The story of volunteer Bas Sjoerts

Curious about what motivates the volunteers who work for the information center? Follow their stories. Bas Sjoerts explains.

“Those personal stories are worth telling.”

When and how did you get involved with the information center?

In June 2017, I moved from Markelo to Holten. At a fair in my new village, there was an information center booth. We got into a conversation and I enthusiastically signed up as a volunteer.

What was your motive?

I am fascinated by military history, especially defensive structures. For over 25 years, I've been organizing trips to the former battlefields of WWI. I also often visited war cemeteries. Curiosity drew me to the booth at the Holten Canadian Cemetery Information Center.

What is your role?

I started out as a host. It welcomes visitors and guides them around. In the autumn of 2021, I also joined the research group. I thought it would be challenging to find out the life stories of soldiers myself. Those personal stories are worth telling. First of all for the next of kin, but also for educational purposes. For future generations. A personal story, especially with a photo, touches people. Since 2022, I have been a member of the foundation's board. I'm mainly concerned with the online environment, where we store personal stories and photos at the 1,394 graves and share them with anyone who is interested. This database can be found under “life stories” on our website. Around the commemoration of 80 years of liberation on 5 May, you will find signs with photos and a QR code at the graves, which refer to information about the fallen soldier.

What does it take to visit the information center?

Visitors can delve into the military history of the liberation of the Eastern and Northern Netherlands. But above all, zoom in on the life story of often young guests. Thousands of miles from home to lay down their lives for our liberation. A life lesson that we must share forever.

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