Allied liberation of Belgium; VE Day parade; daily life of a Belgian family at peacetime

Carl de Brouwer, a Belgian banker manager, and his wife Denise offered refuge to two Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Between late 1942 and September 1944, the de Brouwers sheltered 6-year-old Adrien Sapcaru and 12-year-old Monique Mogoulsky in their private home in St Denis-Westrem, near Ghent, Belgium. Monique was the daughter of Carl's former co-worker at the bank in Ghent; her parents successfully hid in Ghent during the war until liberation in 1944. Adrien was the son of a Jewish Romanian architecture professor at Ghent University; Adrien's parents were deported and his mother killed; his father survived and returned for Adrien and his brother after the end of the war. Adrien assumed the name Adrien Simons and was also known as Dickie. He now lives in Canada as Adrian Sheppard. A tank moves out after the Allied liberation of East Flanders. German surrender. Two young men drink beer and celebrate with civilians. The tank drives through town, and Belgian civilians watch and join the procession. A crowd gathers as German prisoners of war march through town. 01:06:32 Jean-Marie wears a captured German helmet and shakes someone's hand. The children play outdoors near a road sign for "de Pinte -2 Km." More footage of German POWs. Canadian troops enter liberated Ghent and are celebrated by civilians. Steeple of St. Baron Cathedral and more crowds celebrating. 01:09:50 VE Day parade in May 1945. Troops marching; bands playing; US, British, Canadian units, the Royal Navy, Air Force, and Allied Women Services followed by civilians march through Ghent, as airplanes fly overhead. CU of a "Victory" poster depicting a triumphant Stalin, Roosevelt, de Gaulle and Churchill. Various peacetime scenes of the de Brouwers at St. Denis-Westrem after the liberation of Belgium. The children swim by the river; women sew outdoors; Denise smokes, and other adults walk through the garden; Denise descends a sand dune near the Belgian coast during a seaside stay in En Famille pension. Jean-Marie poses by the pension, as other children play in the sand.