Wednesday, January 29, 2014
PERIOD 2: THE BEAR THAT WASN'T
PERIOD 4: THE BEAR THAT WASN'T
PERIOD 6: THE BEAR THAT WASN'T
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Catharina Schoen's Story
Mrs. Schoen visited the Facing History classes in December of 2013. She spoke at length to the student's about her family's experience during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
"I was almost 7 years old when the war started in the beginning of May 1940. The Dutch army was mobilized. There was heavy bombing and shooting. We all had to help tape the windows in case a bomb hit out neighborhood. The glass otherwise would have blown into the rooms. With tape the glass would stay together.
To prepare for the war my parents stocked up all kinds of supplies and food to feed our big family as long as possible not knowing how long the war would last. My parents also tried to make our cellar a safe place to hide in case of bombardments and placed a wall of sandbags to the outside walls of the house for protection. In the cellar we had mattresses, blankets, water and food as well as a potty. As soon as the sirens would blast (night or day) we would run down to the cellar as fast as possible. Sometimes we stayed there for hours. At night my sisters and I huddled together in the big bed of my parents scared to death of the shooting and bombing. Even now whenever I hear a siren it brings back those memories.
After the capitulation (surrender) life changed dramatically. The Germans took over our daily life. They tried to win over the Dutch people to their cause hoping Holland would stand by their side for the first couple of years. Clearly Holland did not agree with their agenda and we wanted our freedom back. My parents never trusted them and instructed us never to speak to them and stay away. Their green uniforms with large black heavy boots and guns always scared us.
We went to school for the first 2 years still somewhat as before the war. The Germans would place restrictions on the materials that were taught in school. Certain books that did not favor Germany were forbidden. Little by little things changed. I remember my father had to hide our national flag and any pictures of the Dutch royal family. A radio, which was a lifeline to the outside world, was absolutely illegal. Radio Oranje kept us informed about our side of the war. My father would listen late at night buried under a pile of cloths. At school we saw many of our friends with the yellow Star of David on their cloths. We asked my parents what that meant. They tried to explain why and were very emotional when they told us. Sadly over time we never saw our friends back. In Holland over 100,000 Jews never returned.
As the situation worsened because of the outcome of the Germans really showed their true character. They robbed and plundered everything like cloths, food, radios, and especially bikes. At some point we had only one bike left which was hidden in the bushes. All the tires were gone so we used water hose as tires. We had to be ingenious in many ways to find solutions to different situations.
The Germans also forced all young men (18-40) to work in the German factories. So many men went into hiding underground. I remember walking outside and the German would round up any men walking on the street and transport them to Germany. My brother had to hide under my father factory under the floors during the day and coming out at night. One of my brothers was hiding in a psychiatric institution, pretending to be a patient. He fooled the Germans if they came in by placing a piece of soap in his mouth and foaming up his mouth. This scared the Germans and they no longer wanted to be in the institution.
At one point there was no more heat and electricity so the schools were closed all the parents tried to continue their education as much as possible. So my classmates and I went to school in a slaughterhouse where there was still electricity. There they butchered the cows and all the meat was sent to Germany of course. I remember seeing the cows being shot and round up. A whole row would fall down as we walked upstairs to our classroom. After a while that building was also closed so my parents opened their house so teachers came to teach us a few days a week. By mid year 1944 that also stopped so we had no more school. I was around ten years old at this point.
The Germans claimed the third floor of our house for a German General to occupy with his staff. He was a very nasty person. He would try to cut my long braids. He was often drunk, and then would start shooting randomly out the windows. The only bright point of him living in our house was that our house was protected by random house searches for goods, food, radios, Jews, or any people working for the resistance.
While the general lived upstairs my parents and older sisters helped a lot of people. Our house was used as a transit station where some one would stay briefly before moving to another family or safer place like England or Switzerland. My older sister circulated an underground newspaper to other families.
In June of 1944 came the invasion of Normandy. Through radio Oranje we heard of the wonderful news about he invasion, hoping to be liberated soon. We lived in the northern part of Holland so far away from Normandy but still hoped we would see the end of the war soon. One day called Dolle Dinsdag we got so excited that everyone went outside. My father raised the Dutch flag even though the German till occupied us. Then we realized this news was premature. Operation market garden was an attempt to cross via the large bridges over the river Ryn and Maas to move further north. But this became a dramatic failure leaving the north isolated while the south was liberated.
