My ancestor Maria Cornelia Platschart was born in Breda in 1861. Her mother, Cornelia Platschart, was unmarried. As described in a previous blogpost, I suspected Cornelia Platschart may have been a prostitute. I have since found more evidence in hospital records. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Gaarkeuken
18 April 2022 by 1 Comment
A gaarkeuken is a soup kitchen, a place where poor people could go to be fed. Gaarkeukens are best known from World War II, when the watery soup they supplied was the only food for many people in the west of the country. The Hunger Winter of 1944/1945 had left people desparately hungry. Soup kitchens remained in use for a while after the liberation, until people were able to take care of themselves again. Nowadays, the word gaarkeuken is no longer in use, but there are voedelbanken (food … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Staking
13 September 2021 by 1 Comment
A staking is a strike. Local strikes have been documented since the sixteenth century. Strikes became more common in the twentieth century, when workers were becoming organized. Major strikes include: 1902: Textile strike in Twente (eastern part of Overijssel) 1903: Railway strike 1941: February strike in protest to start of deportation of the Jews by the German occupiers … [Read more...]
