Many people throughout the world associate dykes and dams with The Netherlands. However, there are natural water barriers that are less known....the dunes. The home of my Wassenaar host family, Jaap and Gre Blaak, was nestled in the sandy dunes and perfectly complemented the surroundings. The first day Gre and I went for a walk to admire the views from a high point. On my last day, after numerous threats of being abandoned, Jaap and I cycled through the dunes to the beach. I had to keep a close eye on Jaap, just in case he decided to pull a fast one and 'inadvertently lose' me in the dunes :-)
On the way, we stopped and paid respect at a monument in the dunes (Waalsdorper Vlakte) honoring Dutch victims of WWII, especially the hundreds of people who were executed. Most of those people were imprisoned, interrogated and tortured in Scheveningen and many were finally shot at that spot in the dunes.
1 comment:
Hi Monique,
Just to make sure that the Dutch World War II history is correct, also in Washington and Baltimore: The monument in the dunes is to honour all the Dutch victims of the war and especially the people who were executed. (several hundreds)
Most of those people came from the prison in Scheveningen, where they went through interrogations and mistreatments and were finally shot at that spot in the dunes.
(Waalsdorper vlakte)
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