Third of September 1942

Third of September 1942

By David Verveer

Introduction

Even though, I spend approximately 3 years of my life in hiding from the Nazis, I never wanted nor could talk about this time. The reason for this, I presume that I did not want to think about the subject, and by keeping quiet about it, I removed the emotional distress, until I passed the age of 60, my children and specially my grand children never heard from me anything about the Holocaust, and all conversations and questions on the subject, I answered that I had been lucky that I survived, mainly because good Gentiles who risked their life to safe me.

Being a grand-dad brings the responsibility in telling your grand children the truth about the past, even when the subject is very difficult emotionally, and when I was asked to prepare my personal history, to be included in my grandson's "My family" album, I sat down and started to discover my own past, mostly by research, with the help of the last family of Dutch people which hid me during the last one and half years of the War. But, not realizing that this research would be relatively traumatic, and even a type of obsession. What bothers me is not the suffering and fright connected to this period, but the realization that humans could behave in such manner, both on the positive and negative aspects.

But I realize that I have to stop writing about it, as I do not want to become a slave of the Holocaust emotions, as I still want to enjoy the remainder of my life. Another reason for stopping, when my 2^nd grandson did not want to invite me to speak to his school class, claiming; "Gramps only talks about the Holocaust, and now we need somebody to talk about the history of Israel".

But before that, there are two subjects which I promised myself to complete, the first is an autobiography on my parents, and the second, this essay, relating most likely, the most traumatic period of my life, when we fled from our normative life in rural Holland, into hiding from the Nazis, an event which surely influenced my life the most, and I can not remember, as I was only 3 years and one day old.

After having written these two essays, I will go back into being a sarcastic commentator reacting to everything which is happening today.

I personally hate reading Holocaust stories, not only because I don't see the sense in repeating time over time, the terrible things that happened during that period, but also because Holocaust stories sound extremely exaggerated, with stories of the hero (the persecuted Jew in the story) against the villain (the Gentiles, some bad and some good), and what I can not find in most stories, is that people continued living, even when the situation was impossible, normal things happened, sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic, nothing special to write about, but still, it was living. A positive example is the diary of Anna Frank, who wrote what she saw, as a teenager.

There is nobody with whom I can verify my story, as my parents were wise to wipe out all traces which lead to the departure on the 3^rd of September 1942, but based on background data and trying to understand the emotional state of my parents mind, (and as result also my own), I hereby tell the story of what happened in those days to my family. Again, I try very much not to make it too emotional; I am not trying to get the readers pity, especially as this doesn't help anybody, but on the other hand, how is it possible that all this happened?

Our family

Our family of 6 souls lived in a small village, in the vicinity of Utrecht (central Holland), we had moved to there as in those years, it was very difficult in finding in the large towns (such as the Hague) work for a young architect / construction engineer, willing to do any building task, in order to feed the family. Even though, it was already in an occupied country, and being Jews did not make it easier, we managed to survive on the odd jobs of my dad. We were 4 children, with in 1942, my oldest brother nearly 8 years old, my second brother 6 years, and my kid sister, born in the beginning of the war, one year old. I was the third child, 3 years old, and just started talking, not very comprehensive, but very noisy.

My parents, after they had spend several years in Palestine, had returned to Holland in 1937, on dramatic pleas from family and friends, to return to Holland, as a war was pending which would surely involve Palestine, and Holland would remain neutral, like in the first Word War. German had signed a treaty with Holland on its neutrality, and in troubled time, it was better to be home, with the family.

We lived in a relative large house, (rented of course), with a large garden, where my mother cultivated potatoes and vegetables for home consumption, I presume they had also some chickens, but I am not sure about it. My mother told me that one day I wanted to help my father in the garden, and asked him if I could help with weeding, he did not understand my question, and in order to stop my nonstop talking, said yes, which resulted in my pulling out some of the tomato plants.

My oldest brother went to school in the village, until the time the Germans banned the Jewish children from public schools, my second brother started the first class, but did not finish the school year, for the same reason. Of course, I was too small for nursery (in those days) and my sister was still a baby. We were the only Jews in the village, and considered a harmless curiosity. Jews did mostly live in large towns, still generally involved in trading, shop keeping and business, and that time for Jews, living outside the towns was rather unheard of.

