Danish minority of Southern Schleswig

[pieter]

Danish minority of Southern Schleswig



Flag used by the South Schleswig Association showing the Schleswig lions

The Danish ethnic minority in Southern Schleswig, Germany, has existed by this name since 1920, when the Schleswig Plebiscite split German-ruled Schleswig into two parts: Northern Schleswig, with a Danish majority and a German minority was united with Denmark, while Southern Schleswig remained a part of Germany and had a German majority and Danish and Frisian minority populations (Karl could have been one of them, but he lived more to the west in Lower Saxony; in Cuxhaven in Nedersaksen.). One of the most common names they use to describe themselves is danske sydslesvigere (Danish South Schleswigians).



Denmark has continued to support the minority financially. Danish schools and organizations have been run in Flensburg since 1920, and since 1926 throughout the greater region. Before the adoption of the democratic Weimar Constitution it was not allowed to teach in another language than German in school (apart from religious education lessons).

Membership in the Danish minority has been fluid since 1945, as objective criteria such as language to distinguish a German Schleswigian from a Danish are not taken into account. German law prohibits government registration of persons due to their ethnic origins, besides, membership in Germany's ethnic minorities is based on self-identification as is generally the universal case with ethnicity.


Learn Danish banner in Flensburg, one of the major cities of Southern Schleswig

Also, the 1955 Copenhagen-Bonn Declarations explicitly state that an individual's membership of the German minority in Denmark or the Danish minority in Germany may not be a matter of scrutiny from the respective governments. Also many Schleswigians on both sides of the border are of mixed extraction. While after the 1920-plebiscite between 6,000 and 8,000 Danes found themselves in Southern Schleswig and even more than 12,000 people had voted for Denmark in 1920, only about 3,000 were organised in the association by the end of the war.

After World War II, many people chose to join the Danish minority in hopes of joining the much more prosperous Denmark, partly caused by a wish to live in a free and democratic country, partly motivated by social hardships in the aftermath of the war that played another distinctive role, especially as over one million refugees had come to Schleswig-Holstein and also a high proportion of the 'new Danes' had a lower-class background, while only very few of the old elite changed nationality. As the Danish government provided food aid to the minority during 1945–49 this contingent became derogatorily known as "Speckdänen", i.e. "bacon Dane". At the end of 1946 the minority had thus reached a membership of 62,000 and in 1948 78,000. The Danish political party got almost 99,500 votes in 1947.

However, the Danish government and the British Occupation Zone governors both opposed Southern Schleswig rejoining the Kingdom, and a referendum was never held in Southern Schleswig. Controversy over the issue divided two of the main Danish parties, and both Venstre leader and Prime Minister Knud Kristensen and Conservative leader John Christmas Møller ultimately broke with their respective parties over the issue. In 1953 the so-called Programm Nord (Northern Programme) was set up by the Schleswig-Holstein state government to help the area economically. This caused the Danish minority to decline until the 1970s. Since then, the minority has slowly been gaining size and is still growing as it has become fashionable to be a Dane in Germany (albeit in Central and Southern Germany), and these days numbers around 50,000, although only a number of between 8,000 and 10,000 of them speak Danish in everyday life. Between 10,000 and 20,000 of them have Danish as their mother tongue.

The fluctuation of the Danish minority is reflected also in the respective literature that describes the local phenomenon of changing national self-identification with the terminus "New Danes". The number of Danes vary e.g. in "Fischers Weltalmanach" (World Almanac), having been specified with 30,000 until 1994, then having risen suddenly up to 60,000 in 1995 and finally having been reduced to 50,000 since the year 2001. The source for the number of Danes in the minority is the „Beratender Ausschuß für Fragen der dänischen Minderheit beim Bundesminister des Innern“, a consulting commission in the Ministry of the Interior, composed of representatives of the ministry itself, two members of each party in the German parliament, the Commissary for Minorities of Schleswig-Holstein and three members of Danish party (2) and association (1). The numbers of members and also of users of the minority's organisations (sport clubs, culture associations, playschools, schools, libraries, etc.) and likewise the number of electors of the Danish party are considered to indicate people being Danish, although it has to be mentioned that the data records of the organisations are not linked among themselves and - what is more - the majority of users and members do not have Danish as their mother tongue.

The Danish minority is represented by the South Schleswig Voter Federation (SSW) in the Diet (Landtag) of Schleswig-Holstein. The SSW is not subject to the general requirement of passing a 5% vote threshold in order to receive proportional seats in the state parliament. In the most recent 2009 election, the SSW received 4.3% of the vote and four seats. The SSW is also represented in several municipal councils.


South Schleswig Voter Federation



The South Schleswig Voters' Association (German: Südschleswigscher Wählerverband, Danish: Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforening, North Frisian: Söödschlaswiksche Wäälerferbånd) is a regional political party in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It represents the Danish and Frisian minorities.

As a party representing a national minority, the SSW declines to identify itself with a left-right-scale, but it models its policies on the Scandinavian countries, which often means favouring a strong welfare state, but, on the other hand, a more free-market labour policy than the German model. It is represented in the diet (Landtag) of Schleswig-Holstein and several regional and municipal councils. It has not contested in federal elections since 1965.

As a party for the national Danish minority in Southern Schleswig, the SSW is not subject to the general requirement of passing a 5% vote threshold to gain proportional seats in either the state parliament (Landtag) or the lower house of the federal German parliament (Bundestag). In the most recent 2012 election, the SSW received 4.6% of the votes and four seats.

In the 2005 election the SSW received 3.6% (two seats). This was enough for the SSW to hold the balance of power between the national parties of the left and right, and the SSW chose to support a SPD–Green coalition, without joining the coalition itself. This resulted in criticism from the CDU and from German national conservative circles, who asserted that since the SSW had been granted a special status, it was obliged to defend only minority interests, and that its status should be revoked if the SSW behaved like a "regular" party. The SSW representatives, however, insisted on the full value of their parliamentary seats and their equal rights as German citizens. One particular point was that the SSW had taken a strong position on educational principles in the state (abolishing the traditional German system of dividing pupils according to academic ability already after the 4th grade into different types of secondary schools). The CDU argued that since there were separate Danish-language schools, it was unreasonable for the SSW to involve itself in the affairs of the public schools.


Landeshaus in Kiel, the seat of the Landtag


Interior of Landeshaus

As the planned SPD-Greens coalition did not make it into office after the 2009 elections, a CDU–FDP coalition was created and the SSW joined the opposition.

In the 2012 state election, the SSW gained 4.6% of all votes and three seats in the state diet. A coalition of SPD, Green Party and SSW was concluded in June 2012, and the former parliamentary leader, Anke Spoorendonk, was appointed Minister for Culture, Justice and European Affairs. This is the first time in German history that a minority party is part of a state government. The new coalition government has plenty of nicknames, for instance "Dänen-Ampel" ("Dane-traffic light"), "Schleswig-Holstein-Ampel", "rot-grün-blaue Koaltion" or "rød-grøn-blå koalitionsregering" (red–green–blue alliance), "Küstenampel" (Coastal traffic light) and "Nord-Ampel" (North traffic light).

