Helping Holland Rebuild Her Land 35s
American Students Lend a Hand as the Gallant Dutch Repair
the Ravages of Their Country's Old Enemy, the Sea
By Gilbert M. Grosvenor and Charles Neave
«T-XISASTROUS Flood Engulfs Holland"
I "Gale-swept Sea Breaches Dutch
Dikes"
"Raging Waters Wreck 7 Centuries of
Labor"
Those grim headlines of February 1, 1953,
roused us as nothing else, not even a surprise
visit from Dean Wiggin, could have done.
The two of us, juniors and roommates at
Yale University, read on in horror. Last
night, while we slept in the safety of our
campus room, the tiny Netherlands, admired
and loved by generations of Americans, had
met with disaster at the hand of its ancient
foe, the sea.
Floods Take 1,800 Lives
Half of the land the Dutch had labori
ously wrested from the waves in 700 years
was under water. More than a half million
people, a twentieth of the population, had
been in the path of the fury; 1,800 perished.
The damage was estimated at 5 percent of
Holland's national income.
A one-in-a-million combination of high
spring tides and furious winds of hurricane
force had swept in from the North Sea to
batter the Netherlands coast. The roaring
waves broke through dikes as high as two-
story buildings.
Perhaps the quiet determination of the
Dutch to put the past behind them and re
build their land tugged at our hearts. In any
event, the idea occurred to us one evening
that we might do something about it. Couldn't
we do without the gay summer whirl and go
fix dikes at one of the work camps set up by
the Netherlands Government?
A phone call to the Netherlands Office for
Foreign Student Relations in New York the
next morning proved that this was one of our
brighter ideas.
The NBBSthat's how the Dutch abbrevi
ate the long titlehad the perfect program.
Students like us from many nations had con
tracted to spend three-week periods repairing
smashed dikes and salt-poisoned fields. We'd
work with these students and live with them
in youth hostels; our assignment would be to
Brielle (map, page 370).
"And now here's a little surprise for you,"
continued the NBBS spokesman. "You'll
work all right, but you'll be paid, as well as
given meals and lodging.
"We'll give you low fares and an interesting
trip over. Finally, you'll have your week
ends free for seeing the country."
We signed up. And on a sizzling July
morning, with 700 other college students
aboard, the S. S. Groote Beer steamed out
of Hoboken bound for Rotterdam.
The ship had been leased by the NBBS
solely to take students to Europe. Passage
was $300 a round trip. On board were boys
and girls from Indiana, Northwestern, Yale,
Harvard, De Pauw, Princeton, Vassar, New
York University, and others.
"And brother," said Charlie Neave after a
quick turn on deck, "there are seven girls to
every boy! Let the skipper go by way of
Rio if he wants!"
But it wasn't all dating and dancing.
Everybody was on a mission he considered
serious. Some were using precious vacations
to further their studies in art and music.
A number, especially girls, planned to live
as members of European families. This way
they would learn to understand other people
and, in return, show them that Americans,
seen close up, are pretty good Joes, too.
Holland Sheltered Pilgrim Fathers
Using the talents of professors and ad
vanced students to good advantage, the NBBS
organized informal classes on European life
and culture (page 366).
Charlie, for one, had anticipated a morning
of deck tennis with a lovely Wellesley junior.
Instead, he found himself sprawled on the
fo'castle in the sun, while a professor of his
tory reminded the group how much America
owes to the early explorers and traders from
the Netherlands. The professor spoke, too, of
the refuge from persecution which Holland
provided the Pilgrim Fathers in the years pre
ceding their voyage to the New World.
From him the passengers heard the story
of Adriaen Block, the Dutch sea captain for
whom Block Island is named. They learned
that Princeton's Nassau Hall takes its name