The assimilation of the Jews in Holland was relatively recent, my mother's parents were still very religious people, (shop keepers) living nearby the synagogue, with Yiddish as second language, but on my father's side, his grandfather already spoke Dutch as main language, and his father (my grandfather) was a professional master carpenter (not a very Jewish profession). My father was of the first generation of academics, studying building construction and architecture. The rate of practicing religion went together with education and assimilation. And, as so far I could discover, my father was a free-thinker, but that of course made no difference to the Germans.

Even though, difficult times, in early 1942, we were still a very normative functioning family, but clouds could be seen in the horizon, which eventually burst on us in September 1942.

The historical back-ground

On the night of 9-10 April 1940, German troops over run the Netherlands, together with a surprise aerial bombardment on Rotterdam, the Netherlands second largest city, killing several thousand people. The Dutch army capitulated on the 14^th of May 1940. Panic stricken Jews, who always considered Holland to be as safe haven for Jews, unsuccessfully tried to flee in the direction of France and Portugal or Switzerland, some elder Jews committed suicide, children were smuggled over the borders and some managed to reach Palestine (as a British protectorate).

A German civil administration was installed under SS supervision. At its head was Seyss Inquart.

Soon many laws were enacted against the Dutch Jews, such as in July 1940 abolishing the religious slaughter, Businesses run by Jews had to be registered, following a degree that all businesses where Jews had financial interests. Then the Jews were banned from working for the Government, teaching at Universities, studying in Universities. Then came the decree that all Jews had to register (a Jew is somebody with two or more Jewish grandparents).

Than in 1941 Jewish were barred to be at public places, followed by a curfew from 8.00 pm to 6.00 a.m., and shopping was permitted between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm..

For transportation Jews needed special permits. Universities, markets, museum and libraries, etc. were of limit. Jewish assets were blocked, including bank deposits, cash, claims, securities and valuables. A maximum of 250 guilder a month was available to a Jewish owner for private use, finally, with effect from 3 May 1942, every Jew aged 6 and over was ordered to wear a yellow star on their left breast, with the word "JOOD" inscribed on it in black ink. In July 1942, the letter J was added to the Jewish identity cards. 389 Jews were arrested after clashing with the SS, which caused a general strike by the Dutch, which lasted only 2 days, however became very costly to both the Dutch and the Jews. The Dutch were fined huge sums of money, levied through the large towns, but the Germans realized that the Dutch did not support them in their anti-Semitic plans, decided to adopt a more radical solution towards the Jewish population.

The adviser on Jewish Affairs in Holland is Zoepf, in June 1942 it was decided to evacuate 15.000 Jews for the time being from Holland. On 24 September 1942, Rauter, Senior Commanding Officer of the SS and police in Holland, reports to Himmler that 20.000 Dutch Jews have been put on the march to Auschwitz and that the Jews will be declared "outlawed".

Eichman and his people from the "zentralstelle" started to organize the cleansing of Holland, which included in January 1942, removing Jews from provinces and putting them in a type of ghetto in Amsterdam. Then the Germans created so called work camps for Jews on several sites in Holland, such as Vught and Westerborg. Jews were persuaded voluntary to go to these camps, for safe keeping, and after the war was won, they would be allowed to return home. These camps were transition camps from which they were sent to the concentration camps in Poland for annihilation.

Most members of my mother's family believed the Germans and went to the camps, of which only one person returned after the war, my uncle Saam, my mother's oldest brother. From the 107.000 Dutch Jews deported to the camps 102.000 were slaughtered.

The transfer of Jews from Amsterdam started on the 14/15th of July 1942. Big razzias (Jew hunts) were conducted from end 1941, with its peak in the second part of 1942.

The German issued warning to the Dutch who assisted Jews to flee from the Germans, with death threats and severe punishment.

The civil administration became in the hands of the NSB (German sympathizers) and collaborators (mostly frightened for their own life.

Holland had become a total nightmare for the Jews.

