Utrecht's Liberation Babies

The summer of 1945 was absolutely unforgettable. When Allied soldiers rolled into the city, the relief was overwhelming. Young, confident soldiers, euphoric locals, and months of pent-up misery created a combination that, let's say, produced some unexpected results. 

The Dutch girls and the liberating soldiers turned out to be quite a popular pairing. So popular, in fact, that Utrecht's mayor Ter Pelkwijk had seen enough after just a few days of celebration. He issued an actual official ban on making love openly in parks, gardens, and along the banks of the Singel. Apparently someone had to be the adult in the room. 

The ban, however, did not exactly cool things down. Romances blossomed, some couples even married, but more often the soldiers quietly shipped home, sometimes without so much as a goodbye note. Across the Netherlands, over 7,000 so-called liberation babies were born, and those are only the official numbers. Many of these children grew up without a father, and without answers. Some only discovered decades later that their dad had been a Canadian, British, or American soldier passing through a very enthusiastic Utrecht.