Breda and the Polish

Instead of Americans, Canadians, or Brits, it was the 1st Polish Armoured Division that liberated Breda from the German occupiers. These Polish soldiers had escaped from Poland in 1939 after the outbreak of the war. After various wanderings, they joined General Stanislaw Maczek in England.
Through France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, Maczek aimed to advance towards Warsaw to liberate Poland as well. The motto was therefore 'For your freedom and ours'. However, things did not go as planned...

In Breda, the Poles were welcomed as heroes on 29 October 1944. As the advance northwards stalled for a while, a close bond developed between the Poles and the hospitable inhabitants of Breda.  
At the official surrender of the Germans in May 1945, Maczek and his men had advanced to the Northern German Wilhelmshaven. 

The war was over, but returning home was impossible. Poland became a communist country after the liberation, and the Russians branded the Polish soldiers as traitors for fighting alongside the Western Allies. The homeland for which the Polish soldiers had sacrificed so much turned out to be, to their great sorrow, unreachable.

Several hundred of them returned to the Breda region. They had good memories of it. They were forced to build a new life there. It's not surprising that you come across relatively many Polish surnames in Breda and that there is an active Polish association.  

Every year, Breda commemorates the fallen Polish soldiers on 29 October and celebrates freedom. As long as possible, Polish veterans are also present.  
During the celebration of 75 years of freedom in 2019, King Willem Alexander and Polish President Duda were also present. In his speech, Duda thanked the people of Breda for their hospitality 75 years ago and the way they welcomed the Polish soldiers in Breda.

General Maczek himself went to Scotland where he worked as a bartender due to a lack of a veterans' pension. Breda offered the general honorary citizenship and a house, but he remained in Scotland. He had just gotten used to the rain, was his reaction. On his hundredth birthday, Maczek finally received rehabilitation. The new Polish government awarded him a high distinction in the Order of the White Eagle.

General Maczek passed away when he was 102. He is, at his request, buried with his troops in the military cemetery on the Ettensebaan in Breda. Prior to the funeral, he lay in an open casket in the hall of Breda’s town hall so that the people of Breda could say goodbye to their hero.