1942, in the village of Maarsbergen

From the above, it is clear that the situation of our family became extremely complicated and dangerous. People, who before had been pleasant neighbors and even friendly started to severe the association with us and refusing to allow their children to play with us. My parents, realists understood that something had to be done, that we could not stay there, started to find out if the resistance (my father had several friends in the local group) could help us to find a safe place to hide. From the beginning, it was clear that with the travel restrictions, and presence of SS and NSB everywhere, we could not stay united as one group, this would have been disastrous, the moment we would leave the house. The resistance promised to help us, provided we would break up as family cell, and let me remind you, we children were 1, 3, 6 and 8 years old.

They must have planned this terrible day of flight several weeks ahead, but how do you plan sending children from their normative home, with a chance they will not survive it, how do you tell them, what should you pack for them, but mostly, how can you prevent hysterical outbursts from young children, never been separated from their family. I don't comprehend the courage of my parents, and their wisdom, because anything else would surely have killed us.

The day before our departure, my birthday (3) was celebrated, our last fling as family. Photos were taken, which surprisingly survived the war, I have no idea who kept them, they would have disastrous if ever found by the Germans, as my father was wearing the star, and in any case, we did not look very Aryan.

I had never the courage asking my mother about that day, until it was too late, and she passed away.

Thinking about my family, I don't think I could have done it, but they did, an we survived (besides my father, who was shot in October 1944 by the Germans, after he was caught red handed on a spy mission for the Allies)..

I suppose we were told that we go on vacation, on that day in September, when we were collected, some on bicycle, some by feet. Each person separately, accompanied by courageous Dutchmen from the resistance, taking us to our first and after that many other hiding places, with families who risked their own life, in order to safeguard ours. Our luggage was small, in order not to attract attention. We were told not to talk, but how can you shut up normal healthy kids?

True, there were many bad seed between the Dutch, during those war days, but I am a personal exhibit, that also good people existed.

What I still don't comprehend is why they hated us so much? What did we do to them to create so much hatred? On the other hand, the kind people deciding if people like us are eligible for a pension, we are required to proof to them, that we are mentally (traumatically) disturbed. We proved the opposite (in their opinion) by creating a normal life and family. I am not an expert in minds, especially not my own, but "Kol Hakavod" (all honors) to us, that we had sufficient mental defenses to survive more or less normal, if normal as condition exists.

A last note, I wished that I could have illustrated this traumatic date, but sorry, I forgot because I was only three years and one day old.

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artificial memory

Artificial memory

By David Verveer

This is a fantasy, just based on building a logic scenery taking into account that we the humans do not know where to stop and realize what are our forbidden apples, what is supposed to be good for humankind and what are dangerous games to play with such as cloning, etc.

It were of course pure humanistic reasons which made the scientist of the early twenty first century to develop artificial memory, in order to assist those people suffering of memory loss. Memory loss is in actual fact, loosing the taste for life, as without knowing your past and present, living is tasteless and meaningless, not only for the patient himself but also for his loved ones. It is clear that if artificially one can compensate the slow decay of memory cells, by filming and interpretation of memory flashes, which are typical in people suffering from illnesses which somehow cause a memory loss.

The principle of the artificial memory is to freeze these flashes and reproduce repeatedly in order that the patient will regain some of the lost data associated with his past surroundings, his family and friends. This is a question of give and take, which needs to adjust itself to the situation and status of the patient.

In nature, memory (brain flashes) are caused and created by the brain, which is operated through a nerve center and flow of blood. Artificial brain power however can not rely on this energy and will have to operate on external electrical (battery fed) pulses. This has of course its advantages, as strokes won't kill it.

In fact the artificial memory bank (AMB) became a success overnight, and people who were suffering of brain decay rejuvenated in a very short period of time, with all side effects of re-conquering the use of failing limbs, muscles and nerves. Of course, like with every thing of this kind of equipment, it knew its failures, causing sudden death due to power failure, or insanity, when the dose of memory flashes were not replayed with comprehensible interval and strength. Most failures were caused when the AMB was used to treat insane patients, or people with a low IQ. But like many of those new kind of inventions, once it got on, nearly everybody nearing the end of his natural life, chose the AMB to enjoy life in his last years, causing religious problems, as AMB kept on working, even when the brain died, and decisions if the patient had really died, became base for heated arguments, just as stopping life support machines, several decades ago.

