fbpx

My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles

My family, on both my mom’s side and dad’s side lived through the Nazi occupation in The Netherlands. My mom’s family lived in Groningen and my dad’s family lived in Amsterdam. My grandmother (my dad’s mother) who lived in a large house on the Amstel Canal was part of the Dutch Resistance working as a social worker. She hid Jews in her house so the Resistance could get them out of The Netherlands. My dad (who was in his late teens) hid out on a farm near Bloemendaal. He also helped the Dutch Resistance by carrying secret messages on his bike from one group to another. The Nazis left him alone because he was tall, had blonde hair, had blue-eyes which was a acceptable to them. His sister (my aunt) spent the war years in Sweden training as a nurse. On my mother’s side, her father (my opa) was arrested in 1943 because he got caught with a short-wave radio in their home which he used to listen to BBC broadcasts (Groningen is not too far from the English Channel). He spent 1943, 1944, and 1945 imprisoned in a sort of traitor’s camp which the Nazis had set up near Groningen.

Related Posts

My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles

My family, on both my mom’s side and dad’s side lived through the Nazi occupation in The Netherlands. My mom’s family lived in Groningen and my dad’s family lived in Amsterdam. My grandmother (my dad’s mother) who lived in a large house on the Amstel Canal was part of the Dutch Resistance working as a social worker. She hid Jews in her house so the Resistance could get them out of The Netherlands. My dad (who was in his late teens) hid out on a farm near Bloemendaal. He also helped the Dutch Resistance by carrying secret messages on his bike from one group to another. The Nazis left him alone because he was tall, had blonde hair, had blue-eyes which was a acceptable to them. His sister (my aunt) spent the war years in Sweden training as a nurse. On my mother’s side, her father (my opa) was arrested in 1943 because he got caught with a short-wave radio in their home which he used to listen to BBC broadcasts (Groningen is not too far from the English Channel). He spent 1943, 1944, and 1945 imprisoned in a sort of traitor’s camp which the Nazis had set up near Groningen.

Related Posts