RESPECT YOUR HISTORY

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To respect your history includes recognizing the difficult parts.  By visiting  United Empire Loyalist cemeteries and reseaching many of those buried there I have gained a greater understanding of the past. Some made enormous contributions, others owned and mistreated Black Loyalists. It has encouraged me to respect history and to share it with others by preparing 45 videos of  cemeteries in the Maritimes and Ontario. 


The largest of these cemeteries contained several hundred headstones. This week, while in the Netherlands, I visited  Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery  where over 31,000 soldiers who died mainly during WWII were buried.  It is the biggest cemetery by area with German casualties from war in the world. 

Soldiers' graves are marked by individual stone monuments with their name, service occupation,  and dates of birth and death, when known. 

Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery 

It was a very moving experience to visit.  Below is a short video I made. Some of the graves are very likely for descendants of Hessians who fought in the American Revolution and returned to German states, mostly Hesse  - Kassel, afterward in 1783.

Approximately 17,300 Hessians returned to Germany after the American Revolution.  During WWII, Germans were subject to conscription for military service. 


The Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery also has some graves of Dutch collaborators with the Germans, foreign volunteers, and casualties from World War I.



Further Reference:

Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery was accessed on April 27, 2026

United Empire Loyalist  Cemeteries  videos by Brian McConnell, UE 

Loyalist Cemeteries & Headstones by Brian McConnell,  UE published in 2020


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