Veterans light flame as the Netherlands marks 80th anniversary of WWII liberation
WAGENINGEN, Netherlands (AP) — World War II veterans watched military aircraft fly over a central Dutch town Monday as the Netherlands marked the 80th anniversary of its liberation by Allied troops from Nazi German occupation.
Festivities in Wageningen centered on a square outside the Hotel de Wereld, where German top brass signed papers on May 5, 1945, that formally ended the brutal five-year occupation as the war drew to a close across Europe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
5 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Juneteenth started with handbills proclaiming freedom. Here's what they said
DALLAS (AP) — The origin of the Juneteenth celebrations marking the end of slavery in the U.S. goes back to an order issued as Union troops arrived in Texas at the end of the Civil War. It declared that all enslaved people in the state were free and had 'absolute equality.' Word quickly spread of General Order No. 3 — issued on June 19, 1865, when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in the South Texas port city of Galveston — as troops posted handbills and newspapers published them.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Juneteenth started with handbills proclaiming freedom. Here's what they said
DALLAS (AP) — The origin of the Juneteenth celebrations marking the end of slavery in the U.S. goes back to an order issued as Union troops arrived in Texas at the end of the Civil War. It declared that all enslaved people in the state were free and had 'absolute equality.' Word quickly spread of General Order No. 3 — issued on June 19, 1865, when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in the South Texas port city of Galveston — as troops posted handbills and newspapers published them. The Dallas Historical Society will put one of those original handbills on display at the Hall of State in Fair Park starting June 19. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in the U.S. in 2021 but has been celebrated in Texas since 1866. As time passed, communities in other states also started to mark the day. 'There'd be barbecue and celebrations,' said Portia D. Hopkins, the historian for Rice University in Houston. 'It was really an effort for people to say: Look at how far we've come. Look at what we've been able to endure as a community.' Progression of freedom On Jan. 1, 1863, nearly two years into the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the freedom of 'all persons held as slaves' in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. But it didn't mean immediate freedom. 'It would take the Union armies moving through the South and effectively freeing those people for that to come to pass,' said Edward T. Cotham Jr., a historian and author of the book 'Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration.' The proclamation didn't apply to the border states that allowed enslavement but didn't leave the Union, nor the states occupied by the Union at the time, said Erin Stewart Mauldin, chair of southern history at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. 'You have to think of emancipation as a patchwork,' she said. 'It doesn't happen all at once. It is hyper local.' Still, she said, the proclamation 'was recognized immediately as this watershed moment in history.' 'The Emancipation Proclamation is the promise that the end of slavery is now a war aim,' Mauldin said. Texas at the end of the war As the war progressed, many enslavers from the South fled to Texas, causing the state's enslaved population to balloon from about 182,000 in 1860 to 250,000 by the end of the war in 1865, Mauldin said. Cotham said that while enslaved people were emancipated 'on a lot of different dates in a lot of different places across the country,' June 19 is the most appropriate date to celebrate the end of slavery because it represents the 'last large intact body of enslaved people to be freed.' He said many enslaved people across the South knew of the Emancipation Proclamation, but that it didn't mean anything until troops arrived to enforce it. About six months after General Order No. 3 was issued, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified. General Order No. 3 The order begins by saying 'all slaves are free' and have 'absolute equality' of rights. Going forward, the relationship between 'former masters and slaves' will be that of employer and hired laborer. It advises freedmen to 'remain at their present homes and work for wages,' adding that they must not collect at military posts and 'will not be supported in idleness.' The handbills were also handed out to church and local officials. Cotham said Union chaplains would travel from farm to farm to explain the order to workers, and many former enslavers read the order to the people they had enslaved, emphasizing the part about continuing to work. The Dallas Historical Society's handbill came from the collection of newspaperman George Bannerman Dealey, who founded the society, said Karl Chiao, the society's executive director. Dealey began working at a Galveston newspaper in 1874 before being sent to Dallas by the publisher to start The Dallas Morning News. Chiao said their handbill is the only one they know of that still exists. The National Archives holds the official handwritten record of General Order No. 3. What freedom looks like Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'Some of the people who were set free stayed on the plantations and worked for their former owners, others left, they went to Houston, to Dallas, or they went to San Antonio seeking work,' said W. Marvin Dulaney, deputy director of the African American Museum of Dallas. While there was excitement, the newly freed people knew they had to 'build up what citizenship looked like for them,' Hopkins of Rice University said, and that there was still 'a lot of work to do.' 'You changed the relationship between the enslaver and the enslaved but you didn't change the culture or the societal norms with how enslavers treated enslaved people,' she said. Mauldin said participants in early Juneteenth celebrations were 'incredibly brave,' noting that by 1868, the Ku Klux Klan was established in Texas. They were celebrating their freedom, she said, 'under constant threat of violence.' 'It does take time for sort of what freedom is going to look like to be made real, and in large part the reason that freedom is made real is because of ex-slaves pushing for what they think freedom should be,' Mauldin said. 'It's not being given to them, they are actively fighting for it.'
Toronto Sun
6 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
'FIGHTING TO SURVIVE': Alligator drags German shepherd into Florida pond
German shepherd Zeus after alligator attack. Photo by GoFundMe A family dog is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by an alligator and dragged into a nearby pond. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The horrifying incident took place just outside his Wesley Chapel, Florida, home, according to the pet's parents. The family's beloved dog, Zeus, suffered multiple injuries after 'a large alligator broke through our fence and attacked him,' owner Susan Alkhatib wrote on a GoFundMe page. 'The gator grabbed Zeus and dragged him back into the water,' Alkhatib wrote. 'All of a sudden, I couldn't hear him anymore,' one family member recalled to WFLA . 'My dad came in frantic. I'd never seen him like that. He said, 'The alligator just took Zeus.'' German shepherd Zeus, smiling and happy before alligator attack. (GoFundMe) Photo by GoFundMe Alkhatib and her family ran outside with flashlights and caught a glimpse of Zeus struggling in the pond with the gator still latched onto him. The animal eventually 'let go of Zeus' and the dog struggled to swim back toward his family — 'wounded but fighting to survive' the distraught owner detailed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We started yelling at him to come toward us,' Alkhatib told the outlet. 'When he got closer, he got tired,' she continued. 'So we had to kind of go into the pond a little bit to get him.' Broken fence in yard of Florida home after alligator charged through it to snatch German shepherd. (GoFundMe) Photo by GoFundMe Zeus suffered a fractured, displaced jaw and multiple puncture wounds around his neck, and has undergone emergency oral surgery. 'The vet had to close internal mouth lacerations, manually realign his jaw, and wire it together,' Alkhatib said, adding that Zeus will have to wear a muzzle for four to six weeks, be syringe-fed a full liquid diet, then undergo another surgery in eight weeks to remove the wires and extract teeth. Alligator that attacked dog Zeus in Wesley Chapel, Florida. (GoFundMe) Photo by GoFundMe Donations to Zeus' GoFundMe page will go to the dog's recovery. It has raised nearly $9,500, as of publication, just shy of the $10,000 goal. 'The vet told us the gator had just missed his jugular — it looked like Zeus's entire head had been in the gator's mouth,' the horrified owner recalled. 'The fact that he made it out alive is nothing short of a miracle.' Read More NHL Toronto Maple Leafs NHL Toronto Blue Jays Columnists