SSWUngdom

The Youth in the SSW (Danish: SSWUngdom, German: Jugend im SSW) is the youth wing of the South Schleswig Voter Federation.

ssw-landtag.de/da/home.html

Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforening


Karl Otto Meyer (* 16. März 1928 in Adelby, Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg) ist ein Politiker der dänischen Minderheit in Schleswig-Holstein.

Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforening (tysk Südschleswigscher Wählerverband, nordfrisisk Söödschlaswiksche Wäälerferbånd) er et politisk parti i Tyskland, der repræsenterer danskere og nationale frisere i Sydslesvig. Partiet blev dannet den 30. juni 1948 i Slesvig by. Indtil da blev den politiske repræsentation varetaget af Sydslesvigsk Forening. Partiet er organiseret i et landsforbund med landsstyrelse og sekretariat i Flensborg og 4 amtsforbund. Den nuværende formand er Flemming Meyer. Partiets ungdomsorganisation er SSWUngdom.

Ved det seneste landdagsvalg i maj 2012 opnåede SSW med 4,6 procent 3 mandater i den slesvig-holstenske landdag i Kiel og indgik et rødt-grønt-blåt regeringssamarbejde med de tyske socialdemokrater og De Grønne. Det var første gang i SSWs historie, at partiet deltog i en deltstatsregering. Den hidtidige gruppeformand, Anke Spoorendonk, blev minister for justits, Europa og kultur. De tre landdagsmedlemmer er gruppeformand Lars Harms fra Nordfrisland, partiformand Flemming Meyer fra Hanved og Jette Waldinger-Thiering fra Egernførde. Partiets landdagsgruppe har tidligere blandt andet udarbejdet en ny offentlighedslov efter dansk forebillede, en lov om overenskomstmæssig aflønning samt en nordfrisisk sproglov (Friserloven), der skulle fremme det nordfrisiske sprog i det offentlige rum. Partiet udtalte sig i 2009 imod et planlagt CO2-lager i undergrunden lige syd for grænsen. I 2010 udtalte partiet sig blandt andet mod nedprioriteringen af Flensborg Universitet og mod sænkningen af tilskuddet til de danske skoler i Sydslesvig. I 2012 og 2013 krævede partiet forbud mod fracking. Sammen med Frisisk National Parti fra Nederlandene vil Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforening gøre en fælles indsats for at de frisiske sprog blive optaget i Unescos verdenskulturarv.

Fra 1971 til 1996 sad Karl Otto Meyer som eneste SSW-repræsentant i landdagen. Ved valget til forbundsdagen i 1949 opnåede partiet også et sæde i det øverste tyske parlament. Men det lykkedes ikke at genvinde mandatet ved det følgende valg. I 1955 afgav Danmark og Tyskland Bonn-København-erklæringerne, der skulle sikre mindretallenes rettigheder på begge sider af grænsen. I denne forbindelse blev SSW ved landdagsvalg og forbundsdagsvalg fritaget for spærregrænsen.

Ved det sidste kommunalvalg i maj 2008 vandt partiet cirka 200 mandater i 76 kommuner i Sydslesvig. Desuden vandt partiet 9 mandater i Flensborgs byråd, 8 mandater i kredsdagen i Slesvig-Flensborg, 5 mandater i kredsdagen i Nordfrisland, 3 mandater i kredsdagen i Rendsborg-Egernførde og 1 mandat i Kiels byråd.

Efter medlemstallet er SSW med ca. 3.700 medlemmer det tredjestørste parti i Slesvig-Holsten. SSW er medlem af Europæisk Fri Alliance, der består af i alt 34 regional- og mindretalspartier fra EU's medlemslande.

da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Otto_Meyer





North Schleswig Germans


The contemporary transnational Euroregion Sønderjylland-Schleswig covers most of historical Schleswig.

Approximately 15,000 persons in Denmark belong to an ethnic German minority traditionally referred to as hjemmetyskere meaning "domestic Germans" in Danish, and as Nordschleswiger in German. This minority of Germans hold Danish citizenship and self-identify as ethnic Germans. They continue to use German and South Jutlandic as their home languages. Furthermore there are also several thousand German citizens residing in Denmark with no historical connection to this group.

History

In 1920, in the aftermath of World War I, two Schleswig Plebiscites were held in the northernmost part of the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein (the northern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig). The plebiscites were held in two zones that were defined by Denmark according to the ideas of the Danish historian Hans Victor Clausen. The northern Zone I was deliminated according to Clausen's estimation of where the local rural population identified itself as Danish, a survey published in 1891. Clausen travelled extensively on both sides of the eventual border, in an attempt determine which communities that would vote for a return to Danish rule, and concluded that this was the case north of the Skelbækken creek, where most rural communities were both Danish-speaking and pro-Danish, while the communities south of this line were overwhelmingly pro-German (though some of these communities were also primarily Danish-speaking). Near Tønder, he deviated from this system, and included the German-majority towns of Tønder and Højer into the northern sector for economic purposes, and to achieve a line following a dyke, consequently this line followed the dyke south of Højer.


Results of the plebiscite (Abstimmung Schleswig 1920)

The northern zone I voted en bloc, i.e. as a unit with the majority deciding, and the result was 75% for Denmark and 25% for Germany, consequently resulting in a German minority north on the new border. In the southern zone II, each parish/town voted for its own future allegiance, and all districts in zone II showed German majorities. The eventual border was deliminated virtually identical with the border between zones I and II.

In the northern zone (zone I), 25% of the population, i.e. around 40,000 people voted to remain part of Germany, the German North Schleswigers having their centres in the towns of Tønder, Aabenraa, and Sønderborg, but also in a rural district between Tønder and Flensburg near the new border, most notably in Tinglev. Smaller German minorities existed in Haderslev and Christiansfeld (both towns with Danish majorities). Sønderborg and Aabenraa were strongly dominated by both nationalities (c. 55% Germans and 45% Danes). In Sønderborg, the German majority was partially due to a local military garrison, and the German element in this town decreased sharply in the 1920s, after the German garrison had been withdrawn and replaced with a Danish one. Tønder had a vast German majority (c. 80%) but was included in the northern zone for geographical and economic reasons, and because of the small population of this (and the other) North Schleswig towns.


Logo of the Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger

Between 1920-1939, the North Schleswig Germans elected Johannes Schmidt-Vodder as their representative in the Danish Parliament with c. 13-15% of the North Schleswig votes, indicating that the share of North Schleswigers that identified as Germans had decreased when compared with the 1920 referendum.


Reverend Johannes Schmidt-Vodder. Thoughout the interwar years, member of the Danish Folketing representing the German minority and leader of this community.

Since 1945, the North Schleswig Germans have been presented by Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger, a cultural organisation, and continued to elect a member of Parliament until the 1950s.

