Lest We Forget Or Have We Already?

As a citizen of The Netherlands, I have learned quite a lot about the Second World War. We would joke it was the only thing we learned in secondary school during our history lessons. I’ve studied the Anne Frank journals, I’ve visited the Anne Frank-house in Amsterdam, and I’ve visited Kamp Westerbork. I’ve seen ‘Schindler’s List,’ as it was shown to us in the second year of secondary school.

WW2 Expert

Reading the news nowadays, I feel like I’m an expert on WW2. I’m not, really, what I’ve stated above is about all I studied on the war. It bugs me to no end that people nowadays dare to deny the Holocaust, calling it a hoax. Or that politicians suggest vaccinated children should wear a visible mark on their clothing. Does that upset no one? Does no one think: wait, we tried this in the 1940s, and it led to a catastrophe?

Unrest

I see the rumbling of unrest in both America and Europe, and it scares the life out of me. My generation and people younger than me have only known prosperity. The supermarket has always been stocked, the doctor is available (though for some more than for others financially.) People are free to do and say as they please. Things haven’t always been this way, but both younger and older generations take this freedom for granted.
Of course, there’s electricity, running water and plumbing everywhere, more food available than you could eat, freedom to express yourself no matter your opinion.

Candles and Bombs

My one grandmother who lived through the Second World War always had a large stack of candles in her house for the rest of her life. She had known the dark.
My other grandmother, so I learned at her funeral, had lost everything but one doll when her house was bombed by the Germans during the War. Can you imagine that? Being six years old and not having a bed, or home to return to anymore?
That’s what war means.

Soap, Shampoo and Lots of Coffee

I know other families saved up on stacks and stacks of soap, shampoo, detergent and coffee after the war, for the rest of their lives. Does the younger generation understand what this means? That not only no Starbucks would be available anymore, but there was no coffee anywhere in the country. Only the very rich and fortunate had access to luxuries like soap, coffee and chocolate.

All I Need

I think of this often. When lockdown began, we decided to stop visiting supermarkets and only order online. This meant I can’t have my favourite products from Lidl anymore. It bummed me out, but you know what? I consider myself so fortunate that I have the means to order online and that 99 per cent of my groceries are available in the store I order from now. They don’t sell my favourite flavour of herbal tea or the candy my cats enjoy, but so what? I’m lucky to have access to the broadest range of products available to anyone in history. I’ll make do.

I am very conscious of my freedoms. I mean, here I am, writing and publishing out sex, available to all who can read. For now, I’m free to do so.

Free, But For How Long?

I’m aware of the horrors of war. I’ve seen the movies, read the books and visited the museums. The way things are going at the moment, I think I’ll have to agree with my husband’s late grandmother. She said every generation will see war, either between countries or a civil war. We’re definitely headed that way now. I don’t know if it’s going to be between religions, races or about territory. I’m convinced I won’t always have the luxury of running a sex blog from home while ordering all the food I need. I might need to stock up on candles, soap and coffee because the war has definitely been forgotten.

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A complete collection of pictures from the Second World War in The Netherlands can be found here:

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl

This is my blog about another event during World War 1:

Lessons from Our Past: Music Transcends – Lili Marlene