Talk:Freddie Oversteegen

Latest comment: 1 year ago by Michael-stanton in topic People from Lithuania hidden on the ship

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These stories about killing soldiers are not very likely to be true, since we know that such actions caused reprisal killings. It's also a little far-fetched that the Dutch resistance used teenage girls to dynamite bridges. What bridges is she supposed to have destroyed? Also, what corroboration do we have about helping people escape from concentration camps? I would expect Yad Vashem to have noted something about her if such stories were true, and to have some records about who she saved. See Righteous Among the Nations for example. It sounds like this woman invented a lot of tall tales. PeepleLikeYou (talk) 07:03, 21 March 2021 (UTC)Reply

People from Lithuania hidden on the ship

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The article originally stated:

Before the war started, the Oversteegen family hid people from Lithuania in the hold of their ship.

Which got flagged with the comment “The war hadn't started yet, so for what purpose?”.

Looking at the source again, this is how Oversteegen stated it in the interview, without giving additional information. However, Oversteegen stated this happened before the war started in the Netherlands. The rough timeframe would be:

  • 1922: The Vilnius region is incorporated into Poland; Lithuania continues to claim it as its own territory
  • January 1923: Klaipėda revolt: Lithuanian troops cross into Allied-controlled Klaipėda Region, incorporating it into Lithuania
  • March 1923: Under the impression of the Klaipėda revolt, the Conference of Ambassadors awards the Vilnius region to Poland, prompting Lithuania to severe diplomatic ties with Poland
  • March 1938: 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania
  • March 1939: 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania, resulting in the cessation of the Klaipėda region from Lithuania to Germany
  • September 1939: German invasion of Poland, marking the beginning if WWII in Europe
  • May 1940: German invasion of the Netherlands, marking the start of WWII in the Netherlands

What is missing is the timeframe of the divorce of Oversteegen’s parents. Based on the information I have, I can only narrow it down to the 1930s (Oversteegen, born in 1925, would presumably have been old enough to remember it) and no later than May 1940. For most of the 1930s, there were tensions concerning at least two regions of Lithuania, which might explain people fleeing Lithuania for the Netherlands. --Michael-stanton (talk) 12:45, 29 July 2023 (UTC)Reply