Remarkable stories of our Dutch neighbours

 

by Keith Roulston   (this was Keith's last column for the Rural Voice - he passed away on November 1, 2026) 

 

One of my daughters gave me a gift certificate to a Goderich bookstore for Father’s Day but with all the construction on The Square, it was only recently that I got to use it.

We went into the bookstore and as I shopped around, Jill showed me a book The Dutchman’s Suitcase. After glancing over it, I bought it.

The book is written by Brad and Elizabeth Seltzer of Stratford. Elizabeth’s parents were born in the Netherlands, where she herself was born in 1952, before emigrating to Canada when she was still young. After Elizabeth discovered an old wooden suitcase she asked her father to tell her about it.

Peter was just 19 years old when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. He was shipped off to a work camp in Germany where he worked as a mechanic, endured hunger, witnessed atrocities, and survived Allied bombings. He kept his memories from that time in a suitcase, which he was reluctant to open.

Elizabeth suggested he write his stories down. Although he tried, he finally admitted failure. Over the next few years whenever he spoke about his past, Elizabeth kept notes and now she and her husband have committed those stories to print – and it’s a compelling story.

Netherlanders have had a deep respect for Canadians. After D-Day on June 6, 1944, Canadians played a leading role in liberating Holland. My father, who earlier had served in Italy, was transferred to Holland. I never remember him saying anything bad about the Dutch.

After my father died, my mother and sister went to Holland – I suspect it was for the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. I remember my mother saying you had to be careful what you said because if you said you were Canadian you would be embarrassed by the enthusiasm of they way you were treated.

Rural Ontario and the Netherlands remain close. Dutch farmers who found it hard to continue in the Netherlands, often came to Canada. In my neighbourhood north of Lucknow that included one of the first immigrant families.

We used to walk a mile or two to the county road to catch a ride on the high school bus to Lucknow. One day a Dutch neighbour stopped to offer us a ride. He drove an imported car and wore wooden shoes. I’m sure he had a thick accent but I remember understanding him just fine.

Money was short for the family and they grew cucumbers, which they took to a grading plant in Teeswater, helped by their five children. 

Today the former Presbyterian church in Blyth is now the Christian Reformed Church, made of a largely Dutch congregation, is the biggest church in the village.

Dutch Canadians have revolutionized farm country around here. My neighbours, originally from the Netherlands, had a major dairy farm and were the first people I knew who had a robotic milker. When they turned over the farm to their son, he sold the milk quota and bought chicken quota.

The ties between the Canadian and Dutch communities have remained strong. There are none of the McGowans left who settled the farms northwest of Blyth but Dutch farmers have replaced them and kept the community strong.

So it’s good to read about and better  understand the struggles that the occupied Dutch families had in The Dutchman’s Suitcase. We grew up in the peace of a post-World War II world. The Dutch immigrants survived Nazi occupation and then brought their energy to Canadian agriculture. 

If you get a chance, read The Dutchman’s Suitcase and share this remarkable story. ◊