk af en aten ze op. De overlevenden hielden ze als slaaf. Ze verboden de Moriori taal en verhinderden ze om zich voort te planten. Daardoor zijn de Moriori al spoedig vrijwel uitgestorven. In 1900 leefden er nog twaalf. De Nieuw-Zeelandse regering greep niet in.

Overleven Intussen zijn de schaarse afstammelingen van de Moriori tenslotte erkend en hebben ze dezelfde rechten als de Maori. Voor beide groepen is het leven op deze verre eilanden hard. Ze produceren zelf niet zoveel. Alles moet over grote afstanden worden ingevoerd. Het leven is er peperduur. Een kopje koffie in het plaatselijke café kost zeven dollar.

Maar ook het toerisme wil niet echt van de grond komen.

Niet alleen is er weinig te beleven en is het weer vaak onaangenaam, een retourticket kost heel veel geld.

Vanuit Nieuw-Zeeland kun je goedkoper naar de meeste bestemmingen in Australië dan naar de Chatham Eilanden.

Wat nu?

In Nieuw-Zeeland begint het te dagen dat de problemen van deze eilanden toch een graadmeter zijn voor die van het moederland. Beide zijn het eilanden die ver weg liggen.

Ook hebben ze allebei een zwakke infrastructuur en weinig plaatselijk kapitaal. De winsten belanden elders. In allebei zijn er bevolkingsgroepen met een beladen verleden. En er is een groeiende leegloop vooral van hoger opgeleide mensen.

Daarom moet er geïnvesteerd worden in de toekomst, niet alleen door de overheid, maar ook en misschien vooral door particuliere ondernemers.

Mooi voorbeeld Het wordt tijd dat de Nieuw-Zeelandse regering plannen maakt voor haar eigen toekomst. Daarbij kan deze misdeelde eilandengroep en zijn bevolking een richtlijn en een proeftuin worden. Overleven is mogelijk. Een paar duizend Moriori hebben er zonder hulp van buitenaf eeuwenlang tevreden en vreedzaam samengeleefd.

En dat is om te beginnen al een mooi voorbeeld, niet alleen voor Nieuw-Zeeland, maar ook voor de rest van de wereld. previous page: Chatham Island - Waitangi (Vk2cz); this page: Moriori carving and Moriori survivors (1877): Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.

PRINS WILLEM ALEXANDER VILLAGE Netherlands Retirement Village Association Of Queensland Inc.

What are your plans for the future?

Imagine living in an environment that reminds you of “back home”.

Inspired by the traditional “Zaanse” style architecture, the village offers many choices in accommodation and lifestyle, from independent living to the highest of care. There are 74 independent living units, 44 Hostel units, 14 one bedroom apartments and a 64 bed Nursing Home.

Enjoy our friendly and happy environment. Many members of our dedicated staff speak Dutch as well as English, because we realise the importance of the mother tongue.

You may like to visit the village and discuss your options for moving into this ideal village facility. Just ring us first to make an appointment, so we can be available to discuss opportunities for you.

Prins Willem Alexander Village 62 Collingwood Road, Birkdale Tel.: (07) 3822 0800 Email: admin@dutchvillage.com.au

news from WESTERN AUSTRALIA words and photos Henny Crijns-Coenen

The CC The Sandgropers

Taking time out on WA’s ‘Mandurah’ foreshore, enjoying the sunshine and the atmosphere the CC The Sandgropers held a picnic bbq; sharing nibblies and drinks to while away the day. The weather was great even though the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ (ocean breeze) began blowing quite early in the afternoon – not the day for a fancy hairdo. It seemed we picked the right day as there happened to be a market at the foreshore so there was plenty to see, to do and to buy - early Christmas gifts for some. It’s always enjoyable to see all the beautiful handcrafts at these markets.

At the heart of Mandurah, both geographically and spiritually, the Peel-Harvey estuary is a water playground and the life centre of the Peel Region.

The coastal town of Mandurah was recently declared Australia’s fastest growing regional destination. It has become a very vibrant tourist area with a lot of activities and entertainment all year round.

Fabulous aquatic playground with a cosmopolitan lifestyle. This centre is teeming with great restaurants and also cafes. There is an abundance of activities for the whole family.

