Maurits Schaap was in hiding in Axel near Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
Copyright Holder: Eli Schaap
Videotape label:"Liberation [of the Netherlands], Rolls 5A,5B,5C,5"
The Allies commissioned this four part documentary from Maurits Schaap after liberation. Titles:"Zeeuwsch Vlaandere","Documentaire Film der Verwoestin","Vervaardigd met Medewerking van het M.G. Te Sluiskil, Sept. 1944 - April 194","Opgenomen en Gemonteerd Door M.S. Schaa". Title"Er Was Eens Een Vrij Nederlan". Scenes of prewar Netherlands: cathedral, horses at work, boats on the water, planes at an airport, and people at a beach. Title,"Er Was Eens Een Welvarend Zeelan". Prewar Netherlands, including streets and waterways. A clock tower and"Hotel Nieuwe Doelen" Musicians play in the street as people conduct their normal business. Title,"Er Was Eens Een Onbeschadigd Bresken" Arrival of a ferry and the disembarkation of people and their vehicles. 05:04:16 Title,"Nadat de Kruit-Damp Opgetrok-Ken is.." The film shifts to postwar Netherlands. Mangled anti-aircraft gun batteries, abandoned tanks, overturned vehicles, and destroyed trains mix with the metal wreckage of aircraft. Signs in multiple languages. Title:"Herneemt Het Normaal Leven Zijn Loo". Horses walk along a clear path while a farmer tends to pigs housed in a crudely constructed pen. A young filly walks with a mare, and a woman milks a cow. Title,"Met Man En Macht Wordt Aan De Opruiming Begonne". Farmer's family feeds chickens. Men clear debris. 05:07:56 Title,"Zij Gaven Hun Leven Voor Onze Vrijhei" Cemetery with gravemarkers and flowers. Names and dates are legible. Title cards,"Met Het Wegvoeren Der Krijgsgevangenen En Landverrader","Verdween Tevens De Rassentheori". Sign targeting the Jewish population."Voor Joden verbode" sign is pulled down and torn to shreds by a man wearing a suit. 05:09:07 Title cards,"Een Opgeblazen Brug Wordt Vervangen En Spoedig Daveren Geallieerd","Colonnes Er Ove". Destroyed and mangled metal near a newly constructed bridge, which someone has labeled"Gdynia Bridge" Civilians, Allied military, and a Red Cross vehicle use this bridge and nearby roadways to transport personnel and material. Title cards,"De Door Londen Aangewezen"Nieuw" Burgermeester Begint Direct N","De Bevrijdin","Aan De Opruiming Van De Augiusstal, De Erfeni","Van Vier Jaar Duitsche Beschermin". Damaged walls and scenes of destruction underlay an image of a man talking on a phone. Newspaper covers are tossed down on a table. Title,"Het M.G. de central, waar alle Draden Samenkome". Central office of the commissariat of Zealand, employees, British and the Netherlands flags fly. Title,"De ordonnans rukt ui". Allied forces move out. Title,"Aflossing der wacht bij het militaire geza". Men stand guard along the perimeter of a building. Title,"Einde eerste dee"
Prewar and immediate postwar events in the Netherlands; anti-Jewish sign torn down