The North Schleswig Germans are currently represented in the municipal councils of Aabenraa, Tønder, and Sønderborg. Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger estimates the current number of North Schleswig Germans to be around 15,000, i.e. around 6% of the North Schleswig population of c. 250,000.


Der Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger Hauptvorstand (August 2011)

[pieter]

Danske mindretal i Sydslesvig


Sydslesvig med tyske, danske og nordfrisiske stednavne

Det danske mindretal i Sydslesvig eller danske sydslesvigere er betegnelsen for de danske eller dansksindede i Sydslesvig syd for den dansk-tyske grænse. Mindretallet omfatter i dag cirka 50.000 tyske statsborgere med dansk identitet.

Historie

Mindretallet opstod efter genforeningen i 1920, da den sydlige halvdel af Slesvig med op til 20.000 dansksinede forblev under tysk styre, mens Nordslesvig kom til Danmark. Historien går dog tilbage til før den anden slesvigske krig i 1864, hvor Danmark mistede hele Sønderjylland til Preussen. Befolkningen i den sydlige halvdel af Slesvig (bortset fra Flensborg) var på det tidspunkt overvejende tysksindet, men der blev talt dansk (sønderjysk) ned til Husum, Slesvig by og Slien indtil år 1800. Grænsen mellem dansk og tysk befolkning gik i middelalderen lidt nord for Ejderen omtrent mellem Husum og Egernførde.



Institutioner

De danske sydslesvigere står for en del institutioner i regionen. Dansk Skoleforening driver eget skolevæsen med 46 danske skoler. Blandt dem er også de to danske gymnasier Duborgskolen i Flensborg og A.P. Møller Skolen i Slesvig by. Lidt syd for Flensborg ligger Jaruplund Højskole. Dansk Centralbibliotek driver centralbiblioteket i Flensborg og fire folkebiblioteker. Desuden findes Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig, Dansk Sundhedstjeneste, dagbladet Flensborg Avis og mange kulturelle foreninger.

Den største forening er Sydslesvigsk Forening (SSF) med cirka 14.000 medlemmer. De danske idræts- og ungdomsforeninger samles i Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger (SdU). Politisk bliver de danske og frisiske sydslesvigere repræsenteret af Sydslesvigsk Vælgerforening (SSV eller SSW). Det sydslesvigske Samråd er organisationernes samarbejdsorgan.

De danske årsmøder i Sydslesvig er en årlig tilbagevendende festweekend i starten af juni med arrangementer i hele regionen.

Den danske støtte til Sydslesvig administreres af det af Folketinget udpegede Sydslesvigudvalg. Dertil kommer en række folkelige, danske foreninger i Kongeriget, som støtter det danske mindretal, såsom Grænseforeningen, Slesvig-Ligaen og Sydslesvigsk Udvalg af 5. maj 1945.

www.sydslesvig.de/startsiden/

[pieter]

Karl,

You have an interesting mix in your background of German, Danish and Frisian identities. This mixed border identities is something typical and exists in many European regions and countries. In the Dutch-German and the Belgian-German borderlands you see the clear Saxon and German influences. In my part of the Netherlands the German Low Saxon is clear in the regional/local dialects overhere. For instance in the Huissen dialect of the town Huissen near Arnhem they say: "Ik geht een boadje healen bie de bakker", in Dutch that means "Ik ga een broodje halen bij de bakker", and "I am going to pick up a bread at the bakkers".

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Pieter

I am so sorry of lateness in reply, for you have presented a great deal of work in completeness with your presentation. So much so, I am some what embarrassed but greatful to you for your interest. It has been such long time since speaking Frisian it has almost but completely escaped me. This, and the problem of so many dialects with different soundings and not all spelt the same as you have observed. I think there is a Nordfriisk Institute that is attempting to keep the language alive, not sure if this is the correct name though.

The great failure in Frisian, is not unifying the language as was done some years past with German. What little I may offer of additional information is that of the below following. The provisions is a bit of better decription of the variations in spelling and dialect of North Frisian. For we were to travel to another village not so far, it was a bit of difficulty with our different dialects. In this manner, to speak Dansk was a very good advantage to us both.

The other difficulty was living in Cuxhaven after 1956 with Frisian hanging over my head, was to feel badly around others. For my family was poor, we had plenty to eat and we lived well with what we had. It was just a personal feeling of being below others of my age. If not to speak but to stay silent, was fine, but to speak would give away my secret as being Frisian of a different dialect.

Thank you for presenting, for very much appreciative..

The following is descriptive of these differences:



North Frisian (Frasch / Fresk / Freesk / Friisk)
North Frisian is spoken in Schleswig-Holstein in the rural district of
North Frisia (Nordfriesland) in northern Germany. The language area
comprises part of the mainland, the islands of Sylt, Föhr, Amrum
and Heligoland, and the small islands of the Halligen archipelago.

Though North Frisian has no official status in Germany, it is occasionally
used at local council meetings, etc. A few villages have Frisian road signs
and bilingual place names are allowed. Frisian house names are popular,
particularly on the islands where Frisian is spoken. The language is taught
for a couple of hours a week in schools and there are a number of Frisian
courses for adults throughout the region. There are regular, short broadcasts
in Frisian on the radio, occasional Frisian articles in the German newspapers,
and some Frisian literature, theatre and choirs.

North Frisian dialects are grouped into two main divisions:
mainland and insular. Insular dialects are Sylt Frisian (Söl'ring),
Föhr-Amrum Frisian (Fering/Öömrang), Heligolandic Frisian (Halunder).

Mainland dialects are: Wiedingharde Frisian, Bökingharde Frisian
(Mooring), Karrharde Frisian, Northern Goesharde Frisian, Central
Goesharde Frisian, Southern Goesharde Frisian (extinct since 1981)
and Halligen Frisian.

Pronunciation of North Frisian


Notes
All dialects

s is always pronounced in word initial position

Sylt dialect

i is pronounced [ə] when unstressed
g is pronounced [ç] between vowels
r is pronounced [x] before p, t, k, and is silent after
[ɛ:] and before s. pronounced [r] elsewhere

Mooring & Föhringer

s pronounced [z] between vowels

Mooring dialect

g is pronounced [w] or [j] or is dropped between vowels
r sometimes pronounced [ʀ]

Sample texts in North Frisian
Mainland North Frisian dialects
Wiedingharde dialect (freesk)
Ale mänskene sän fri, likwjarti än mä däsjilwe
rochte toläid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfingen än skuulin enoor äs broorne oonmuittreere.

Mooring/Böökingharde dialect (frasch)
Åle manschne san fri, likwjardi än ma daseelwie ruchte
tuläid. Ja hääwe ferstånd än gewääten
mafüngen än schönj enouder as brouderne önjtiinjtreese.

Hoorning dialect (fräisch)
Ale mänschne sän fri, glikweerti än mä däseelwie
rochte tolaid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfüngen än schouln enår as bråre ounjintree'e.

Halligen (Tideland Island) (freesk)
Ale mänskene sän frai, glikweerti än mä de sälefste
rochte tolaid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfungen än sköön nöör as bröörne
ööntiantree'e.

