If dangerous loomed, I hid under the floor

In 1941, I passed my MULO exam in Gorkum. My father was the municipal receiver in Heukelum. Through his network, he arranged for me to work as a volunteer at the town hall in Schoonrewoerd and in Hei and Boeicop. The winter of 1941/1942 was harsh, and I can still see myself cycling over the frozen Linge to Schoonrewoerd! In 1943, I got my first paid job as a civil servant in Kedichem. However, it didn’t last long. As I had been classified for the Arbeitseinsatz, it seemed I was going to be sent to Germany as a forced labourer. That’s when my brother Kees stepped in. He was 15 years older than me and had been living away from home for years. However, he felt a near fatherly responsibility for me and my younger sister, the two youngest in our family. When the war started, he was working with the harbour service in Rotterdam. He was a witness to the bombing of the city and harboured a strong hatred against the Nazis, which manifested in his active participation in the Resistance. He convinced family in Elst to take me in as a hiding place. I still remember how, in the summer of 1943, I cycled to Elst with a wicker suitcase strapped to the back of my bike. When I was near the Molenpoort in Wijk bij Duurstede, I spotted German soldiers further down the street. I don’t know how fast I cycled from that long bare dyke from Wijk to Amerongen, but I know I pedaled as fast as I could! By the end of that year, I returned to Heukelum and managed to stay home until the end of the war.

As a fugitive, I worked now and then for a farmer to earn a few pennies, but I had to remain vigilant. If danger loomed, such as a raid or a house search, I would be warned and hide under the floor. My father had built our house on the Lingewal in the 1920s, considering potential rises in water levels. Therefore, there was a considerable space under the floor!

Later in the war, my brother from Rotterdam came to live with us. This was partly due to my mother’s health. She had a dysfunctional heart valve, and in those days, little could be done about it. Our family doctor came to administer an injection every evening, and this undoubtedly prolonged her life. She lived to see the liberation, but sadly passed away in December 1945. However, my mother’s poor health also protected us! When the Germans occasionally demanded billeting, my brother made it seem as though my mother, who was often bedridden, had a contagious disease. There were many such diseases circulating at the time, and the Germans were terrified of them! This is how we managed to avoid unwanted German housemates a few times!

Next to our house was a large shed called Tavenue. It had functioned as a sort of community center before the war, where theatrical performances and such were held. In 1943, everyone had to hand in their radios, but many radios were hidden in the shed at the back of the building waiting for better times. Tavenue was where my father, my brother, my later brother-in-law, and other villagers regularly listened to Radio Oranje. My brother-in-law also stayed hidden there for a while. He had a bed on the balcony, where the flour sacks from the local miller were stored. It was infested with mice! When he emptied the chamber pot in the morning, there would be drowned mice floating in it!

In the autumn of 1944, after Dolle Dinsdag, the ship of Otto Groeneveld from Werkendam was anchored in front of our house. His ship had been requisitioned by the Germans. But before they could seize it, he had taken down the mast and sawed it up completely for firewood. The Groeneveld family was given shelter at our home.

It may sound unbelievable, but during my time in hiding, I even took a written course in Population Registration. At one point, I had to take an exam, in Rotterdam no less! I sailed with a barge skipper from the company Zevenhuizen and Mostert. I got off the boat at the Witte Huis, the only building in old Rotterdam still standing after the bombing of 14 May.
I took my exam at ‘Lommerrijk’ in Hillegersberg and sailed back. Was I scared? No, not really. And I passed the exam.