Speech by the Mayor of the municipality of Overbetuwe, Patricia Hoytink-Roubos, during the 79th Commemoration of the contribution of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade to Operation Market Garden

Driel, September 16, 2023

Ladies and gentlemen,
Arno, thank you so much for your story about Bolek Ostrowski.

‘It was worth it’.
These words from Bolek are as stirring as they are unimaginable.
The Polish soldiers were forced to leave their hearth and home.
After extraordinary extensive travels they reached England.
They volunteered to serve in the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade, with the idea that they would be used for the liberation of their homeland.
But while Warsaw was on fire, they were dropped here, in Driel.
79 years ago.

They endured hellish shelling, carried out impossible tasks and ensured that almost 2,400 trapped British soldiers were able to escape.
The historian Cornelius Ryan describes it as follows:
“Driel was the scene of an epic battle in which the Polish paratroopers held out against all odds and made an important contribution to the Allied Operation.”
Yet the important and decisive role of the Polish military was disclaimed for decades after the war.
In their own country they were not exactly perceived as heroes.
And yet still those words:
‘It was worth it’.

That gives a well-known statement ‘our freedom is not free’ a new meaning.This makes us realise that freedom comes always with responsibility.The responsibility to do everything possible to preserve that freedom.Those are big words, but I strongly believe that everyone can contribute to this idea in their own way.By looking after each other.By being hospitable.Driel is a great example of this.
In 1984, almost 40 years ago, the Polish veterans came to Driel for the first time.
In the newspaper there was an advertisement placed calling for host families.
Those were quickly found.

And exactly those very first contacts grew into something much bigger in the years that followed.
Aid transports were set up.
People helped with that.
At one point, for example, 150 hospital beds were transported from Antwerp to Poland.
Driel choir Impuls started organising concert tours, traveling throughout Poland to make people happy with their beautiful music.
And here in Driel the Driel-Poland Foundation was founded, which has played a crucial role in the rehabilitation of the Polish veterans and created a special bond that this village has with Poland.
That hospitality, that commitment, was and still is of an absolutely great value.
For all the efforts of all those host families, the Driel-Poland Foundation and everyone who contributed to establishing bond with the Polish veterans, I would like to ask for a big round of applause.

Ladies and gentlemen,
One of the driving forces behind all these initiatives was the family Jacobs.
“It has cost us some effort, but has made our lives so much richer,” say Niek and Bep looking back.
They developed a special bond with one of the veterans, Jan Jewtuszek [fon: Jef-tu-sek]. Jan together with his wife Anna were welcome every September, for ten years, at the hospitable and warm house of the family Jacobs, up to the moment Jan passed away.
Just like Bolek, Jewtuszek landed here on 21 September 1944, he was wounded and once back in Poland he was not welcome in his homeland with open arms.

Since he had fought for the West, every Sunday Jewtuszek had to report to the communist regime.
For a very long time he also searched for his two sisters whom he had lost during the war.
Only after 58 years did Jewtuszek manage to track them down thanks to an advertisement in an English newspaper for veterans.
Here in Driel he felt at home.

When he met his old comrades again and again, there was always a room for laughter and tears.
And finally, they received the appreciation they deserved, their heroic actions were properly acknowledged.
A performance about which General Sosabowski once said:
“In the muddy fields of Driel, the Polish paratroopers fought like lions and earned their legacy as heroes.”

Let us use that legacy wisely.Let us never forget the great sacrifices of Bolek, Jewtuszek and all other Polish veterans.Let us do justice to our precious freedom.
Thank you.