Gordon Cadman

My name is Gordon Cadman. I served with the Canadian Army (1st Canadian Armoured Tank Brigade) in the United Kingdom, Central Mediterranean and Continental Europe during World War II (1941 – 1945). This is one of my war experiences. A week before departure for home we were given the opportunity to visit (mandatory) one of what we were told was one of three extermination camps in Holland. I imagine it was small in comparison to places such as Bergen Belsen, Auschwitz and others but there was no doubt what had taken place here. Six months had passed since the surrender and the area had been somewhat cleaned up, but the cremation ovens were still there all in a row, and when the ovens couldn't handle all the dead they were dumped in a mass grave which had by now been fenced off. In our group I can't remember anyone speaking – just standing with every human emotion taking over. We, in this group, believed this was done by the powers that be, to show us, and to leave no doubt about what we had spent five years fighting to rid the world of this terrible tyrant. We who were lucky enough to return home will never forget the ultimate sacrifice paid by those we had to leave behind. A fact well known is that thirty thousand Dutch citizens died of starvation and killings in the winter of 1944-45.