Insular North Frisian languages
Sylt (söl'ring)
Ali Mensken sen frii, likwertig en me disalev Rochten beren. Ja haa
Forstant en Giweeten mefingen en skul arküder üs Brödern
öntöögentreer.

Föhr (fering)
Ale mensken san frei, likwäärtig an mä dönsalew
rochten bäären. Jo haa ferstant an geweeten mäfingen an
skul enöler üüs breler uunjintreed.

Amrum (öömrang)
Ale minsken san frei, likwäärtag an mä josalew rochten
bäären. Jo haa ferstant an geweeten mäfüngen an skul
enööder üs breder uunjintreed.

Helgoland (halunder)
Alle Mensken sen frai, likwörti en med de sallowski Rechten geboorn.
Djo hoa Ferstant en Geweeten medfin'n en skul arker as Bruurs uundjintreed.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)


Karl

[pieter]

Apr 29, 2014 10:50:21 GMT -7 karl said:

Pieter

I am so sorry of lateness in reply, for you have presented a great deal of work in completeness with your presentation. So much so, I am some what embarrassed but greatful to you for your interest. It has been such long time since speaking Frisian it has almost but completely escaped me. This, and the problem of so many dialects with different soundings and not all spelt the same as you have observed. I think there is a Nordfriisk Institute that is attempting to keep the language alive, not sure if this is the correct name though.

The great failure in Frisian, is not unifying the language as was done some years past with German. What little I may offer of additional information is that of the below following. The provisions is a bit of better decription of the variations in spelling and dialect of North Frisian. For we were to travel to another village not so far, it was a bit of difficulty with our different dialects. In this manner, to speak Dansk was a very good advantage to us both.

The other difficulty was living in Cuxhaven after 1956 with Frisian hanging over my head, was to feel badly around others. For my family was poor, we had plenty to eat and we lived well with what we had. It was just a personal feeling of being below others of my age. If not to speak but to stay silent, was fine, but to speak would give away my secret as being Frisian of a different dialect.

Thank you for presenting, for very much appreciative..

The following is descriptive of these differences:



North Frisian (Frasch / Fresk / Freesk / Friisk)
North Frisian is spoken in Schleswig-Holstein in the rural district of
North Frisia (Nordfriesland) in northern Germany. The language area
comprises part of the mainland, the islands of Sylt, Föhr, Amrum
and Heligoland, and the small islands of the Halligen archipelago.

Though North Frisian has no official status in Germany, it is occasionally
used at local council meetings, etc. A few villages have Frisian road signs
and bilingual place names are allowed. Frisian house names are popular,
particularly on the islands where Frisian is spoken. The language is taught
for a couple of hours a week in schools and there are a number of Frisian
courses for adults throughout the region. There are regular, short broadcasts
in Frisian on the radio, occasional Frisian articles in the German newspapers,
and some Frisian literature, theatre and choirs.

North Frisian dialects are grouped into two main divisions:
mainland and insular. Insular dialects are Sylt Frisian (Söl'ring),
Föhr-Amrum Frisian (Fering/Öömrang), Heligolandic Frisian (Halunder).

Mainland dialects are: Wiedingharde Frisian, Bökingharde Frisian
(Mooring), Karrharde Frisian, Northern Goesharde Frisian, Central
Goesharde Frisian, Southern Goesharde Frisian (extinct since 1981)
and Halligen Frisian.

Pronunciation of North Frisian


Notes
All dialects

s is always pronounced in word initial position

Sylt dialect

i is pronounced [ə] when unstressed
g is pronounced [ç] between vowels
r is pronounced [x] before p, t, k, and is silent after
[ɛ:] and before s. pronounced [r] elsewhere

Mooring & Föhringer

s pronounced [z] between vowels

Mooring dialect

g is pronounced [w] or [j] or is dropped between vowels
r sometimes pronounced [ʀ]

Sample texts in North Frisian
Mainland North Frisian dialects
Wiedingharde dialect (freesk)
Ale mänskene sän fri, likwjarti än mä däsjilwe
rochte toläid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfingen än skuulin enoor äs broorne oonmuittreere.

Mooring/Böökingharde dialect (frasch)
Åle manschne san fri, likwjardi än ma daseelwie ruchte
tuläid. Ja hääwe ferstånd än gewääten
mafüngen än schönj enouder as brouderne önjtiinjtreese.

Hoorning dialect (fräisch)
Ale mänschne sän fri, glikweerti än mä däseelwie
rochte tolaid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfüngen än schouln enår as bråre ounjintree'e.

Halligen (Tideland Island) (freesk)
Ale mänskene sän frai, glikweerti än mä de sälefste
rochte tolaid. Jä hääwe ferstand än gewääten
mäfungen än sköön nöör as bröörne
ööntiantree'e.

Insular North Frisian languages
Sylt (söl'ring)
Ali Mensken sen frii, likwertig en me disalev Rochten beren. Ja haa
Forstant en Giweeten mefingen en skul arküder üs Brödern
öntöögentreer.

Föhr (fering)
Ale mensken san frei, likwäärtig an mä dönsalew
rochten bäären. Jo haa ferstant an geweeten mäfingen an
skul enöler üüs breler uunjintreed.

Amrum (öömrang)
Ale minsken san frei, likwäärtag an mä josalew rochten
bäären. Jo haa ferstant an geweeten mäfüngen an skul
enööder üs breder uunjintreed.

Helgoland (halunder)
Alle Mensken sen frai, likwörti en med de sallowski Rechten geboorn.
Djo hoa Ferstant en Geweeten medfin'n en skul arker as Bruurs uundjintreed.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)


Karl

Karl.

In contrast to your excuse I consider your reply very fast, in the same day. We have busy lives and can't be present on the Forum 24 hours a day. What is or was the difference in speaking Frisian, Danish and German. In which language you felt the most comfortable, cosy or at home. Which language was linguisticly the closest to your heart, soul and mind as as kid, teenager and adolescent? The problem of so many dialects in Frisian is the same in the Dutch province Friesland with a Frisian majority population. You have city/town Frisian dialect and rural regional/local Frisian dialects. The same was the case in my own Zeeland province of my first 20 years in life, in which each island had different island dialect and even town/village dialects. The Netherlands is the country of dialects. Many cities, towns and even villages have dialects and every province has it's dialect or accent in Dutch. You can recognize if people are for instance from the South-West (Zeeland), the Middle South (North-Brabant) or the South-East. (the heavy Limburg accent and dialects) I can distinguish a person from Amsterdam from a person from Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Groningen or Eindhoven. Both South-Holland city dialects I can hear the difference between the Rotterdam and The Hague city dialects. And to continue the Utrecht city dialect is different than the Arnhem or Enschede dialects. These are peoples languages, and the people of these cities and towns are proud of their 'language' (dialect), culture, schlagers, peoples culture and they in fact are City or town patriots. Don't mess with their city, their neighborhood, their football (soccer) club. They are the best.

