大象传媒

This story was submitted by an anonymous author, on behalf of Age Concern Durham County.

This isn't really a story, just some observations of life in an occupied country.

At first, not much changed. We still had our youth clubs, and could buy clothes. It was only after a few years that life became more difficult.

We used to barter tablecloths for corn. My mother would grind the corn in a coffee grinder.

There was no coal or coke for the fire. My father would go out in the middle of the night to cut wood in the forest. This was very dangerous, because it was not allowed.

WE weren't supposed to listen to the English radio stations. If the Germans found out that we'd been listening to the English radio, a cross was put on our door. This was frightening, so we tried to paint over it or rub it out.

My father was an electrician, and worked in the Phillips factory. This often suffered sabotage. If the Germans couldn't find the culprits, they took six people at random, and shot them. The bodies were left at the gates for a few days.

I used to work for a Jewish family,looking after the children, until the Germans decreed that no Christian could work for a Jew. I don't know where the family went. They told no one. It was safer that way, because there were quislings.

When we left youth clubs, it could be frightening, because we'd be laughing, and the German soldiers would think we were laughing at them. Sometimes, we had to run home.

After a few years, the Germans were looking for labour. They would come to a house, in the middle of the night, and take the young men, to work in Germany.

There were acts of kindness too. A German soldier, hearing that a little girl couldn't afford a doll, bought it for her. The mother refused to accept it, and threw it to the floor. The soldier explained that he wanted to do it, because he had a little girl at home, and hadn't seen her for a long time. The mother walked away.

At the end of the war, the Germans took all the cars and bikes, to get back to Germany.

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