After spending a few hours enjoying the sights, the company and the weather not forgetting the eating and drinking it was time to go home. A great day at yet another idyllic spot in beautiful Western Australia.

The Dutch Club Neerlandia

The Dutch Club in Perth, for the third year running, organised a successful Melbourne Cup Luncheon.

There was a fantastic 3-course meal provided for the guests; and the caterers donated $10 per person back to Neerlandia – that was a very nice gesture.

Guests were welcomed with a glass of champagne, very stylish indeed. Everyone enjoyed the sweepstake and there was also a hat parade which proved very popular with lots of the participants. Three ladies won prizes with their creations and each received a Neerlandia shop voucher to do with what they liked.

It turned out to be a very nice day, great atmosphere and great company.

Dutch Aged Care in WA

Dutch Aged Care in WA’s Support Workers recently held there Christmas party with a luncheon at their favourite restaurant ‘Miss Maud’. 27 Support Worker staff (some unable to attend due to sickness or holidays) attended along with 3 board members, one being Vice President Henri Koldenhoven who thanked the ladies for their dedication. There is a total of 35 Support Workers which gives DACWA a good variety to cover the whole of the Metropolitan area.

It was a lovely afternoon, with everyone having a very good time.

WA

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Sinterklaas comes to visit the children at Rossmoyne Primary School in Western Australia Wednesday the 5th of December was a wonderful day for the children of Year 5 at the Rossmoyne Primary School in WA. Sinterklaas paid them a well-earned visit because not one had been ‘naughty’ but all had been ‘nice’; in fact the whole school was in attendance to witness this traditional Dutch event.

This event was orchestrated by teacher Monique Hill, herself Dutch, a whole learning event for her class and the school about ‘our’ Sinterklaas.

Everyone was captured in the magic created in the coming of ‘The Old Sint’ and their participation in the tradition.

Congratulations to Monique and the wonderful children of year 5 who also created their own scarves and aprons for their Dutch costumes. They had also baked pepernoten in readiness for Sinterklaas’ arrival.

Poems were read and Dutch songs were sung and children also played violins and recorders to accompany the singing.

It turned out to be a very happy, very colourful and a very traditionally Dutch happening for all who were present.

Special thanks to the year 5 children, their teacher Monique Hill (nee Ottenhof) and her mother Nel Ottenhof, the ‘Old Sint’ Gerardus Woerlee – who at his young age of 93 years had a great time - and his daughter Anna Ward. de sfeervolle en lekkerste manier

GOURMET

om gezellig samen te zijn

tel: +61 (0)7 54788663 TEFAL Gourmet en Raclette Sets verkrijgbaar bij SYNCRO AUSTRALIA www.syncroelec.com.au

176 Old Bowling Green Rd, Palmwoods Qld 4555 Australia

photos left: two lovely ladies wearing beautiful hats at the Neerlandia Cup Day Luncheon; Sandgropers Hofdame Henny Lamers enjoying the day out at Mandurah; above: DACWA Support Workers luncheon; Sinterklaas at Rossmoyne Primary School

accommodation in Australia

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BRIEVEN UIT EEN DODENCEL

Johan de Rooy

Zoals u in het profiel van Tamme Visser (H.F. no 5) heeft kunnen lezen was zijn vader in het ‘verzet’ en dientengevolge zelden thuis. Hij was lang ondergedoken in het oosten van Nederland. Na de oorlog liet hij weinig los over zijn werk uit die tijd. In een zeldzaam gesprek met Tamme vertelde hij dat hij ondergedoken was in een klein plaatsje in Drente. Vlakbij zijn adres woonde een Joods gezin in een kelder. Die mensen kwamen alleen ’s nachts even buiten. Toen ze op een nacht naar de kelder teruggingen verloor een klein meisje van het gezin haar pop op de keldertrap. Die pop werd ‘s morgens door iemand gevonden die er prompt mee naar het ‘foute’ plaatselijke politiebureau liep. Het gezin werd gevonden en naar een concentratiekamp getransporteerd. Ze zijn nooit teruggekomen.

