Harrie van Daal
After World War I, Harrie van Daal visited the battlefield in Ypres, Belgium. The civil servant—born in 1908 and employed by the then-municipality of Overloon-Maashees—was deeply moved by what he saw there.
After World War I, Harrie van Daal visited the battlefield in Ypres, Belgium. Born in 1908, the civil servant of the then-municipality of Overloon-Maashees was deeply moved by what he saw there. During World War II, his hometown of Overloon remained spared from major wartime violence for over four years. But in September 1944, German troops chose the village as a base in their fight against the Allies. All residents of Overloon were driven from their homes. After three weeks of fierce fighting, the village was completely destroyed. Or, as Van Daal experienced it, it had become a second Ypres.
When, a few months later, he saw the remnants of the battle in the bombed-out forest, Van Daal, together with a forest worker, proposed establishing a museum. Thirty residents of Overloon each contributed 50 guilders—even though the reconstruction of their village had yet to begin. On May 25, 1946, the museum dedicated to World War II opens, the first of its kind in Western Europe.
This text has been translated using AI.