大象传媒

When we were invaded on May 10th at 4a.m., I lived in The Hague with my parents, brother Wim, sister Willy [both teenagers] and Hans[born in 鈥�39].

Firstly, being occupied meant distrusting people, ever more shortages and putting up with marching soldiers singing,鈥漊nd wir fahren gegen Engeland鈥�.

Though I did not understand English, the daily 大象传媒 news provided hope. Until 1942. Unbeknownst to my mother, Wim [now 18] had gone into hiding, instead of being sent to Germany as an Arbeits Einsatz (labour-force) conscript. The persecution of Jews was being intensified, thus my father had joined a Resistance group and Willy, who had finished her schooling, became a courier. Our house offered a shelter for Jews, one at a time. False papers were supplied and then a safe place had to be found. Willy (17) would take them secretly at night-time to their new, hard-found address during the curfew. Very risky! Fred, my age, moved in with us, as did Mr 鈥楻鈥�. He got Wim鈥檚 room which was always locked. I was aware that something was going on, but never said a word. The 鈥榞uests鈥� were advised to stay in during the day to avoid gossip.

In 1943 danger loomed.. The Gestapo were after Mr R. and to get him, they had arrested his Jewish girlfriend鈥檚 mother who鈥檇 be set free, after she, the girl, had kissed him at a pre-arranged meeting. That night Mr R did not come home. At the Gestapo H.Q he was recognised by an 鈥榰ndercover鈥�, who jumped on his bike to warn the group. At 9 a.m, my mother was told to leave the house 鈥榥ow鈥�! Coming home from school for lunch, nobody was in. How I panicked! My parents fled The Hague, going separate ways, and Willy took me in desperation to a vicar.

That night the Gestapo arrived at our house and were furious we鈥檇 flown. They sealed the lock, which meant the contents were confiscated. Next day, Willy broke the seal to rescue not only all our belongings, but also a German uniform and revolver from Mr R鈥檚 room. She packed everything in 3 days and 3 nights, being quite scared at times. And even packed a suitcase for each of us! She had ordered a removal-van for 6 a.m and handed them the keys to empty the house, while she hid behind a bush to check that all went well. Alas,we lost our home.
I didn鈥檛 see my parents again for about a year and could not attend school either.
Mr R., his girlfriend and her mother were killed.

Now they were after my father and put a price on his head. My grandfather was arrested and interrogated, but freed a week later. My father鈥檚 boss was arrested at 1 a.m. for failing to disclose the wherabouts of my father and sent to a concentration camp. My father was devastated, but was persuaded to carry on.. My mother just choked with anxiety about us all, especially when Hans was still too young to be able to accept my parents鈥� false name, which caused concern. She was convinced that Wim was in Germany. The less one knew, the better鈥�..

All six of us were now facing the rest of the war apart and in hiding...

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Anastasia Travers a volunteer with WM CSV Actiondesk on behalf of Theodora Coleman and has been added to the site with his permission. Theodora Coleman fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

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