In Friesland (Frisia) you have the same. The West Frisian language consists of eight mutually intelligible dialects, of which four are widely spoken and the other four are confined to small communities of less than a hundred to several hundreds of speakers.

City Frisian or town Frisian

Stadsfries (city-frisian) or Stadfries is a set of dialects spoken in certain cities in the province of Friesland in the northern Netherlands, namely Leeuwarden (the Frisian capital), Sneek, Bolsward, Franeker, Dokkum, Harlingen, Stavoren, and to some extent in Heerenveen. For linguistic reasons, the outlying and insular dialects of Midsland (Terschelling), Ameland, Het Bildt, and Kollum are also sometimes tied to Stadsfries.

The vocabulary of Stadsfries is derived primarily from Dutch. The dialects began in the late 15th century, when Frisia lost its political independence to the Netherlands. For many living in Frisia, learning Dutch became a necessity. The result was a mixture of Hollandic dialect vocabulary and West Frisian grammar and other language principles. Since this process began, the West Frisian language itself has evolved, such that Stadsfries is further away from modern Frisian than it is from Old Frisian. Arends et al. state that Stadsfries is a Frisian–Dutch mixed language.

The name of the dialect group, Stadsfries, is not an endonym but is instead the Dutch term for the language. Stad (German: Stadt) is a Germanic term for "city" or "town", seen in English place names such as "Hempstead". In Stadsfries, the term for the dialect group is Stadsfrys or Stads, or each dialect is known simply by a name derived from the particular city name, such as Liwwarders for the dialect of Leeuwarden. In West Frisian, the dialects are known as Stedsk ("city-ish"), which does not indicate the idea that Stadsfries is a form of Frisian. To indicate this difference, one can call (West) Frisian-proper Boerenfries ("farmer-Frisian").

I agree with you that it is a failure in the development of Frisian, is that it was not unified as a general language like German, Dutch and English were. General Dutch was developped from a Holland Western-Dutch dialect coming from the dialect of Haarlem (Harlem in New York got it's name from this Dutch city) in North-Holland and spread to the Northern-Frisian lands, the Eastern Saxon lands and the Southern Limburg, Brabant, Zeeland and Flanders lands. It spread through colonialism to Southern-Africa, the Afrikaans language of the white South-African farmers (Boers) is rooted in Dutch, and spread to the USA (New-Amstedam - New York- and Dutch towns; and had a limited influence on American English -a few words or expressions-), Asia (Indonesia), the Caribbean (Dutch Antilles) and Southern-America. (Suriname) The Frisian language and the Frisian people became segregated, isolated, because Saxons moved North in Groningen and divided the Dutch 'West-frisians' of Friesland and the German and Danish Frisians of Ost-Friesland and North-Friesland with their East-Frisian and North-Frisian dialects. The German and Danish East and North Frisian dialects will be influenced by the Low saxon, Danish scandinavian and German (Hoch deutsch) languages, like the Dutch Frisian language and dialects are influenced by Dutch and the Groningen and Drenthe Low Saxon dialects.

I understand your feeling different in Cuxhaven, because I was different in the South-Western coastal town I grew up Vlissingen too. I spoke a different version or accent of Dutch than the locals, I spoke 'General Dutch' or 'civilized Dutch' (without a dialect, without an accent), and that made me different than the harbour city kids with their harbour workers Vlissingen town dialect, Arnemuiden Fishermen dialect or the regional farmer peninsula Zeelandish Walcheren dialect. I was import with Dutch family roots in the West. (Holland; South-Holland, and Rotterdam to be excactly) Parents with a big city background. So as a kid you had a different accent, came from a different class, had one clearly foreign parent with a foreign accent (for some reason many people back then thought my mother was French, because her Polish accent in Dutch sounded French to them. Few people back then knew something about Poland. A country far away behind the Iron Curtian, behind East-Germany, the DDR) But thank god I wasn't the only 'stranger' or 'alien kid' in town , there were Indonesian, Indo, Moluccan, and some Moroccan and Turkish kids too.

Fact is that as a kid you don't want to be different, and as a result of that can hide yourself or try to be invisible or go your own way. Being a harbour town people in the same time were provincial and yet somehow wordly, because a lot of international sea traffic came by, and a lot of fathers were able seaman and mechanics on international commercial navy ships that crossed the oceans and the seas of the world. Many fathers of friends of mine were gone for nine months a year. To Lagos, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York or Miami harbour, LA habrour and other ports of the world. Others were officers or ordinary seaman, coast guards, Customs officers, or simply townspeople.

Living in Vlissingen from 1970 until 1990 with Zeelandish (Walcheren peninsula) and Vlissingen city dialect hanging over my head, was to feel badly around the locals, because I didn't spoke their language. But stil I was a local, because I knew nothing else. I had only spend the first three months of my life in the town where I was born, Apeldoorn, North of Arnhem, in the Eastern province of Gelderland. If my parents hadn't moved to Vlissingen in Zeeland and stayed in Apeldoorn, my life would have looked completely different. Apeldoorn was more high class and middle class town. Vlissingen was more working class, farmers, sailors, fishermen and lower middle class town. My parents were inbetween middle- and highclass, what they call in England (GB) Upper middle class. So different than your upbringing Karl, different time, different circumstances. But the same fresh sea climate, healthy mix of air of sea, beach sand, dunes, coastal trees, grassland, clay, phragmites, ditches, ponds, chanals, lakes and farmland with potato plants, unions, sugar beets, cereal, maize and other farm products. Cows, horses, sheep, pigs and Goats, but the majority if the farms which had cattle had cows. Today there are less cows, more horses and more and more sheep. We didn't had the woods or forests you had in Cuxhaven, with the farytale atmosphere you described in your earlier postings and the poetry connected to it. (Your poetry club or group of boys who were active with poetry) The mist of the coastal lands and the wads creates a vivid memory, together with your earlier Danish memories of Esjberg in Denmark. Friesland is known for it's wide landscapes, green land, cows, chanals and lakes, towns, typical farms, the black and white Frisian cattle and the black Friesian horse. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, out of a total of about 1200 in the entire country.

The North Frisian langue is split in so many various dialects that it nearly looks like the Netherlands and Flanders with all it's different Dutch and Flemish regional languages and dialects. I have to admid that perhaps I am not able to understand a lot of compatriots and Flemish people properly due to their heavy dialects. City dialects and larger regional provincial dialects like Brabants, Limburgs or Gronings are easy to understand for me, but smaller town or village dialects can become very complicated. And when they are also heavy Low Saxon, Frisian or Limburgish than they can be very difficult to understand. So I can understand your difficulties with some of the North Frisian dialects of some of the villages that surrounded you. I am familiar with the lingusistuc pluriformity and variety in one region. Some Limburg dialects for me are like Welsh, Basque language or Danish, languages I can't understand, like for instance the dialect of Kerkrade in Limburg. A strange merger of Dutch, German and Limburg languages, but so heavy that I can't understand the Dutch or German language in it. In Frissian Makkums is hard to understand for me, a Frisian town dialect. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makkum,_Súdwest-Fryslân )

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Pieter

I do enjoy our conversations and I do agree with you that the land is still much the same with changes of course with growth of population and cities. It is the land that makes us though. For the sea is still the sea and the wind still blows.