Tamme’s vader vond een nieuw onderkomen bij een jonge boer in Weiwerd - Termunterzijl (in de buurt van Delfzijl, Groningen). Op deze boerderij waren behalve Nederlandse onderduikers ook Engelse piloten, die neergeschoten waren tijdens bombardementen op Hamburg.

Ook dit adres werd verraden. Op een morgen kwam de Gestapo. Gelukkig zagen de onderduikers ze komen en ze wisten te ontsnappen. De boer bleef bij zijn gezin en werd prompt meegenomen, verhoord en ter dood veroordeeld.

Na het overlijden van zijn vader vond Tamme, tussen zijn papieren, twee brieven die door deze jonge boer waren geschreven. Eén gericht aan zijn vrouw en zijn drie jonge kinderen en een brief voor zijn moeder en naaste familie.

Het zijn ontroerende brieven die spreken van een groot Godsvertrouwen en liefde voor zijn vaderland.

De brieven zijn vlak voor zijn executie door een vuurpeloton geschreven, nog in zijn cel.

In de brief aan zijn vrouw en kinderen zegt hij: "Deze morgen om half zes werd ik gewekt om me aan te kleden en als jullie, mijn dierbaren, deze brief ontvangen dan ben ik bij mijn hemelse Vader". Voor elk heeft hij een bemoedigend woord. Aan het einde van de brief zegt hij: "Ik heb, Gode zij dank, niet tevergeefs geleefd en ik dank Hem daarvoor. Ook dat ik mag sterven op onze eigen Vaderlandse bodem. Voor God en Vaderland!!”

Aan zijn moeder en familie schrijft hij: "Ik ben volkomen bereid mijn leven te geven voor God en Vaderland". Hij bedankt hen voor hun liefde voor hem en vraagt hen zijn vrouw en kinderen bij te staan in deze moeilijke tijd.

De brieven zijn gedateerd 11 mei 1944, de originelen zijn met pen en inkt geschreven. Een vriend van Tamme’s vader, dhr. Amsinga, die de familie in Groningen goed kende en wist dat hij daar ondergedoken was geweest, gaf hem een getypte kopie.

Het gaat over een tijd die nu voor de meeste mensen al ‘geschiedenis’ is. Voor veel ouderen is deze geschiedenis toch nog erg levend.

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een gedeelte van de brief die Thies Jan Jansen aan zijn vrouw en kinderen had gericht; Thies Jan te paard voor de schuur van de boerderij; De boerderij in Weiwerd foto's geplaatst met toestemming van oosterhoek.com

Thies Jan Jansen De brieven die vermeld worden in Johan’s artikel zijn van Thies Jan Jansen, geschreven in zijn dodencel en uit de gevangenis gesmokkeld. De originelen zijn nog steeds in het bezit van de familie, maar toentertijd zijn er met toestemming van de familie verschillende getypte kopieën verspreid als symbool van geloofskracht.

Op de boerderij van Thies Jan Jansen, Heemskesweg 22 in Weiwerd, werd verzet gepleegd tegen de Duitsers.

De boerderij was niet alleen een ontmoetingsplek voor verzetsmensen, maar ook een plek om onder te duiken.

Na zijn arrestatie is Jansen overgebracht naar het zgn.

Oranjehotel in Scheveningen. Daar is hij op 11 mei 1944 gefusileerd.

Hij hielp joodse onderduikers en bracht illegale kranten en materiaal voor de Delfzijlse verzetsgroep Zwaantje (zie Allard Oosterhuis) rond. Op 9 december 1943 werd hij gearresteerd en vastgezet in de gevangenis van Scheveningen (Oranjehotel).

Op 15 januari 1944 werd hij samen met zijn vriend Henk Hos ter dood veroordeeld en op 11 mei 1944 doodgeschoten op de Waalsdorpervlakte. Op 12 juli 1946 werd hij herbegraven op de Eerebegraafplaats Bloemendaal.

In Weiwerd is een straat naar hem vernoemd de Thies Jan Jansenstraat. In 2007 dreigde de straat te verdwijnen omdat de weg eigenlijk geen functie meer had voor het inmiddels afgebroken dorp.

In 1977 is de boerderij afgebroken.

Voor meer informatie ga naar oosterhoek.com

TILT-AWAY BEDS The concept of ‘the wallbed’ has been around for a long time.

