Program: History of Hollandia Dairy

Arie Dejong, whose family founded and operated the Hollanda Dairy, was born in 1939 right at the beginning of WWII. Life in Holland after Germany invaded and occupied was difficult for most. Arie's family was able to live fairly well during the German occupation by engaging in the barter economy. The Germans needed a variety of goods that the Dutch could supply and would pay for. Operating in that economy was difficult since it was technically illegal but the Germans accepted that it was a necessary part of operating in an occupied country. Arie's father was arrested five times by the Germans, but then let go each time since the Germans realized that he was only trying to feed his family and provide a service.

There were three different Dutch political parties with varying allegiance to the occupying Germans, an 8:00 PM curfew, and a national currency that was becoming more worthless. Difficult circumstances to live, let alone thrive, but the DeJong family managed. 

After the war was over, their town liberated by the Canadians, the DeJongs began to correspond with an uncle that was living in Poway with his own ranch. The Uncle talked about how many hours your would have to work in the California economy to buy a certain item, shoes, a refrigerator, a car. That calculation of comparative living standards made the United States sound like utopia. Arie's dad went to the United States on a visit to check things out and decided to move to America. They family traveled to America by ship during some big storms at sea. Arie was on deck and almost go washed overboard. 

Arie's story continued with details of their early life in San Diego County. One particular story was about his recycling business and the Statue of Liberty monument sign in front. He was accused by the local government that this was violating the sign ordinance. There was a groundswell reaction from the local citizens and the authorities backed off. The statue remains.

One philosophy that guided their lives was that Arie's family always supported each other and the employees at the dairy. Arie felt that conviction was a big driver of their success.