Mum's Involvements.... the start & a story of how a German soldier saved her life.

These will be Mum's stories...

Picture taken in 1952... Mum, my brother Willem & me in the stroller

Now over 70 years later, Mum is still haunted by memories/images of that time. Asking Mum to “open-up” and talk about those times was difficult, as her eyes began to tear up at first and asked me not to talk about it. She told me that after all these years… even with help… she is still has memories of the things what went on and things she “had” to do. She had to live with the constant nightmares for her entire life.

1951 - Mum pushing my brother around

However, she did talked about her stories that had happy endings to some degree, most of the "other" stories are still "locked away" in her mind.

in her words...

 "Although the war brings back many awful memories for me, there were a few good moments too, that makes you realize that as badly as the Dutch were treated in the hands of the Germans, not all German soldiers were cruel and hateful."

Mum told of one story that a young German soldier gave up his life for her friend and herself.

"We were walking along the roadside, just by a group of German soldiers, when an Allied fighter plane came down and started shooting down the road. Along the roadside were pits dung into the ground, used for shelter in case of what is just happening. Mum and her friend dove into the pit for shelter to avoid being shot. Just as the plane started to shoot, a young German soldier dove on top of the pit, covering us over. The plane continued on firing down the road. When the plane was gone, we were still alive, but the soldier was killed. He saved our lives... this was an extremely emotional time. Looking back, I wish I knew who this man was, so I could write to his mum and let her know what a brave son she had."

This was mum's first encounter with life and death. One of Mum's present day friends told her the same story, that she too was walking down the same stretch of road that Mum walked down, and was saved by a German soldier in the same situation.