A different fight started for us to survive. The Germans became even harsher transporting any food that was left to Germany. Their goal was to kill us be starvation and isolation! So the hungry winter of 1944 till 1945 began. All we had was a strange soup, which was water with something floating in it. We took in my older sister with her 3 young children, 2 aunts and refugees. There were 12 children under the age of 12, 9 adults and neighborhood kids staying with us. There was no gas or electricity or lights. My sisters and I made a type of candle called “vetpotjes”. We also had a carbiet lamp, which was a terrible smelling lamp that burned acetylene. At night the Germans demanded to keep the house as dark a possible by keeping the windows covered. The goal was to make the country pith black in order to confuse the allies to find their way. There was a curfew so you had to be inside by 6 pm. You would be shot if you were found outside that time. To make matters worse that winter was one of the harshest and coldest. For food everybody had to get his or her own. My sisters used the only bike we had to go to the farmers to find food. We would barter food for wool or any treasure we had. My aunt would get tulip bulbs with fried onion as a meal. For breakfast we had a porridge made of sugar beets. At one time I was given something very delicious what it was my mother said was just a plain piece of bread. We would look at the picture in cookbooks wondering how delicious food would taste.
As a family we were very close. My parents always made sure that holidays and birthdays were still somehow celebrated. I do still remember a warm and close feeling of being together.
When fall of 1945 arrived, one day we heard a scary loud unbelievable sound outside. In the sky there was what look like a flying bomb but it was called the V one. The Germans directed towards England launched this. Soon after English and American planes came flying over very low dropping hundreds of parachutes with all kinds of supplies and food. At that point the Germans did not try to shoot because they realized that the war was over. We all went outside waving at the planes and looking for the food. We were sick and malnourished from the starvation winter. I remember my mother brushing my hair and it mostly came out because of the malnutrition.
May 5th, 1945 was the official date the north of Holland was liberated and we all celebrated. To this day we have a moment of silence on may 4th in the evening to remember all those who died."
Catharina Schoen
Westborough, Massachusetts
December 13, 2013
"I was almost 7 years old when the war started in the beginning of May 1940. The Dutch army was mobilized. There was heavy bombing and shooting. We all had to help tape the windows in case a bomb hit out neighborhood. The glass otherwise would have blown into the rooms. With tape the glass would stay together.
To prepare for the war my parents stocked up all kinds of supplies and food to feed our big family as long as possible not knowing how long the war would last. My parents also tried to make our cellar a safe place to hide in case of bombardments and placed a wall of sandbags to the outside walls of the house for protection. In the cellar we had mattresses, blankets, water and food as well as a potty. As soon as the sirens would blast (night or day) we would run down to the cellar as fast as possible. Sometimes we stayed there for hours. At night my sisters and I huddled together in the big bed of my parents scared to death of the shooting and bombing. Even now whenever I hear a siren it brings back those memories.
After the capitulation (surrender) life changed dramatically. The Germans took over our daily life. They tried to win over the Dutch people to their cause hoping Holland would stand by their side for the first couple of years. Clearly Holland did not agree with their agenda and we wanted our freedom back. My parents never trusted them and instructed us never to speak to them and stay away. Their green uniforms with large black heavy boots and guns always scared us.
We went to school for the first 2 years still somewhat as before the war. The Germans would place restrictions on the materials that were taught in school. Certain books that did not favor Germany were forbidden. Little by little things changed. I remember my father had to hide our national flag and any pictures of the Dutch royal family. A radio, which was a lifeline to the outside world, was absolutely illegal. Radio Oranje kept us informed about our side of the war. My father would listen late at night buried under a pile of cloths. At school we saw many of our friends with the yellow Star of David on their cloths. We asked my parents what that meant. They tried to explain why and were very emotional when they told us. Sadly over time we never saw our friends back. In Holland over 100,000 Jews never returned.
