Tales of Members of the Resistance and Victims of War
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Come tell me after all these years your tales about the end of war Tales of members of the resistance and victims of war Ellen Lock Come tell me after all these years your tales about the end of war tell me a thousand times or more and every time I’ll be in tears. by Leo Vroman: Peace Design: Irene de Bruijn, Ellen Lock Cover picture: Leo en Tineke Vroman, photographer: Keke Keukelaar Interviews and pictures: Ellen Lock, unless otherwise stated Translation Dutch-English: Translation Agency SVB: Claire Jordan, Janet Potterton. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the editors of Aanspraak e-mail: [email protected], website: www.svb.nl/wvo © Sociale Verzekeringsbank / Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad, december 2014. ISBN 978-90-9030295-9 Tales of members of the resistance and victims of war Sociale Verzekeringsbank & Pensioen- en Uitkeringsraad Leiden 2014 Content Tales of Members of the Resistance and Victims of War 10 Martin van Rijn, State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport 70 Years after the Second World War 12 Nicoly Vermeulen, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) Speaking for your benefit 14 Hans Dresden, Chair of the Pension and Benefit Board Tales of Europe Real freedom only exists if everyone can be free 17 Working with the resistance in Amsterdam, nursery teacher Sieny Kattenburg saved many Jewish children from deportation from the Hollandsche Schouwburg theatre. Surviving in order to bear witness 25 Psychiatrist Max Hamburger survived the camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. We want the world to know what happened 33 in the death camp at Sobibor! Sobibor survivor Jules Schelvis tells his story. 5 Not a day goes by without something reminding you of the war 41 Morris Tabaksblat, a former chief executive of Unilever, talks about his memories of the war. In search of justice 49 Judge Anita Leeser-Gassan survived Bergen-Belsen. A life of survival 57 In conversation with Bill Minco. Our wars had nothing in common 67 The wartime childhood of Ed van Thijn. The Death of the Adversary 75 Renewed interest in novel by 101-year-old writer and psychiatrist Hans Keilson. Joke Folmer saved pilots; ‘Mad Tuesday’ saved her 81 Joke Folmer became involved in the Resistance at the age of seventeen. Cruel fate has not crushed us 87 Hella de Jonge talks about her debut novel ‘Los van de wereld’ (‘Disconnected from the world’). ‘Your character and upbringing make it impossible 95 not to resist’ Siet Gravendaal-Tammens was at the top of the resistance in Groningen. Soldier of Orange 103 Resistance fighter, ‘Engelandvaarder’ (England voyager), radio operator, war pilot, and writer Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema recounts his experiences during the war. 6 Far away 113 After escaping from the Netherlands to join the Allied forces, Bram Grisnigt was dropped back into occupied Dutch territory as a secret agent. A place for the ‘Forgotten Holocaust’ 121 In the presence of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Zoni Weisz unveiled the Sinti and Roma monument in Berlin. Jan Wolkers’ memories of the Second World War 127 A conversation with the creator of the Auschwitz memorial. Forever quiet for them 135 Jaap Keijmel and Johan Provoost talk about the Allied bombing of Breskens on 11 September 1944. The longing to be reunited with my wife gave me 143 the strength to endure all those camps! Reprisal victim Arie Kooiman talks about the consequences of the raid in Beverwijk. Keep hold of my hands! 151 Koos Postema talks about the bombing of Rotterdam. Tales of the Dutch East Indies We were prepared to fight to the bitter end 160 Ambonese resistance member Coos Ayal tells of her battle against the Japanese in New Guinea. Now it’s time for me to speak out 166 For fifty years, Jan Ruff-O’Herne kept silent about her experiences during the war. 7 You needed each other to survive the Death Railway! 174 Han de Bruïne worked on the Pakan Baru railway on Sumatra as a prisoner of war. Endless toil under a burning sun 184 Felix Bakker recalls his period of forced labour on the Burma Railway. Survivor of the Junyo Maru maritime disaster 195 90-year-old Willem Punt can remember every detail of his internment as a prisoner of war. I drew hope from memories of another world 202 As a child, author Mischa de Vreede grew up in Japanese women’s camps on North Sumatra. The war is behind me now; I have turned the page 210 Couturier Edgar Vos recounts his experiences as a child in a Japanese camp. You wouldn’t wish a hell like that on your worst enemy! 