While we may remember them from old American movies (the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges always seemed to enjoy them), they have continually been produced and installed, and are now enjoying a major resurgence in North America and Europe. Tiltaway wallbeds (also known as Murphy beds) are now available in Australia and are proving to be just as popular here as overseas. With the bed cabinet protruding only 403mm from the wall, they create space in any area including the home office, the spare room, the caravan, or student accommodation. Because of their light, finger tip operation, they are even appropriate for granny flats. They fold away fully made up (including doona and pillows) so they are an ‘instant bed’. Tiltaway Bed’s mechanism’s are manufactured in Canada and come with a 15 year warranty.

Tiltaway can provide standard side cabinets, or they can design cabinetry to suit a client’s individual situation. With a range of finishes available, these beds can be an attractive addition to a home or unit, while adding significant value to the investment.

Phone 0439 807 957 www.tiltawaybeds.com.au

The Nachtwacht in Australia

For thirty years the Rembrandt Club in St Marys (NSW) has had a feature wall of the famous Nachtwacht.

Due to leaks in the roof and old age the paper feature wall was severely damaged, it was time to replace this timeless piece.

Finally, after months of work the new picture was unveiled during the AGM in October. The club is very proud that they now have a framed digital copy on canvas straight from the original one of the Rijksmuseum.

You could not get it any closer in appearance and looks.

The club is open every Tuesday and Friday, when you can view this masterpiece with a real cup of coffee on the house and browes around in the Dutch shop for all the goodies and the Dutch liquor from the bar.

Jan Joosten, president 02-9623 2569

email: info@rembrandtdutchclub.com OPEN: dinsdag’s van 10 tot 16 uur om te winkelen en een kopje koffie te drinken.

Vrijdag’s vanaf 11 uur tot laat.

Je kunt er kaarten, biljarten, sjoelen, scrabbelen, holland focus lezen en ook zingen.

Iedereen is van harte welkom.

Tuesday 8 January 2013 @ 10am at 4pm we open again for shoppers.

Free cuppa!

Voor meer informatie over en foto’s van de gebeurtenissen in de Rembrandt Club ga naar www.rembrandtdutchclub.com

68

NSW

Rembrandtkoor in Melbourne Mia Joosten Op zaterdag 17 november was er een groot concert in Melbourne.

In de zaal waren zo’n 350 mannenstemmen te horen. Het Rembrandt koor was ook van de party.

Na een geweldig concert was het gezellig napraten en werden er plannen gemaakt voor het volgende concert in 2014. Het koor werd gevormd door zo’n 11 verschillende koren die vanuit heel Australië gekomen waren om deel te nemen aan dit concert.

En niet te vergeten de Kew Band van Melbourne die niet alleen begeleiding gaf aan de koren maar ook met hun muziek en humor de stemming erin hield.

Het was weer Sinterklaas in het hele land.

Op zondag kwam Hij naar de Rembrandt Club voor de kleintjes en op woensdag voor de ‘oudere’ kinderen.

Op maandag nog vlug een bezoekje aan de Abel Tasman Village waar een Hollandse kinderspeelgroep aanwezig was.

Langs deze weg zou ik graag iedereen willen bedanken die de Sint heeft geholpen om zoveel mensen van alle leeftijden blij te maken.

Alleen al hier in de Rembrandt Club en de Abel Tasman Village komt er heel wat bij kijken, en zonder alle hulp zou het echt niet zo’n succes zijn.

Voor alle Pieten en Pieterinnen en alle mensen met een andere naam, jullie hebben weer je best gedaan.

Nou met z’n allen op vakantie naar Spanje en met de voorbereidingen van het volgend jaar beginnen.

Chocolade smelten om letters van te maken en veel pepernoten bakken.

O ja.. en... Dank U Sinterklaasje.

meer foto's op de volgende pagina 69

de dirigent Alwyn Humpreys, geflankeerd door het langste en kortste Rembrandtkoorlid

Youtube clips Er zijn twee muziek stukken op Youtube geplaatst My Lord what a mornin’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF408ajjxTs&featur e=relmfu American Trilogy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEOApmkxI3c Gewoon geweldig, om kippevel van te krijgen.

