Netherlands Trip Day 6 - Den Bosch to Arnhem (Thursday July 25th, 2019)

Netherlands Trip Day 6 - Den Bosch to Arnhem (Thursday July 25th, 2019)

We got a pretty decent night sleep since the rooms are essentially fully air-conditioned. However, due to the heat wave, the capacity of the air-conditioning units in many parts of Netherlands were not able to cool the hot air fast enough. We will encounter this scenario later this evening. GG woke up today to a swollen lip likely due to bug bites in Kinderdijk yesterday. The temperature in The Netherlands is expected to break record today.

Our itinerary today will cover National Monument Kamp Vught then follow the "Liberation Trail" to Arnhem. In fact, the only reason that we are even in Den Bosch is because I wanted to visit Kamp Vught. We are now into the second part of our trip. The first part of our trip covers the "Golden Age-the 16th century" of the Dutch Republic in North and South Holland Provinces. We toured the historic Dutch Republic cities such as Haarlem and Delft. The second part of our trip will cover the World War II ally advancement trail after the D-Day ally invasion of Normandy. This trail is coined the "Liberation Trail". South of Netherlands saw major battles between the ally forces and Germany during WWII. The 101st Airborne landed in Eindhoven not too far from Den Bosch. We will trace the route of the ally in "Operation Market Garden" from south of Netherlands to Arnhem. We have come to liberate!

Good morning Den Bosch - GG with a swollen lip

Keeping it fresh!


Freshly baked bread


We will not see American brew out of a pot until we return to the other side of the pond


Old cheese and young cheese


Fruit bowl


Omelette


...and Dutch pancake


Each room is labeled by a famous person from the area and a number.
Franciscus van Lanschot was an 18th century Den Bosch merchant


Jheronimus Bosch, the famous 15th century painter who shares the last name with the town. His statue is located in the town square


Gerrit Schulte, a famous cyclist from the 1960's who lived to the end of his life in Den Bosch

We took our time to check out today since our scheduled tour of Kamp Vught is not until 11:30. Vught is only a short time minute drive from Den Bosch. 

Kamp Vught

The National Monument Amp Vught or Camp Vught National Memorial is a former Nazi SS concentration camp located in the town of Vught just south of Den Bosh. This camp was not a "death camp" per se such as Auschwitz. It was a "work camp" that comprised of both Dutch political prisoners as well Dutch Jews. However, even though Vught wasn't a death camp, many death occurred at this location. Most of the Jews who were housed at this camp were eventually transported to the death camps and executed. This site was not a visit that we took lightly. 

Even though the Americans fought and won WWII, the impact of WWII itself isn't greatly felt in America mainland. The impact of WWII is greatly felt in Europe mainland. The pain and the memory  of the war is fresh in Europeans' minds. There are lots of WWII memorials in many places in Europe that we as Americans do not get to see in US mainland. 

We had arranged a private tour of Kamp Vught the day before. When we got to the site, we checked with the nice old lady volunteers at the front desk. They told us our guide Hanz, will be here shortly. The site itself or the "barrack 1B" is a reconstruction of the original barrack since the original camp was demolished after the war. There is a nice museum at the entrance and the museum is still being renovated. This site is also devoid of tourists but it is such an amazing site to learn about the history of WWII. 

Checking in at the front desk

I believer this loosely translate to something like "if they were here, they would have room under heaven"

A pin was given to us when we entered. I believe this loosely translates to "freedom displayed"

A model re-creation of the site, the walled area to the left is a current day prison

Hanz leading us through the side fence

The original guard tower

Barbed-wire still in place today

Hanz led us to the replica of the original barrack called "Barrack 1B". Hanz showed us many of the artifacts from the time period including the prisoner uniform, the mis-matching clogs that were given to the prisoners and several other interesting items. 

Male prison uniform and the mis-matching clogs. The prisoners had to trade the clogs to get better fitting ones. 

Hanz showing us the uniform

Hanz showing us the doll of a female prisoner

Hanz leading us through Barrack 1B, the moms with young children or the older ladies would usually get the bottom bunk

Barrack 1B

Looking out from the Barrack 1B window

Hanz showing us a hank-cranked flash light made by the prison workers for the German military. The story goes that the prisoners would purposely made the part good enough to past inspection but poor enough to not last too long in the field. 

After showing us inside Barrack 1B, Hanz led us to outside of the Barrack to a memorial called the "Children Remembrance Memorial Camp Vught". This memorial eulogizes the 1269 children deported from camp Vught to the death camp. All the children to our understanding perished at the death camp. This memorial lists the name of every child deported and perished from here. This memorial is an extremely emotional memorial for me. It was extremely difficult to image of atrocities committed by the Nazi that exterminated over 1000 children just from this site alone. I had tears in my eyes. 