Yes, it is true, our times in our lives are different. You are most fortunate to have been raised in a upper middle class family with your fathers profession. Your father, he talks about the time of the German occupation? How your family was treated? I have been curious about this, but a bit timid to ask..

You have ask of which language spoken most as comfortable. We spoke two languages dependant upon where we were. At home and whilst in Esjberg, we spoke Frisian. If we had visitors, to make them comfortable we spoke Dansk. We knew enough German from the German occupational forces to get by with. For the most part, the German occupational forces in our area treated us well. They often out of their supplies, would trade with us for fresh eggs/vegetables/milk and cheese. In return, we received cooking oil, shoes, underwear,fuel for our cooking stove and batteries for our radio cloth for making cloths. In school, we spoke Dansk.

With the arrival of the Britisch occupational forces, we set up mostly the same barter system and it worked very well. Some differences though were good for us, for we had access to nylon cloth from discarded parachutes and these were excellent for sewing together dresses for my cousins. The wool cloth was not as good as the German, but we were not to complain. The Britisch seemed to be very rich in their supplies, for also was special, was the large tins of beef that was really delicious. With this, spices, salt and pepper, with some very good tea and coffee.

In our area, fishing was the life blood of Esjberg, Auntie was a sail maker and earnt her money that way. Some times my cousins and my self would help her at the shop but not to neglect the house for too long. For we each had our responsibilities to attend to.

Above us, were tended fields of: oats,barley, potatoes,cabbage and turnips. Milk cows and sheep, but not so much of pigs, for they were hard on the fields. For in return for use of our smoke house we used to smoke fish, we smoked hams and pork for some of the famers and in return, they gave us the cream to make butter by and cheese they would trade us. It was from them, we used the cheese and fresh butter for trade items to the occupational forces. We were poor, but we lived well.

There were some families not far from us that spoke with Dansk, also low Saxon. It was not difficult to understand, just to listen with care. In those times, it was not good to ask questions but to accept the other person.

Today, life is good, it is with trust and hope, it will continue to be so..

Karl

[pieter]

Apr 29, 2014 19:35:59 GMT -7 karl said:

Pieter

I do enjoy our conversations and I do agree with you that the land is still much the same with changes of course with growth of population and cities. It is the land that makes us though. For the sea is still the sea and the wind still blows.

Yes, it is true, our times in our lives are different. You are most fortunate to have been raised in a upper middle class family with your fathers profession. Your father, he talks about the time of the German occupation? How your family was treated? I have been curious about this, but a bit timid to ask..

You have ask of which language spoken most as comfortable. We spoke two languages dependant upon where we were. At home and whilst in Esjberg, we spoke Frisian. If we had visitors, to make them comfortable we spoke Dansk. We knew enough German from the German occupational forces to get by with. For the most part, the German occupational forces in our area treated us well. They often out of their supplies, would trade with us for fresh eggs/vegetables/milk and cheese. In return, we received cooking oil, shoes, underwear,fuel for our cooking stove and batteries for our radio cloth for making cloths. In school, we spoke Dansk.

With the arrival of the Britisch occupational forces, we set up mostly the same barter system and it worked very well. Some differences though were good for us, for we had access to nylon cloth from discarded parachutes and these were excellent for sewing together dresses for my cousins. The wool cloth was not as good as the German, but we were not to complain. The Britisch seemed to be very rich in their supplies, for also was special, was the large tins of beef that was really delicious. With this, spices, salt and pepper, with some very good tea and coffee.

In our area, fishing was the life blood of Esjberg, Auntie was a sail maker and earnt her money that way. Some times my cousins and my self would help her at the shop but not to neglect the house for too long. For we each had our responsibilities to attend to.

Above us, were tended fields of: oats,barley, potatoes,cabbage and turnips. Milk cows and sheep, but not so much of pigs, for they were hard on the fields. For in return for use of our smoke house we used to smoke fish, we smoked hams and pork for some of the famers and in return, they gave us the cream to make butter by and cheese they would trade us. It was from them, we used the cheese and fresh butter for trade items to the occupational forces. We were poor, but we lived well.

There were some families not far from us that spoke with Dansk, also low Saxon. It was not difficult to understand, just to listen with care. In those times, it was not good to ask questions but to accept the other person.

Today, life is good, it is with trust and hope, it will continue to be so..

Karl

Karl,

The feeling is mutual, I do enjoy our conversations too and like to learn from you from about that area Nort-east to our Eastern-border (Groningen province). It is surely the land that shapes us. You are right. The scars of the past are healed I can enjoy the costal lands and the home of my parents very much. Since I know the peninsula Walcheren very good. It was my home for 20 years, and maybe I am more connected to the land, the sea and the Dunes than the people. But even with the people I can get along. I love the smell of the sea, the bright light of the coastm, the fresh winds, the sounds of the heavy sea vessels (engines) in the distance and the screaming of the seagulls.

My father talks about the time of the German occupation more than my mother? He is black and white in his opinion and vision and I respect and accept his opinion, because it is the vision of his generation. You had the bad guys and that were the German, Austrian and Dutch nazi's (the latter are the collaborators, the Quislings of my country), and the good guys were the Dutch resistance, the Brits, Americans, Poles, Canadians who fought to liberate the Netherlands. Maybe that feeling is rooted in me too!
His city was bombed to pieces, to dust. He witnessed the old wonderful Rotterdam on a sunny 'war'day. One moment it was stil there the next moment the German bombers came and the city became black, grey, anthracite, yellow/orange/white of the larege flames and feuersturm. A bright May day became a black day. Thousands of Rotterdam people died, a lot of them heavily wounded and maimed. Many more lost their homes, businesses, loved ones, schools, hospitals, libraries, stores/shops and the place they lived for many centuries (generations). A lot of Rotterdam people moved elsewhere to live. Some moved to Arnhem, where Market Garden hit them again in September 1944, and they lost their homes for the second time. But Karl, the same thing happened to people in Warsaw, London (Coventry), Lenin- and Stalingrad, Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin. My father would be angry if I compared these cities, because for him and many other Dutch and other people the bombardments of the German cities were a justification for the crimes of the Nazi's against humanity. (the occupation and destruction of all these European countries)

His generation stil thinks in the biblical terms of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But he has become more mild as an old man, but fond of Germany or Germans he will never be. Germans in his view have a certain mentality he doesn't like. The mentality of 'Befehl ist befehl', stricly following orders without thinking independently, too loyal to the state and a system. He and others like independent and autonomous people more. He dislikes the collectivism of the Germans, Russians and Japanese. Like many Europeans and Americans he dislikes Nazism, fascism, communism, socialism, fundamentalism, people who think too doctrinary or who are too orthodox or ultra-conservative in their beliefs. He is a typical Dutch conservative liberal, the Dutch FDP (VVD) political orientation. Ein Klassischer Liberal. Culturaly progressive, culture, fine art, art history, general history, antiques, painting, drawing and the free market are important to him. Political and economical he is more conservative and traditional. Opposes Euthenesia for instance! A typical Laissez faire person. Not an etatist. That classical liberalism is strongly rooted in the family, and you could call it national liberalism. My great grandfather was a liberal, my grandfather was a liberal, my father is a liberal and to a certain degree I am a liberal in the European sense of the word too.

