World War Two
World War Two
World War Two was on, Germany had taken overHolland. The Germans were aware their economy may collapse because all theirable bodied men were fighting. To combat this problem the Dutch were assignedto work in factories, on farms and the like. The prospect of being taken fromyour family and being placed in a “work camp” was far more attractive that thatof being detained in a concentration camp, which was the only other option.
Opa (Arnoldus Mennen) was one of these men – soa work camp it was. The only way one could be released from working was if hewas injured. Many men injured and mutilated themselves, rather than work forthe Germans. Dad (Johannes Mennen) recalls one man he knew, Mr. Steinhouse,whom rather than work for the Germans, he placed his hands in a pot of boilingwater.
Opa strongly desired to see his wife and familyafter being away from them for some time. The only way to achieve this was toescape. The opportunity arrived, purely by chance, when he was involved in anaccident at Osram, in Berlin - The factory he was working at. There they madelight globes; Opa’s job was to stamp the hot metal bars that the filaments weremade from. The bar he was working on shattered and caused some sort of injuryto his left check. He required hospitalisation, and it was from the hospitalthat he made his first escape. He had to hitch rides where he could, and hideon trains, gradually making his way home to Geldrop. Dad recalls seeing Opawalking down their street and calling out to him to “tell Mum” he was coming.
When the Germans had realised that Opa had leftthe hospital, they went to Eindhoven to check the house. They found nothing,for Opa had cleverly hidden a trapdoor in the floor under the bed and that iswhere he had hidden himself.
The stress of being in hiding was taking itstoll, so Opa decided to return to Berlin voluntarily. He decided that the lessrestrictive work camp was more appealing that being captured and going to aconcentration camp. Before returning, he explained the situation to Oma’s(Gertrauda) relatives in Munchengladbach, Germany, and asked for them to backup the story that he would tell the Germans, they agreed. Opa returned to thework camp telling the Germans that upon leaving hospital he thought he might aswell recuperate with people he knew, so telling them that he stayed withrelatives. They accepted this story.
The second opportunity to escape arrived inmuch the same way as the first, only that the actual escape was much moredangerous. Opa’s mouth had been ripped open and again he was hospitalised. Thistime upon fleeing the hospital he was seen and pursued through forests by theGermans with their bloodhounds. He managed to escape them by boarding a train.Later other German soldiers spotted him on the train during a routine check anddemanded to see his ausweis and pass, of course he didn’t have a pass, but heshowed his ausweis (identity card). The soldiers stood guard on the carriage toensure that he would not escape them. However Opa having other ideas – As thesoldiers attention was distracted when the train was slowing as it neared thestation, Opa pulled down the window, jumped through and ran towards the stationand was lost in the milling crowd.
Opa was still in Germany and needed to crossthe boarder into Holland. He met up with a Dutch bus driver who was legallyferrying people across the boarder (the Dutch who were allowed to go homeovernight). The driver hid Opa underneath the back seat of the bus.
Because Opa was on the run, he had to stay athome and hid under the secret trapdoor whenever the Germans searched the house.As Opa was on the run, his income had ceased because to the Germans he ceasedto exist. Although Oma did receive a small pension of some sort. This pensionwas not sufficient for the family to live on, so Opa felt he had little choiceother than to become a black marketeer, so that he did.
Operating as a Black marketeer, Opa would goaround to all the factories, textile mills and the like and managed to obtainsecond grade goods, such as rolls of material, socks and balls of wool. Hewould then visit farmhouses and trade his goods for foodstuffs such as bacon,eggs and milk. He also traded bikes, radios, stockings, soap and cigarettes aswell as many other goods. Holland used a coupon system, as did many othercountries, coupons were used for items such as blankets, clothing, food and soforth. Each coupon could only purchase a particular item. The people would useall their coupons, even if they didn’t need the item, the excess they wouldsell or trade. Opa would buy these goods with money and this is how he set uphis Black Market operation. Opa became known in the community as a blackmarketeer and people would come to his home, they would look around and ask,“what is for sale?” Opa’s reply – “Everything!”
Dad being a child viewed the war as acompletely different experience from that of the adults. To him it was anexciting game, with only a tinge of reality.
Prior to the bombs being dropped, flareswould be released to enable the pilots to see their targets. To Dad it seemedthat the bombs were dropped almost every night, all night long. Dad recallsthat every school and public building was equipped with air-raid sirens. Whenthe sirens were activated, it meant that you immediately had to drop everythingand run to the nearest bomb shelter. When Dad was about six years of age andeveryone had taken cover in the bomb shelter, he remembers standing in theentrance looking out at the bombs falling and exploding. This was a verydangerous exercise and some man would come to carry him and the other childrenback to the safety of the shelter. The other people would be praying, hopingthat it would all be over soon. After the bombings, Dad and his brother Billwould go around the streets collecting shrapnel from the actual casing of thebombs. All the neighborhood kids would then compare and see who had the biggestpiece.
The last bombing dad recalls was the biggest –it caused the most destruction. Dad was in Geldrop when the news came in thatthe allies were arriving, the date was the 18th day of September1944, the war for that part of Holland was over. The family went to Eindhovenfor the celebrations, people were dancing and singing in the streets,celebrating their liberation.
In the early hours of the morning, thefamily returned home. Oma was busily settling the children into bed when shelooked out the window; she saw flares lighting up the city. She called thechildren to the window to see the flares of the celebration. Opa, downstairs,also saw the flares, but he realised the full impact of what they meant. Hequickly yelled for Oma and the children to come downstairs, yelling, “It isgoing to be on in a minute!” Opa being prepared, had built his own bomb shelterin the back yard of a neighbours house. The family fled to the shelter wherethey stayed till morning. When they climbed out they were thankfull to see thattheir street had not been touched. Some areas of the city hadn’t been so lucky.The Eindhoven city centre was completely flattened. Four to five blocks awayfrom Opa and Oma’s house, whole streets had been demolished and whole streetsof people killed, it was an awesome sight, one side of a street a smolderingruin, yet the other side was untouched.
The war was over for the south of Holland andthe people could finally start to rebuild their lives. The rest of Holland wasto endure some of the worst fighting, hunger and deprivations of the war, untilthey too were liberated in 1945.