Children Remembrance Memorial Camp Vught

After seeing the Children Memorial, Hanz led to the the crematorium where the dead were cremated. We learned that the death increased dramatically as the war drew closer to the end because the Nazi were getting more agitated/worried. It was later discovered that the ashes of many of the dead were scattered around the camp without any marking. Subsequently, a grave memorial was laid outside the crematorium to remember the dead. 

Hanz showed us another location - a room where many of the women were killed. The story goes that the women in the camp wrote a letter to the Nazi commander of the camp to ask to improve the condition of the camp. The commander got upset and locked the protesting women in a small room. The women were stuffed into the room like sardine. Due to the heat, many of the women were licking the sweat condensation formed inside the wall. However, the paint reacted with the heat and caused the liquid to burn the women's tongues. The women were locked into this room for many many hours. At the end, many women died in this room. A plaque was set up to commemorate the protesting women. 

The crematorium

The grave site for those whose ashes were simply dumped outside the crematorium

The room where the protesting women were packed in like sardine. A vase of flowers sits in the middle of the room.

The plaque commemorates the women who died in this room

Hanz leading us back to the museum in the front. It was a very emotional experience walking through the camp.

Hanz led us to the museum area by the entrance. Hanz showed us an area where a series of memorial plaques were defaced by vandals. Even during recent time, hate continues to be present. 

The defaced memorial plaques by haters/vandals

The location where the defaced plaques are stored.

Jan Herberts - a prisoner who was executed one month after his 18th birthday

Taking a picture with Hanz

Picture with Hanz, we thank him very much for the insightful tour

Taking a break at the little cafe, the information packet was wonderfully designed

We concluded our visit to Kamp Vught shortly after 12:00. We thanked Hanz for the wonderful private tour for the camp. After taking a short snack break at the cafe, we were moving on to our next step - The Overloon War Museum in Overloon. 

The Overloon War Museum

Overloon is a small country village located about an hour southeast of Den Bosch. It was a location of strategic importance thus this little village became the battle ground between the ally and the German forces during the fall of 1944 as part of the "Operation Market Garden". Both the allies and the German military left quite a bit of military equipment and vehicles in the area after the battle. A museum was established to house these relics from the war and opened its door to the visitor shortly after the war in 1946. Today, the museum has been renovated. It has a nice indoor interactive area that people can learn about how Nazi advanced itself in The Netherlands and the covered area where all the military equipments are. It also has a nice indoor theater that shows a brief documentary about the battle of Overloon and also a nice cafe for visitors to take a rest. 

The town of Overloon is very close to Germany. We had a thought of doing a Germany drive by but decided to drop the idea due to the overwhelming heat. 

The "Oorlogs Museum" or "War Museum" Overloon, again devoid of tourists

Memorial of Battle of Overloon just pass the entrance

A Russian made T34/85 tank, not quite sure why a Russian tank is at this museum

There was about a ten minute walk from the entrance of the museum to the museum itself. There are obstacle courses along the walk apparently for some type of outdoor skills training. It was about 1:30 pm and decided to take lunch at the museum cafe before we explore the museum. We ordered coffee, the Dutch sausage roll and couple of sandwiches. The food was surprisingly good for a small cafe. There was not a single foreign tourist at the museum. There was a group of local boy scout troop on a field trip here. The locals were saying hi to us and speaking Dutch to the kids as if we are locals as well. 

Resting with the ally forces at the museum cafe

Dutch sausage roll and coffee

BBQ chicken sandwich

Chicken breast sandwich

After lunch, we explored the indoor part of the museum first. It had many relics from the Nazi era. These are taboo items in the US. We sat a watched a brief documentary with the local Boy Scout troop about the war in The Netherlands, learned about how Nazi took over The Netherlands, and how life was like during this period. 

The museum tickets

Nazi eagle insignia hung on the roof shortly after entering the indoor part of the museum

Nazi insignia in display - "NSDAP" a German abbreviation for "National Socialist German Workers' Party" or simply the "Nazi Party"

Watching a brief documentary about war in the Netherlands

"Strijdt Mee!" - "Fight!", a Nazi propaganda in Dutch

A war time vehicle

A Nazi officer skull cap, most likely worn by a Panzer tank officer or SS troop officer

Coat of an SS officer, the SS insignia can be seen on the collar

An interactive area to learn about the war

Hitler's "Mijn Kamp" in Dutch at display

Convenient folding chair for sitting and can be used a walking aid

The Star of David to mark the Jews

Ally troop uniforms

Get outta the way, MP coming through!

