CALGARY- A southern Alberta war survivor is speaking out about the horrors of Nazi occupation so people will understand why Remembrance Day is so important to her.
In May of 1940, Alida Cross was a nine-year-old girl living in The Netherlands as German soldiers were invading during the Second World War.
She says many people in her community were starving. Her father worked in a sugar factory and would steal a bit each night so his family could survive. Cross says at night, he would hide from German patrols.
“He got through the war okay but a lot of our cousins got killed in the navy,” says Cross. “And all the Jewish people, you saw the Germans just take them through the street and they were put on trains and into concentration camps.”
Five years later, Cross says the Allied forces came to liberate her community.
“There was parties everywhere and I still remember those planes flying over our house and dropping all the food down. It was unbelievable.”
Cross says she is normally hesitant to talk about the war because she doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. She says she always feels incredibly thankful and lucky to be one of the people who survived.
“All the crosses everywhere, all the people that died to save you…it makes you in one way very sad, and you should be thankful.”
With files from Doug Vaessen
Comments