Irish Examiner View: The Herremas’ inspiring legacy

Dr. Tiede Herrema during a meeting with President of Ireland Michael D Higgins in Aras An Uachtarain at The Phoenix Park, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

There are around 1.5m people under 45 in Ireland so the story of Dutch industrialist Tiede Herrema’s kidnapping by the IRA in 1975 may not be first-hand familiar to them. There are fewer people over 75 so Dr Herrema’s earlier ordeal may resonate with fewer people. A member of the Dutch resistance in WWII, he was sent to a Polish concentration and after liberation by Russians he walked 500km to American lines.