Sittard-Geleen
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By mid-September 1944, the Allies had made substantial progress in their liberation of Western Europe following the successful Normandy landings in June. Operation Market Garden, launched on September 17, was a large-scale Allied offensive aimed at quickly advancing through the Netherlands, securing key bridges, and eventually entering Germany to end the war sooner. This operation…
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For most people, the name Geleen will mean nothing, but to me, it means the place where I was born and raised. Although it is far from perfect, my roots are there, and I am proud of that. It is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. With…
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The history of Sittard-Geleen is a bit of a complicated one. The city used to be 2 towns, but in 2001 the towns of Sittard and Geleen merged and are now known as Sittard-Geleen. On September 18, 1944 both towns were liberated. With the liberation of Sittard on 18 and 19 September 1944, the war…
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Although I have not lived there since 1997, I still call the place where I was born home. Geleen is a town in the Province of Limburg, in the south east of the Netherlands. A former mining town and since 2001 it has been part of the bigger municipality of Sittard-Geleen. It fused with the…
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The address of Bloemenmarkt 7 won’t mean much to most of you, and it probably doesn’t mean that much to some of the people in Geleen. It was the address of a butcher shop and apartment in a square in the suburbs of Lindenheuvel in Geleen, the Netherlands. Today it is the home of a…
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One of the difficulties I have in telling or writing stories about the Holocaust is the sheer volume of victims. I believe the best way of keeping the memories alive is to personalize the stories. Rather then talk about millions ,talk about individuals and show that they were human beings like every one else. To…
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Fortuna ’54, founded in 1954 in the city of Geleen, played a pioneering role in the history of Dutch football. The club, formed during a time when professionalism in Dutch football was still controversial, became one of the country’s first professional teams. Fortuna ’54 not only helped lay the groundwork for the development of professional…
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July 21, 2025 was my 30th wedding anniversary. I still vividly remember my wedding day. It was the hottest day of the 20th century, at least in the town of Geleen, the Netherlands, where I got married. It was 42 degrees Celsius. Despite the heat, it was a beautiful day because both my family and…
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The above photograph sent shivers down my spine. Not because it is a horrific image but because the opposite is true. Three young girls walk into town, pushing a pram. Why I find it so disturbing is—I know that street very well. I have walked the same route many times. In fact, all my Dutch…
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I could call this history on my doorstep. The Peschstraat in Geleen, the Netherlands, is a street that is well known to me. Although it is on the other side of town, I often went there to visit friends who lived on that street or nearby. Yet, despite my familiarity with the area, I knew…
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