Dutch Flower Parade
Our apartment is steps from the street named Gedempte Oude Gracht. The street’s name comes from the Oude Gracht canal that the street covered over In 1859 after its waters became fetid. Now a popular thoroughfare, on Saturday evening it was the termination point of the annual Bloemencorso Flower Parade. The parade begins in the morning 26 miles to the south. Throughout the day, it slowly winds its way north, with stops along the way, until it finally reaches Haarlem at night. I stepped out of our apartment a bit past 10:30 p.m. and the parade was still making its way down the street, the nearly full moon illuminating rain clouds blowing in from France.
It seems the whole of Haarlem turned out for the event, the lateness of the hour given little consideration. I suppose I’m a cynical old man now, but the parade was the same as any other: flowered floats, cars adorned with flowers, marching bands—all the usual suspects. Sadly, being in Holland did little to impress upon me a need to stay and watch much more than a small portion of the event.
One reason we were not overly motivated to watch the parade at night was that, once the parade stops in Haarlem, the floats are left in place and you can check them out throughout the day on Sunday. Little did we know, they simply park the floats all down Gedempte Oude Gracht, so they are right out our front door! The rain fell overnight, clearing by the late morning. Given such a magnificent day, everyone was drawn outside to admire the floats up close.
This photo was taken from the middle of Gedempte Oude Gracht, between two floats. Our apartment is in the all white building down the street (our door is under the small red triangle sign). When we picked this spot, we had no idea we had positioned ourselves so well for the festivities.
More floats
It seemed like all of Holland rolled into Haarlem to enjoy this idyllic Sunday. This is Haarlem’s Grote Markt, its central square. You almost can’t make out Grote Kerk (Great Church)/St. Bavokerk ("Church of St. Bavo") amidst all the carnival rides covering the old cobbled square.
The festival encouraged us to walk about the city more, which gave us an increased appreciation for what a beautiful city we are privileged to call home this week.
Though briming with people, the charm of the quaint old streets was undeniable.
It all changes on Sunday evening though. The floats will move on, as will the masses of people. For the time being, however, the clear skies and festive energy were infectious.
Another museum that was unexpectedly sold out when we went to purchase tickets was the Corrie ten Boom House Museum here in Haarlem, very near the Grote Markt square.
This was the watch shop and residence of the ten Boom family, where they provided a hiding place for Jews and others who were persecuted and hunted by the Nazi regime.
The family became part of the Dutch underground resistance and oversaw a network that smuggled Jews to safe places. A secret room was built in Cornelia’s (Corrie) bedroom behind a false wall. The room could hold six people and had a ventilation system installed. A buzzer could be heard in the house to warn refugees to get into the room as quickly as possible during security sweeps through the neighborhood.
It is estimated that around 800 Jews were saved by the ten Booms’ efforts.
As with the Frank family, the ten Booms were eventually betrayed by a Dutch informant. They were arrested by the Gestapo here on February 28, 1944. The group of six people hidden by the ten Booms at the time remained undiscovered. The ten Booms received a letter one day in prison stating, "All the watches in your cabinet are safe," meaning that the refugees had managed to escape and were safe.
Corrie ten Boom survived Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. However, Casper (father) died due to imprisonment in Scheveningen, Betsie (sister) from Ravensbrück, Wilhelm (brother) from Hilversum, and Christiaan “Kirk” (Wilhem’s son) from onbekend. Corrie passed away in 1983 at 91-years of age in her home in Placentia, California. Their Christian faith compelled them to action, regardless of consequence.
I was more than a little shocked to read in Russell Shorto’s book Amsterdam, that Netherlanders remain largely embarrassed by how many of their people took advantage of the Jews and others who were targeted by the Nazis. Tragically, those that helped hide the Frank family and the work of the ten Boom family were not the norm, a fact that gave me great personal pause—would (will) I have the courage and conviction to do what these brave and heroic people did?
