Why does someone who was born many years after the end of World War II spend a lot of his time recording en writing about WWII?

That is an interesting question indeed. I personally think that the WWII has been a unique event in our history. It has had an enormous effect on a whole generation worldwide. This effect was not only felt by the men on the battlefields but also by almost all those people that lived far away from the frontline. Everyone knew someone who was either fighting in the war or had lost someone in the many (mostly allied) bombardments all over Western Europe.

In the past years I have corresponded with many veterans and civilians who have told me their experiences of events that where often traumatic. Post-traumatic stress was not yet known at that time an many of them had to move on without being able to talk about their experiences. They started talking about these events in the later part of their lives.

By giving these people a platform on my websites to share their stories I am trying to contribute to the awareness that the events of WWII should never happen again. Given the tensions on the political level at the moment this is a message that is more relevant now than it has been in a long time.

Keeping the memory of our history alive is what I am trying to do here on this website. You can find my other projects here:

Website about D-day.

Website about the Ardennes offensive.

Website about my hometown Enschede in WWII.

Website about the Allied food drops for the starving Dutch people of Western Holland in the last days of WWII.

Besides building and maintaining these websites I am also keeping the memories about WWII alive by periodically hosting an exhibit about WWII with material from my own collection (photos from the last exhibit) and by sometimes telling about it at a local school.

If you have recommondations, suggestions, contributions or otherwise would like to contact. You can send me an e-mail: info@secondworldwar.nl

Eric Heijink