By the way like me my father read German literature, Gunter Grass, Heinrich Böll and etc. Likes German expressionism of the twenties and the Wiener Sescession. At Easter I spoke with him about his cartoon like very good scetches of people he draws when he sits in a restaurant or café with my mother. I said they look like Otto Dix or George Grosch, but less gruesome. He agreed. We watched a lot of German krimi's and movies together. Those Germans are good in filmmaking he said. I agree with him. We liked to watch Tatort, Derreck and 'Der Alte'.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

karl,

I don't know if I was fortunate to have been raised in a upper middle class family with your fathers profession. I was less spoiled than many working class and middle class kids I knew. We were a sober and descent family. I helped maintaining the household and in gardening. My father was shaped by his Rotterdam childhood years of the late twenties (when he was a toddler), the thirties when he was a child, the German occupation years (1940 - from his 12th until his 17th year of life-) and the rebuilding years (late fourties, fifties and sixties) after that. My Dutch family was treated fairly neutral during the war years. They had the benefit that they were native Dutch people with no Jewish, African, Asian or clearly slavic blood to put it in racial terms. Stil they felt the consequences of the war. The aerial bombardment of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe (German air force) on 14 May 1940 around 13:30 hours. My fathers family was lucky that their part of the Kralingen neighborhood about 3 kilometres east of the city centre of Rotterdam, was spared. The working class area of Kralingen was hit and completely destroyed. (burned to the ground/bombed) My fathers family lived in the highclass and upper middle class area of Kralingen. The area where the 'harbor barons', merchants, business people, engineers, lawjers, judges and other Rotterdam elite lived. Their old jewish neighbors, the Levens, were German jews who escaped Nazi Germany during the thirties, like many other German jews who moved to the Netherlands. (like Anne Franks family which moved to Amsterdam) The contact between my grandparents and the Levens was good. It continued even when they were captured and imprisoned in a Rotterdam school (my aunt, my fathers sister visited them there. My father has a letter of Frau Leven to my grandmother.) Just before the war the son of the Levens came to Rotterdam to persuade his parents to move with him and their daughter in law to the USA via Great-Britain. They said; "We are old, we are no threat to the Germans, we stay here in the Netherlands". Herr Leven was a Ehrebürger from Krefeld, due to his war medals as officer during the First World War. His service for Germany, his veteran status didn't save him. From Rotterdam the Levens were transported to Westerbork concentration camp, from Westerbork to Theresienstadt and from Theresiensstadt to Auschwtiz where they had no chance as old people. They went straight to the gas-chamber. The combination of the German occupation (the humiliation of being occupied by neighbors who act as superiors), the bombardment and destruction of his city, the arrogance of the occupiers and the fact of the Holocaust/Shoa shaped my fathers attitude, conviction and mentality. He was disgusted by the marching and loud singing German soldiers (the feared and loathed occupiers):
" Heidi, heido, heida
Heidi, heido, heida
Heidi, heido, heido hahaha
Heidi, heido, heida
Heili heilo heila
Heili heilo heila "



The curious or coincidence is that my father and mother knew the same song in Rotterdam and Warsaw, because both in Rotterdam and Warsaw the German Wehrmacht or Waffen SS soldiers sung this song. Maybe that's why father is allergic for German schlager music. The worst thing I have done as teenager was to turn up the volume of the ZDF German television when the Schlager festival was one. That was one of the things I could irritate my father with. The other thing was to sing the International. (communist song) He also had an allergy for Communist and socialist songs and proletarian working class things. Which stood for not sophisticated, un-elegant, plump, low life, hustler proletarian, rude and the worst kind of human being. Incredible was the polarisation between left (working class) and right (middle class/high class) back then. My fayher could get a red face of anger when he heard the propaganda tune with the red rooster of the socialist broacast corporation VARA on television or the social-democratic (socialist) prime-minister Joop den Uyl, which he detested. You had the women organisation of the Dutch Labour party back then. 'The red women' which he described as square built, unattractive, worst kind of female creatures. Socialist women, could there be anything worse.




Joop den Uyl, Labour Party Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977.

I have always been leftwing, progressive or 'liberal in the American context' compared to my father, whom in the American context could be described as a moderate conservative or conservative liberal? He was born and raised in the time of pillarisation, a clear distinction between left and right, a class society with social layers, rich, inbetween and poor. He experianced the crisis years of the thirties in Rotterdam, and as a bourgeois child he experianced the animosity of the unemployed grim staring workers in Rotterdam. Communism, leftwing socialism (social-democracy was more socialist back then than today), Nazism (the NSB party), fascist movements and arch conservative Roman-catholic and Protestant parties were stil strong then. It was a different time in which religions, social classes (milieu's), professions and thus people were segregated in groups. The socialist workers had their own political party, the SDAP. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociaal_Democratische_Arbeiders_Partij ) The SDAP had strong links with other socialist organizations in the socialist pillar. It had strong links with the largest trade union NVV. Two important means of propaganda of the party were the social-democratic broadcasting organization VARA and the paper Het Vrije Volk. The youth organization Arbeiders Jeugdcentrale (Workers' Youth Central, AJC) was a large youth organization aligned with the SDAP, founded in 1918, with around 11,500 members in 1935. The women's association aligned with the SDAP was Samen Sterk (Together Strong) founded in 1912. The student's association aligned with the SDAP was the Social Democratic Students Club, (Sociaal-Democratische Studentenclub, SDSC). A Workers' Education Institute (Instituut voor Arbeiders Ontwikkeling IvAO) was set up in 1924 and a scientific bureau in 1935. But the SDAP also had close links with workers' recreational organizations like the League of Workers' Singing Association and the Dutch Workers' Sporting Association.


Socialist election poster of the Social-democratic SDAP party during the thirties



My fathers family (my grandfather and grandmother) were not associated with one of these pillars. They belonged to 'the group' of mainly middle and upper class latitudinarian Protestants and atheists (secular-humanists) whom arguably set up their own pillar: the liberal or "general" pillar. Ties between general organisations were a lot weaker than within the other three pillars. Liberals actually rejected the voluntary segregation of the society, and denied the existence of a "liberal pillar". The political parties usually associated with this group were the Free-minded Democratic League (VDB) and Liberal State Party (LSP). My fathers family belonged to the latter, a Dutch conservative liberal political party from 1921 to 1948.

