Many different events and projects commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. This volume of essays and poetry collects various perspectives on the 1940-1945 war years in the Netherlands and the role Canada played in its liberation. The presence of Canada and Canadian soldiers in 1944-1945 resulted in a strong and abiding connection between the two countries over the past six decades. This connection was strengthened by considerable Dutch immigration to Canada during the ten years after the war, but has also been underscored by their political and social similarities: these two countries must negotiate with powerful and sometimes intransigent neighbours.
The political and historical essays represented here critically portray Canada’s role in matters of war and peace since 1945. Ko Colijn addresses Canadian and Dutch positions on the question of Weapons of Mass Destruction. From a historical point of view, Doeko Bosscher challenges the role of the Canadian army in liberating his home town of Groningen. The personal variant of building liberty is explored in Aritha van Herk’s essay on immigration and desire. Christl Verduyn reflects on occupation and liberation through the lens of photojournalist Kryn Taconis’ life. Janice Kulyk Keefer interrelates the writings of Etty Hillesum and Naomi Klein, and how both demonstrate the ethics of responsibility. Literary essays by George Elliott Clarke and Frank Davey focus on the resonance of poetry. The final section of the book is devoted to poetry, illustrated by Claire Weissman Wilks.
The sixty years between 1945 and 2005 have marked a long and flourishing friendship between Canada and the Netherlands, nations united by shared chapters in their histories, and by their dedication to freedom and to a positive future. This volume is an acknowledgement of that friendship, and an example of the intriguing scholarship evoked by the Dutch-Canadian connection.
Building Liberty is Volume 11 of the book series Canada Cahiers, edited by the Association for Canada Studies in the Netherlands (ACSN, Studiegenootschap Canada), https://acsn.nl/.
Acknowledgements IX
Letter from H.R.H. Princess Margriet XI
CONNY STEENMAN-MARCUSSE & ARITHA VAN HERK
Building Liberty, Canada and World Peace, 1945–2005: Introduction 1
Introductory Chapter on the Battle of the Scheldt Estuary 9
TOBIAS VAN GENT
The Allied Assault on Walcheren, 1944 11
Post-war Immigration into Canada 31
ARITHA VAN HERK
Inventing a Family Tree: Is it Possible to Be a Dutch-Canadian? 33
CHRISTL VERDUYN
A Piece of the Picture: Kryn Taconis, Dutch-Canadian Photojournalist 1918–1979 53
Canada’s Role in Peace and Liberty 73
KO COLIJN
Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Medium-power Concern? 75
HOUCHANG HASSAN-YARI
A Diminishing Middle Power? Canada’s National Security and Peacekeeping 101
HUGH B. MCCULLOUGH
The End of a Foreign Policy Era: Constraining Influences on Canada’s Foreign Policy in the Matter of Peace and Liberty 119
MASSIMO RUBBOLI
Canada, Peacekeeper to the World? Myths, Values, and Reality in Canadian Foreign Policy 145
DOEKO BOSSCHER
Canadians and the Liberation of the Netherlands: Heroes, Competitors, Friends, and Foes 163
Canadian Multiculturalism 187
CONSTANTINE E. PASSARIS
Canadian Multiculturalism and the New Global Economy 189
Representations of War and Peace in Canadian Literature 211
GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE
Writing the Pax Canadiana: Terror Abroad, Torture at Home 213
FRANK DAVEY
Earle Birney in Holland 237
DANIELLE SCHAUB
Caught between Desire to Live and Sense of Duty: Traumatized Narrative in Alan Cumyn’s The Sojourn 253
Gender and Liberation: Canadian and Dutch Women at War and Peace 277
JANICE KULYK KEEFER
Purgatorial Postcards: the Writings of Etty Hillesum and Naomi Klein 279
Poems on War and Peace 297
Sources Poems and Drawings 299
JANICE KULYK KEEFER
Circumstances 301
A Small, Silent Voice 303
Just an Ordinary Jew 305
Vortex 307
The Thinking Heart of the Barracks 309
Packing for Transit 311
The pitifully thin, incessant wailing of the babies 313
GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE
Dona Beatrice I 315
Dona Beatrice III 317
Poem 3 318
FRANK DAVEY
The News 320
The DPs 321
The Bad Men 323
CHRISTL VERDUYN
Departure 325
Landing 326
Arrival 327
Simcoe 328
Flying Dutchman 330
Clearing 332
Notes on Contributors 335
