“That was about places that were quite bombed,” says Erik IJskes, head of the collection of the Medemblik War Museum, in the radio program NH helps. “You have to think of new furniture, but also glass, from which new windows were made for the houses.”
This aid campaign was called Hark, or aid campaign Roode Kruis and the museum is looking for stories about the aid campaign. According to IJskes, this promotion has been huge, but it actually started the other way around: “In the Hunger Winter, Noord-Brabant has helped Noord-Holland very much with food. Just after the liberation, Noord-Holland helped again the affected areas in Brabant and Gelderland with goods.”
Huls van Canonsball as a gift
Places that contribute to the aid promotion often received a sleeve of a cannonball with an inscription. “Those sleeves are about half a meter high,” says IJskes. “We don’t own them either, but I know someone who has one.”
What the museum will do with the possible stories is still unclear. “That’s for the future.” Possibly the Medemblik war museum with the new information will make alternation exhibitions, says IJskes. One thing is certain: the information is for everyone. “We want to post the stories online via the museum registration. People can then read it back via the website.”