218 Ronald Scholte survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki as a prisoner of war. You have to grab luck while you can! 226 Ben Bot, former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, became streetwise in Tjideng. I survived Tjideng thanks to my mother’s courage 236 Hermance Clegg, mother of the British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, was a survivor of the Japanese camp Tjideng. Under my sister’s wings, I always felt protected 246 Historian and lawyer Cees Fasseur grew up in Japanese POW camp Lampersari-Sompok, in Semarang, Java. 8 Finding lost time 254 Biologist, artist, writer and poet Leo Vroman talks about internment in Japanese camps and how it affected his life. No one can understand my story about the 262 Dutch East Indies. It was such a different world! Herman Romans van Schaik survived the atrocities of the Bersiap period in Surabaya. In my dreams I’m escaping from a burning Catalina 270 At the age of six, Theo Doorman survived a Japanese attack on a Catalina flying boat off the coast of Australia. Van Dis on the warpath 278 I carry the war in me, as it were, because I went through a kind of war at home. The captain gave the signal to abandon ship 288 Seaman Frits de Jong survived a Japanese attack. They can’t touch my innermost being 292 Toos Blokland kept a diary in the camps at Darmo-wijk and Halmaheira. 9 Photo: Ellen Lock. Martin van Rijn. 10 Tales of Members of the Resistance and Victims of War This book consists of a selection of interviews published in the mag- azine Aanspraak between 1997 and 2014. This is an anthology that brings together the very best content from a consistently interesting magazine. I admire the people who made the selection because, with so much to choose from, it must have been an awfully difficult job. Throughout the years, the basic structure of Aanspraak has barely changed. And why should it have? The magazine has been highly appreciated from the very first edition, not least because of the in-depth interviews, for which there has always been space. To me, interviews like these are small monuments. Monuments made of words. Sometimes the interviews are with famous people, some- times with less well-known individuals. These stories are about victims of war, former members of the resistance, victims of persecution, children who had to go into hiding, people who survived the Hunger Winter, those who were or were not interned in camps in the Dutch East Indies, and many others. A highly diverse group of people, there- fore, who were connected by that terrible war. Last September, I addressed a large number of veterans at a remem- brance ceremony in Roermond. I urged them to tell their stories. We need their stories to show the next generation what a disastrous effect exclusion and persecution have had, and how this undermined the rule of law in our country. This applies equally, of course, to the stories you have before you. They make the horrors tangible, and contain lessons that we cannot afford to forget. This is a book to cherish. Martin van Rijn State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport CONTENTS PAGES Photo: Annet Delfgaauw. Nicoly Vermeulen. 12 70 Years after the Second World War Marking the 70th remembrance of the end of the Second World War, I am honoured to present you with this anthology on behalf of the SVB and the Pension and Benefit Board. Each and every one of the stories in this book is remarkable. They are a perfect testimony to the impact that the war had and continues to have. When I talk to clients, it becomes clear again and again how important it is that their stories are passed on as lessons in life for present and future generations. We are pleased to contribute to this aim by bringing these stories together in an anthology in which Dutch former mem- bers of the resistance, victims of persecution and civilian victims of war, some famous, some less well-known, speak about their experi- ence of the war. This book is a very impressive illustration of the diver- sity of people who were affected by a wide range of wartime events. I would also like to draw attention to the departure of Ms Hans Dresden as Chair of the Pension and Benefit Board. We thank her - also with this gift - for her outstanding contribution over a period of many years to the Pension and Benefit Board. I sincerely hope that you will be inspired by the stories, and that you will take the wisdom they contain to heart and pass it on to others. Nicoly Vermeulen Chair of the Board of Directors of the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) CONTENTS PAGES Photo: Ellen Lock. Hans Dresden. 14 Speaking for your benefit In my past four years as Chair of the Pension and Benefit Board, I have always taken a great deal of pleasure in writing the foreword ‘Speaking for your benefit’ in the magazine Aanspraak, which we publish for our clients.