Sinterklaasfeest in de Abel Tasman Retirement Village, verschillende jonge moeders en hun kinderen woonden het feest bij.

De stoel van Sinterklaas in de Rembrandtclub is het middelpunt van vele familiefoto's

Wat belooft Sinterklaas hem?

NSW

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holland focus ADDRESS PO Box 169, Olinda Vic. 3788 T +61 (0)3 9751 2795 M 0419 465 516 E editor@hollandfocus.com www.hollandfocus.com ABN 40 118 310 900 editor and publisher iet fuijkschot contributors to this issue: D. Arnold, B. Blankers, H. Crijns-Coenen, M. Douwes, Y. Edens, E. Feenstra, P. Griffith , M. de Groot, F. Hertoghs, Hullie,M. and J. Joosten, C. Lampe, A. Manintveld, C. Pynaker, J. de Rooy, RVD, H.Stokhuyzen, J. van Splunter, M. Theunissen, R. Vermaas, R. van Voorst, P. Westbeek, H. Westbeek, J. Weijdt, K. Woldring advertising sales: T +61 (0)3 9751 2795 E advertising@hollandfocus.com subscriptions: T +61 (0)3 9751 2795 E admin@hollandfocus.com WA contacts:

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For Australia:

Brisbane Stirrers 3 x 11 Prince’s Celebrations Matt Theunissen, president That we were not able to invite our local supporters to our Official 3 x 11 Anniversary Celebrations held at Lions Football Club last June was a huge disappointment to us, but we had no choice as it was due to the limited number of seats we had available.

To compensate our local supporters in some small way we extended our 3 x 11 Anniversary festivities to include the 17th of November Prince’s Celebrations at the Dutch Club. All who attended that evening received a $5 voucher to help them celebrate and also 3 x 11 anniversary booklets adapted for our local supporters to make them part of our anniversary year activities.

We had to say goodbye to Prince Hans who had looked after us so well during this very hectic anniversary year. In appreciation of all his effort and support and to give him a chance to recuperate we had organised a stay in that beautiful well known little country ‘Smurfing fairyland’ all at Stirrers expense of course. To make sure he would get to that destination safely a couple of smurfs attended the evening so as to accompany him on the way to this famous holiday resort.

Our Carnaval friends the Gold Coast Cavaliers were our guests as well as some former members of the Brisbane German Carnaval club the K.D.K. We also had a busload of people from the Prins Alexander Retirement Village who over the years have proved to be amongst our greatest supporters.

Our supposed new Princess Carnaval arrived in the disguise of an opera singer, accompanied by the full Andre Rieu Hallelujah Chorus. But to our amazement and shock, right in front of our eyes and before she was installed she fainted, she was a fake. Apparently it had been a ladylike shaped object filled with air which had sprung a leak and therefore she just faded away. This was terrible disappointing for us, as for the opening of the new carnival season we had no Prince or Princess Carnaval. Obviously we need a Royal Commission to look into this, and investigate, how and why, this was allowed to happen, someone is responsible and should take the blame, hopefully we can rectify the before mentioned deplorable situation before our next function in March.

Now let me get back to the good part of the evening, the dance music was provided by the band ‘The Huns’ while other entertainment was provided by our dancing girls Bianca and Rachel. The Stirrers floorshow also made a light hearted contribution with a mixture of humoristic songs and satirical skits. As the night was part of our 3 x 11 celebrations we didn’t expect it to be financial rewarding and it certainly wasn’t, but more importantly we had a great atmosphere and everyone had a good time. We want to thank all those hard workers at the Dutch Club as well as the Dutch Club committee for their help and support given to us during this busy anniversary year.

The Prince’s Celebrations concluded our 3 x 11 Anniversary festivities and we can say the year has been exceedingly successful, but in regard to the state of our membership and long term future things don’t look so good. In recent years a number of our members have gone to carnival heaven, and if we look at the age of many of our members we have to consider it very likely that in the coming years many more of our members will be candidates for making that unescapable compulsory journey to that heavenly place in the sky.

But as they say, where there is life there is hope, so let us be optimistic and trust that everyone will have, or has had a good start to the New Year and that we will see some of you at our Carnaval Celebrations in March.

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