But than due to too much confidence of the engineers, the artificial brain started to become independent from the body it served. It did not anymore accept the individual owning the body and the failing brain; instead it became the individual itself. It stopped supplying flashes to the brain, and by becoming independent it designed artificial tools to compensate for those belonging to the body of the patient. We have no data if some of these developments were human assisted, but 50 years later, the world had to cope with independent artificial units which acted to serve their own lives rather than the humans for which they were originally created.

We have to remember however, that those AMB's were still based on human individuals, and somehow accepted the human supremacy, but then came the 2 wave of ABM's which were created by the AMB's themselves, the new wave did not need the human individual input, they created their own and clearly understood the weaknesses of the humans, their dependence on environment, their weak body and poor engineered limbs, etc., and slowly but surely, the new wave of AMB's took over the world. Humans still existed, but their living environment was restricted to certain areas where they could live without a too great danger to their own health and constitution.

Of course the AMB's did not encourage multiplication of humans and families were more or less limited to one child per couple. This was based on their human origin, caring what happened to this weak creation of the human kind.

With the AMB's advanced technological knowledge they soon discovered that there are many worlds in outer space with life, most of them advanced like the AMB's but some of them, primitive like the human earthling.

The new AMB's are now suffering of a new identity crisis, they do not know why they exist or what is the purpose, their contact with the individuals in the first wave of ABM's was taken over by efficiency, at all costs, but no will to live. The only hope for this world will be a human revolution braking out from their reservation, fighting to take back the world they lost, even though, they have forgotten the reason why.

reborn

Reborn

By David Verveer

Several weeks ago I wrote you about my identity crisis, as I was told to send a copy of my birth certificate, a document that was destroyed by my parents on the day (3^rd of September 1942) when we fled and went into hiding from the Nazi regime terrorizing the Dutch. Since that day I did not have this happy tiding, announcing my joining the human race, as third son of Emanuel and Henrietta Verveer.

The Germans, from which we fled, operated in Holland, using the documentation and lists provided by the municipalities, which included the religion of their citizens, which made it easy for them to find the Jews, that poisoned the purity of the Aryan races, such as the Germanic Dutch.

In September 1942, most of the Jews living in the large cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam had already been round up (razzias), and transported in cattle wagons to the concentration camps in Eastern Europe. People who assisted the Jews in their effort to hide from the Germans where considered criminals and punished by being sent to concentration camps or death.

We however were living in a small village, relatively safe, until the existing mayor was forced to resign and a Nazi sympathizer was appointed to the job, who of course was a potential danger for our lives, thus our family consisting out of 4 small children aging from 1 year old to 8 year old, and my parents, were helped by the local resistance in finding places for us to live. Due to the fact that in local areas, a Jewish family of 6 souls would be difficult to hide, we were advised to split up as family, and separately we were taken to hiding places (mostly in the large towns of Western Holland, were many people were looking less Aryan than the rural Dutch).

Thus on the day after my third birthday we fled and never were united again, as my father was shot by the Germans (as member of the resistance, caught red handed with drawings of military installations) 13 October 1944. We, the children and my mother survived and finally were all united approximately one year after the war was finished, and my mother had accepted the function of Director of the Jewish elder house, which was functioning at that time as reception center for surviving Dutch Jews returning from the concentration camps.

It would take another year before the Dutch Government recognized that my father was killed as freedom fighter, and not only because he was a Jew, and started paying us a pension, that enabled us to leave the before mentioned institution, in order to set up a normal household, in which we spend united the next 7 years, until the family cell fall apart, as my oldest brother immigrated to Israel, my second brother was send to Suriname with the Dutch army, and I left for England to study agriculture and after that immigrated to Israel. My sister and my mother remained for some years in Holland, until they also immigrated to Israel, joined by my second brother about 7 years later.