As the situation worsened because of the outcome of the Germans really showed their true character. They robbed and plundered everything like cloths, food, radios, and especially bikes. At some point we had only one bike left which was hidden in the bushes. All the tires were gone so we used water hose as tires. We had to be ingenious in many ways to find solutions to different situations.
The Germans also forced all young men (18-40) to work in the German factories. So many men went into hiding underground. I remember walking outside and the German would round up any men walking on the street and transport them to Germany. My brother had to hide under my father factory under the floors during the day and coming out at night. One of my brothers was hiding in a psychiatric institution, pretending to be a patient. He fooled the Germans if they came in by placing a piece of soap in his mouth and foaming up his mouth. This scared the Germans and they no longer wanted to be in the institution.
At one point there was no more heat and electricity so the schools were closed all the parents tried to continue their education as much as possible. So my classmates and I went to school in a slaughterhouse where there was still electricity. There they butchered the cows and all the meat was sent to Germany of course. I remember seeing the cows being shot and round up. A whole row would fall down as we walked upstairs to our classroom. After a while that building was also closed so my parents opened their house so teachers came to teach us a few days a week. By mid year 1944 that also stopped so we had no more school. I was around ten years old at this point.
The Germans claimed the third floor of our house for a German General to occupy with his staff. He was a very nasty person. He would try to cut my long braids. He was often drunk, and then would start shooting randomly out the windows. The only bright point of him living in our house was that our house was protected by random house searches for goods, food, radios, Jews, or any people working for the resistance.
While the general lived upstairs my parents and older sisters helped a lot of people. Our house was used as a transit station where some one would stay briefly before moving to another family or safer place like England or Switzerland. My older sister circulated an underground newspaper to other families.
In June of 1944 came the invasion of Normandy. Through radio Oranje we heard of the wonderful news about he invasion, hoping to be liberated soon. We lived in the northern part of Holland so far away from Normandy but still hoped we would see the end of the war soon. One day called Dolle Dinsdag we got so excited that everyone went outside. My father raised the Dutch flag even though the German till occupied us. Then we realized this news was premature. Operation market garden was an attempt to cross via the large bridges over the river Ryn and Maas to move further north. But this became a dramatic failure leaving the north isolated while the south was liberated.
A different fight started for us to survive. The Germans became even harsher transporting any food that was left to Germany. Their goal was to kill us be starvation and isolation! So the hungry winter of 1944 till 1945 began. All we had was a strange soup, which was water with something floating in it. We took in my older sister with her 3 young children, 2 aunts and refugees. There were 12 children under the age of 12, 9 adults and neighborhood kids staying with us. There was no gas or electricity or lights. My sisters and I made a type of candle called “vetpotjes”. We also had a carbiet lamp, which was a terrible smelling lamp that burned acetylene. At night the Germans demanded to keep the house as dark a possible by keeping the windows covered. The goal was to make the country pith black in order to confuse the allies to find their way. There was a curfew so you had to be inside by 6 pm. You would be shot if you were found outside that time. To make matters worse that winter was one of the harshest and coldest. For food everybody had to get his or her own. My sisters used the only bike we had to go to the farmers to find food. We would barter food for wool or any treasure we had. My aunt would get tulip bulbs with fried onion as a meal. For breakfast we had a porridge made of sugar beets. At one time I was given something very delicious what it was my mother said was just a plain piece of bread. We would look at the picture in cookbooks wondering how delicious food would taste.
As a family we were very close. My parents always made sure that holidays and birthdays were still somehow celebrated. I do still remember a warm and close feeling of being together.
When fall of 1945 arrived, one day we heard a scary loud unbelievable sound outside. In the sky there was what look like a flying bomb but it was called the V one. The Germans directed towards England launched this. Soon after English and American planes came flying over very low dropping hundreds of parachutes with all kinds of supplies and food. At that point the Germans did not try to shoot because they realized that the war was over. We all went outside waving at the planes and looking for the food. We were sick and malnourished from the starvation winter. I remember my mother brushing my hair and it mostly came out because of the malnutrition.
May 5th, 1945 was the official date the north of Holland was liberated and we all celebrated. To this day we have a moment of silence on may 4th in the evening to remember all those who died."
Catharina Schoen
Westborough, Massachusetts
December 13, 2013