A Canadian war veteran has been reunited with a Dutchman he helped at the end of World War II. Almost 70 years after fate briefly brought them together in Enschede, the two men met again in Canada. A shared memory of two chocolate bars brought their connection to light.
As Europeans and Canadians mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day this week, including the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian forces, World War II veteran Jim Wilkinson shares his recollections of the conflict. “I never thought we would lose so many men.”
Kim Phuc is known internationally as the napalm girl, the child in the historic news photo fleeing a bombardment during the Vietnam War. She is one of 20 people from across the globe featured in the forthcoming book Children Who Changed the World. “My wish is to never again see people suffer like that, especially children.”
Indigenous children in Canada were traumatized and abused for many decades at residential schools meant to assimilate them into white society. A national Truth and Reconciliation Commission is traveling the country to hear testimonies about the former policy, which has been suppressed for years.
For the first time in history, a member of the indigenous population of North America has been canonized by the Catholic church. Kateri Tekakwitha was a young Mohawk woman who lived over 300 years ago. Her admirers attribute special powers to her.
All artifacts that have ever been recovered from the ocean floor around the wreck of the ill-fated Titanic cruise liner are offered up for sale to the highest bidder this spring. The collection of about 5,500 objects must be kept together, a judge has ruled. “It’s unprecedented that something like this be sold.”
Canadians should take more pride in their accomplishments during World War II, such as the liberation of Holland, say historians. In the brand new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the achievement takes its place in Canada’s sometimes uncomfortable military history.
Members of the indigenous Haida population are reclaiming human remains of their ancestors from museums in North America. They bring the remains home to give their ancestors proper burials. “The way other people have treated us was totally disrespectful.”
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