Tough Beginnings After The War

With the help of some good people and a lot of hard work, a loving family finds their home in Canada

- Greta Zwaan

By the end of World War II, most of Europe was left in shambles. The war was over, but the pain and sorrow was still fresh in peoples’ minds. Many people needed to pick up the broken pieces and start anew.

For my family, “a new” meant leaving our home in the Netherlands for a better future in Canada.

My parents, Eelke and Martjevan der Veen, accepted the challenge of moving because they heard there was plenty of land in Canada. They thought by working on a farm for a few years and saving money, they’d be able to purchase their own farm one day. Turns out, it wasn’t that easy.

My parents left their homeland on an immigrant ship with their four youngsters in 1947. My oldest brother, Jerry, was nine, I was eight and the youngest two, Melvin and Albert, were seven and four—plus, my mother was pregnant.

The crossing was horrendous. My dad got sick and wasn’t able to stand until we reached Quebec 12 days later. To add to the misery, the voyage was extra long because the ship had to deviate off course due to an iceberg.

When we arrived, we had no place to go and we were classified as “displaced persons” of the Second World War. We didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t speak the language and we were frightened and lost. The authorities eventually put us on a dirty, sooty train to London, Ont.

There, we were met by a farmer waiting at the train station. He had a large cattle truck and a bad attitude, plus he spoke a “funny” language called English, which we didn’t understand.