And all that time, I did not have a birth certificate, and never missed it. Until last month, when I was asked to send a copy of this certificate, in order to be included in a type of pension fund, and at the age of 68 I realized that I need to produce a proof that I am really born. I unjustly panicked and wrote an article about a identity crisis, but really my panic was uncalled for, because after requesting by email, a birth certificate from The Hague municipality, 10 days later I received by mail the confirmation that I really was born.

I have to admit that I was surprised at the administrative efficiency of the Dutch, and apologize for any bad suspicions I had, however, on the other hand, precisely this efficiency, has caused so much misery to us personally and our people in general.

I know that I am repeating myself, boring my readers if those really exist, but this subject, even though, like a storm in a coffee pot, occupied my thoughts for the last few weeks and really bothered me, as it really accentuated our fragile survivor status from the Holocaust.

As closing note, the clerk signing my birth certificate is called M.S.H. Ibrahim, thus somehow, the Germans did not succeed in their efforts to create a real Aryan state in Holland.

The disillusioned bloodthursty

The disillusioned bloodthirsty

By David Verveer

We are really a nation of bloody hypocrites because we are disillusioned and disappointed from the results of the Vinograd report, not that anybody in his right mind and with little portion of conscience and love for our country indeed hoped that the Vinograd commission would declare Olmert to be wrong, and force him to resign and topple the government. Of course, we know now a fact which our American friends learned several years ago, that it is practically impossible to wage a war on terrorists and guerrilla fighters, neither from the air nor with massive ground forces, especially in terrain where innocent civilians are living, suitable for providing casualties and killing of innocent people.

If Bibi and his cronies would have been in power at the time, the results would have most probably been much more disastrous, as his concern for the plight of others borders on zero. His generals would have attacked and occupied Beirut, and we would have to suffer another Lebanon occupation, with all the casualties which are the outcome of occupying another nation.

If you ask me, Olmert tries very much to amend his apparent mistakes, and strengthen the society, by changing the basic conceptions and repair the damage which the former finance minister caused by for example reducing annually the funds for the military, so there were no sufficient funds to train the troops, which was partly the cause for our grand failure in smashing the Hezbollah.

But again, I am not sure if indeed we really lost this war, as winning and losing are factors which are constructed by the journalists, and in fact don’t hold any meaning other than giving the masses reasons of flaying with flags and shouting nationalistic slogans, and believe me, our enemies are much better in this kind of warfare.

The only positive result which was paid with too many victims, is that the Lebanese border is quiet (for the moment) and the rocket attacks are stopped, and indeed, that was one of the aims of going to war, but no, the opposition with Bibi exploiting the parents of the slain soldiers, want to get back in power, even though he lost the last election and his party was nearly wiped out, mostly because pure corruption.

Olmert currently, even though, not liked by the people, is a very efficient and strong leader, guiding the country in a new era of dialogs with the less extremist Arabs, together with strengthening the military and intelligence (with spy rockets and high tech knowledge). I don’t care if his experience in warfare is very low, and his decision of action in the last 60 hours of the war was tainted by amateurism, who can judge what was the correct and what was the wrong decision, I am always thankful for not having such a mighty responsibility on my shoulders.

The commission, who had the horrible task in deciding the fate of the government, based on hearsay gathered by the officials they interviewed, prepared a report that can be translated in anything the reader want to read in it, so that all sides of the political spectrum shouts victory. The Vinograd commission had the decency of refraining from dropping a direct bombshell on the government, even though, the opposition does not accept it, they have lost the chance to topple Olmert, a fact which to my dismay, Yossy Beilin and other Meretz leaders failed to comprehend.

Likud's shouting against the Government is natural, but when the same bullshit is repeated by leftists, we start wondering if Meretz has forgotten their retired leader Yossy Sarid, and his policy of telling the truth, even when it hurts.

By the way, I am happy that Beilin is retiring as leader of the Meretz party, his political standards do not coincide with the aims and purpose of the party, he really belongs to the central Labor party with a wide range of political ideas, and not in a party that belongs to the socialistic left, such as Meretz, Beilin please leave them alone, as your membership might kill the party in the next election.