My father experianced some problems during the war in Rotterdam due to the temperament, youthful naivity and risks he and his fellow pupils (students) took in highschool, like provoking a Dutch collaborationalist Dutch language teacher who stood in his nazi uniform in front of the class of majority non-nazi and anti-nazi pupils. This was a bad fellow, a traitor, a vicous man and a little bit paranoid. Other Dutch teachers (his non-nazi colleages) enjoyed when he was fooled or bullied. Once my father's class had gone to far and the furious Dutch nazi teacher send my father with a few other boys to the local Rotterdam SD (Sicherheitsdienst) office. That was the most feareful moment of my father during the war time. Worse than the bombardment of Rotterdam. This was the Gestapo headquarters, with vicious SS officers, jew hunters, the worst kind of Dutch henchmen in German SD and SS uniforms. (the Dutch nazi's often were very fanatical, and not less cruel than the German and Austrian nazi's who ruled and occupied the Netherlands) One of the Dutch SD secretaries, was an older NSB (National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands) girl from their highschool and she instigated the German/Austrian SD men against the boys; "Treat them harshly, these stupid -anti-nazi- boys." Her presence made the situation worse for the boys. When my father entered the SD office a German SS officer boxed his's ears. He told me that the worst moment was when he heard terrible screaming coming from below the stairs in the basement of the SD office. That was the noise of people who were being tortured there. Probably Dutch resistance people who were caught.

Like in many other parts of Europe the hatred against Dutch nazi collaborators was very large in the Netherlands. Dutch nazi's were liquidated by the Dutch resistance as punishment for their treason.

The NSB openly collaborated with the occupation forces. Its membership grew to about 100,000. The NSB played an important role in lower government and civil service; every new mayor appointed by the German occupation government was a member of the NSB.

Beginning in the summer of 1943, many male members of the NSB were organized in the Landwacht, which helped the government control the population. The Nederlandsche Landwacht was a home guard set up to combat the Resistance.

Between 1931 and 1935 the NSB had its own paramilitary organization, the black uniformed Weerbaarheidsafdeling (WA), similar to the Sturmabteilung of the Nazi Party. It was refounded in 1941. It also founded its own youth organization, Jeugdstorm (Youthstorm= Dutch Hitler Youth), farmers' organization, daily newspaper, Het Nationale Dagblad (The National Daily).

In 1940 the NSB formed a Nederlandsche SS (Dutch SS) from its own ranks. 50,000 Dutch people joined it.

The term "NSB'er" has become synonymous with traitor in the Netherlands, and is used as an insult.


Anti-NSB song of the war:

Op den hoek van de straat

Staat een N.S.B.-er,

't Is geen man, 't is geen vrouw,

Maar een ras-plebejer!

Met een krant in zijn hand,

Staat hij daar te venten;

En verkoopt zijn vaderland

Voor zes rooie centen.

Translation:

At the corner of the street
 
An N.S.B.-man is standing,
 
It's not a man, it's not a woman,
 
But a race-plebeian!
 
With a newspaper in his hand,
 
He is about to peddle there;
 
And sells his homeland
 
For six cheap penny's.

As a 16/17 year old boy my father went into hiding, because he didn't want to go to Arbeitseinsatz in Germany, to support the German nazi war machine. The Dutch nazi teacher had confiscated his 'Ausweis'. (his identity papers/passport) Thank god he, his sister and my grandparents survived the war and the Dutch famine of 1944.

This famine took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces above the great rivers, during the winter of 1944-1945, near the end of World War II. A German blockade cut off food and fuel shipments from farm areas. Some 4.5 million were affected and survived because of soup kitchens. About 22,000 died because of the famine. Most vulnerable according to the death reports were elderly men.


Dutch mother and her children during the Dutch famine of 1944-45


Dutch children of an orphanage during the Dutch famine of 1944

My father told me that that hunger winter lasted very long. All day long their doorbell rang, and people who looked like skelletons or ghosts asked for potato hulls or flower bulbs to eat. It was a spooky phenomenon and time. People suffered, were ill and died. My grandmother weighed 38 or 40 kilogram in that time. People ate everything they could get their hands on. Dead horses, cats, dogs, rabbits and rats. They removed the wood between the city tram tracks for the stove at their homes. Homes of jews who were gone were demolsihed, because the wood in it could be used. Some homes of jews were occupied by NSB people. These NSB people also stole the possessions of these jews. They urned money by betraying them and after that they went after the possessions of the jews they betrayed.

Audrey Hepburn spent her childhood in the Netherlands during the famine. She suffered from anemia, respiratory illnesses, and edema as a result. Also, her clinical depression later in life has been attributed to malnutrition.

It is interesting to hear that you spoke Frisian at home in Esjberg. Frisian thus was the first language of your mothers danish family. They must have been Danish Frisians. It's like the Dutch frisians, when they have Dutch (Holland) visitors, to make them comfortable they speak Dutch with the Dutch visitors from outside Friesland or non-Frisians living in Friesland. You were the son of a German, but you were raised in your first years in Denmark, and your languages were Frisian and Danish. So if I am right German was your third language and later on English your forth language. Thank god you knew enough German to be able to communicate with the German occupational forces. It is good for you and the Frisian/Danish locals that the German occupational forces in your area treated you well. In the Netherlands in the beginning the German/Austrian Nazi occupying authorities were treating the Dutch population fairly well, because they considered the Dutch (like the Danes) as a Aryan, Germanic brother people of the Germans. Later the nazi occupiers became less friendly and treaded the Dutch population less well, due to the opposition and resentment they felt and experienced. The Dutch didn't want to be occupied and were less obedient than for instance the Germans or Austrians. The Dutch mentality and character is to independent, autonomous and individualistic for that. Dutch people don't like to be ruled or told what to do by strangers or aliens (outsiders; and in this case the Nazi occupiers were the outsiders, the strangers who oppressed) It is good that you had Dansk in school in Denmark.

It is nice that you could trade products and food with the Britisch occupational forces to survive.

Your Auntie seems to have been a local native to Esjberg since she was a sail maker and earnt her money that way. In the Netherlands in that time that profession was a typical native Dutch profession, because there were no to little immigrants or guestworkers back then.

I hope that I didn't hurt your feelings Karl with the description of my fathers and his families life. It was a different time back then. A class society, a pillarised society, a polarised society, and the crisis years of the thirties (with it's poverty and unemployment of the working class) and the war years if the fourties have left it's marks on my fathers life. The late fourties (1945-1949), fifties and sixties were the rebuilding years. My father moved from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, worked a few years in Amsterdam (plus courses, seminars and workshops) and after Amsterdam moved to Apeldoorn halfway the sixties. He met my mother in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia (Croatia) in 1966, and in 1967 my parents married in Apeldoorn (civilian marriage) and Poznań (Roman Catholic marriage; my father had to be baptised for that in a Dutch christian church). I was born in januari 21th 1970 in Apeldoorn and my sister was born in Vlissingen in Februari 21th 1971. You know about my life in Vlissingen, and that I moved to Amsterdam and Arnhem after that.

Cheers,
Pieter

[Jaga]

Pieter,

I also remember hearing Heidi, Haida. This was pretty nice song, good for marching, although brings bad memories. These pictures of Dutch children during famine are horrific.