Britta Hosman made a documentary series about abuse and forced labor in the convents of the Good Shepherd, including a convent in Almelo. She spoke with former girls, nuns and the order’s current leadership. During her research, she discovered a hidden cemetery on the grounds of the Good Shepherd in Almelo, similar to previous finds in Ireland and Canada.

Former pupils Lies Vissers, Joke de Smit and R. Riet, who were imprisoned as children and had to work, are now demanding apologies and compensation. Hosman explores their past with them. From 1860 to 1978, 20,000 girls were taken into care in five Dutch homes. Demographic research shows that 2 to 4 times more girls died in these homes than normal.

The series highlights both sides of the story, including the reaction of the Good Shepherd, who may face many lawsuits if guilt is acknowledged.

In the past, stories about the early days of the polder have been collected in the Northeast Polder and Eastern Flevoland. In Southern Flevoland, the urgency was less because that part of Flevoland was the last to be reclaimed, in 1968, and the people of the first hour were a lot younger than the pioneers from the Northeast Polder. But still more than 50 years ago.

In 2018, Landschapsbeheer Flevoland launched the Oral History Zeewolde project. In cooperation with volunteers and the municipality of Zeewolde, the story of Zeewolde was recorded by conducting a total of 30 interviews. Interviewed were the first inhabitants of the area that is now the municipality of Zeewolde. From gamekeepers to farmers and from the first general practitioner to the first inhabitant of the new village of Zeewolde. 

The stories of these polder pioneers led to the writing of a book by Lenie Hanse.

Excerpts from the interviews are published at Flevolands Geheugen. You can read some excerpts here.

Historian Lenie Hanse-Bolle collected the most beautiful stories and provided them with text in Zover je kijk was er niets. Eyewitnesses about the history of the Flevoland landscape.

The vision of exploiters and first inhabitants on the landscape and nature of our special province continues to fascinate. Reason enough for Landschapsbeheer Flevoland to make a StoryMap of their stories, which can be viewed digitally by everyone. 

‘As far as you looked there was nothing’ attractively takes the reader into the story of the reclamation and development of Flevoland. By clicking on an intelligent map, the reader is stimulated with text, photos, multimedia and interactive features. An ideal way to empathize at home with the pioneers who made Flevoland what it is today.

What did the reclaimed seabed look like? What grew first? When and how did animals come to the new land? What is it like to farm on newly reclaimed seabed and what did the young landscape look like?

Find the answers to these and other questions about nature and landscape in the early days of the Northeast Polder and Eastern Flevoland.