A Long Labour by Rhodea Shandler

Author:Rhodea Shandler [Shandler, Rhodea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-55380-276-1
Publisher: Ronsdale Press
Published: 2007-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Very soon after we went into hiding, my sisters Jo and Henny also went into hiding. I believe Henny and her family went into hiding first, leaving the house to Jo for a short time. It was April 1943 when Jo was sent her “relocation” instructions, that is the letter from the Nazi office telling her to pack a small suitcase for each member of her family, after which they would be taken in a few days to Vught, another of the Dutch concentration camps. She obediently followed the order. At the same time, however, she contacted Jan Kanis, the Underground leader in Amersfoort. Mr. Kanis set the wheels in motion to provide a vehicle that would pick up Jo, Bram and the two boys on the evening before their “relocation.” Bram, I have mentioned, was still more or less an invalid in the hospital at this time. On the day of the family’s planned escape he managed to have himself sent home — with the help of a bribe. Once the family was together and prepared, they waited behind closed curtains all night for the truck that was to take them to safety. It never appeared. In the meantime, a Mr. Hagenau from Utrecht, a man who worked with Jan Kanis in the Underground, came to take Elly away to his home in Utrecht for a few days until another place could be found for her.

Early the next morning, after they had almost given up all hope, they learned that the truck had broken down. A new plan was hurriedly put in place, and a car suddenly appeared to collect the family, and through a pre-arranged signal, their escape began. The two boys were sent out the front door, and when they had walked a little ways down the street into the next block, Jo appeared at the door with Bram on his crutches, and they left the house together. They closed the door behind them as if they were going on a simple errand, and stepped into the waiting car. The car then drove slowly down the street to where the boys were walking, stopped to pick them up, and continued on through the city to a “safe house” run by the Underground. It belonged to a Mr. Van Der Weij and his two adult daughters, Bep and Ina. All three members of this brave and kind family were teachers; they took enormous risks to help escaping Jews. Our family owes them a great deal, for they saved Jo, Bram and the boys from almost certain death.

Jo’s carefully packed suitcases, which had been placed at the back door for later pick up, were never collected because the truck that had broken down the night before had so delayed their escape that there was no time to do so. In fact, when Jo and her family did not show up at the train station that morning, the Nazi officials dispatched soldiers to their house to see why.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.