A British "Cruiser, MK II or A10" infantry tank at display

The American Sherman Tank M4 "After Hitler", we have entered the semi-outdoors area of the musuem


Side view of the Sherman M4 tank, the gun turret seems to have been dislodged


The heavily armored German Tiger II tank of the Waffen-SS Panzer division, notorious among the ally forces. It weighs up to 70 tonnes.


The B-25 Mitchell III Bomber



Chow time!


"BARC 33", amphibious cargo carrier


U.S.A.


"Da Bomb"


Military headgear


View from the upper deck


Cannon


Upper deck view of the BARC 33, it houses a big radar


Large ordinance


More ordinance


Watching the documentary about the Battle of Overloon at the theater by the tanks


Another Sherman M4 display at the outside

We concluded our visit shortly before 4:00 pm. By now everyone is pretty exhausted. The temperature is now at 40C (104F) and we were finally heading to Arnhem where we will sleep tonight. 

40.0C

Arnhem

Arnhem is a city located in the Gelderland province of Northeast Netherlands. Arnhem was heavily bombed during Operation Market Garden when the allies tried to cross the river Rhine but failed to do so in the fall of 1944. The battle of Arnhem was famously depicted in the 1977 film "A Bridge too Far" starring essentially all the major leading men from the 1970's including Sean Connery and Robert Redford. 

I had initially wanted to stop at Nijmegen since Nijmegen was also such an important battle ground during WWII where the famous 82nd airborne secured the bridge over the River Waal. But we were out of energy so it wasn't meant to be. We drove from Overloon through Nijmegen and crossed the River Waal without encountering any military resistance and reached Arnhem without taking a single bullet in about 40 minutes. Everyone took a short nap except for the driver - me.

Arnhem felt like a very modern city since most of the city was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt. I was perhaps more excited about visiting this place than anyone else.

Poster for "A Bridge Too Far", starring Sean Connery, Robert Redford and countless other major stars. We watched this movie together as a family before we went on the trip

Getting into town

We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express Arnhem, just north of the River Rhine by the famous John Frost Bridge. We got to hotel without a hitch. However, due to the overwhelming heat, one of our room's AC was not able to sufficiently cool the room. This situation was happening in many rooms in the hotel. Other guests were complaining that their rooms were hot as well. We had to get another room but it was too small. At the end, the hotel staff had tried very hard to fix the AC to get our original room to an acceptable temperature level. We appreciate the hotel staff's hard work to please difficult customers like us. 

After freshening up at the hotel, we went to search for dinner in 100F heat. We initially wanted to go to an Indian restaurant but it did not look like a good place to Joanne. We then finally found another Indonesian restaurant however the restaurant had no AC. We settled in there and ate our meal in muggy 100F heat. After finishing the meal, we went and got some gelato for the kids. The feel of Arnhem seems much more gritty and working class to me. Unlike Den Bosch, which I felt it was much more up-scale. 

After getting back to our hotel and buying some fruit at Albert Heijn, our favorite local super market chain, Joanne and I went for our evening paseo to explore the town before we call it a night. 

Funky painting on the city street

Street of Arnhem


A highly rated Stroopwafels shop unfortunately already closed for the day


McDonald's


Remnants of some older buildings in town


Indonesian feast in 100F muggy day


Getting some gelato after dinner


Casualty, no free scoop from the store, had to pay for another scoop


The casualty


Round 2, no tears


9:26 pm, still bright out, Joanne and I began our evening paseo overlooking the statue of the giant aardvark in front of our hotel


The giant aardvark, the quirky statue seems to be synonymous with the funky feel of Arnhem


Getting dark, walking along the city street


A 75th anniversary Arnhem libration flag seen through a store front

The narrow street of Arnhem


Reached by destination for the evening - The Airborne at the Bridge Museum, which we will return the next day for a visit when it is open


Airborne at the Bridge


Will return tomorrow


The famous or infamous John Frost Bridge, just past 10:00 pm


A 0.5 second exposure image shot on my Canon G9XMII of the John Frost Bridge


Remembering John Frost, pictured in front of Hotel Hartenstein, which we will visit the next day


A summer night in Arnhem


Right across the street from the museum is the old city gate Sabelspoort, illuminated by green light at night


View of Sabelspoort from inside the city


The Tower of St. Eusebius' Church seen from Sabelspoort


Looking at the 14th century St. Wulburgis Basilica from Grote Kerk


By the Grote Kerk, a market is being setup for tomorrow morning


St. Eusebius at night

After circling around town, it was getting pretty dark. Many of the "coffee shops" were open for business. We walked by some rowdy crowds and got back to our hotel to call it a night. 

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