Righteous unto the nations

My first thoughts then were for my family,
for I did not know what had happened to
any of them. My home in Loosdrecht was
to the southwest of Sibculo and on the other
side of the river Ijssel. We were not allowed
to travel, for the authorities were afraid of
an outbreak of disease in the country - the
Germans had tried to starve the Dutch people
into submission and people were weak and
undernourished.
Although it was forbidden, I was determined
to go, and I decided that if I had to swim
across the river some 200 meters wide, I
would do so. I was intercepted by a Canadian
soldier, who tried to stop me and who also
took me into the woods and wanted to harm
me. I begged him to let me go and he then
took me over the river in a truck and released
me unharmed to the home of Jan van Zutphen
in Hilversum.
When I returned from there to Loosdrecht,
I found that someone else had taken over
and was living in our home De Nieuwe Brug
Restaurant. As the first person in the family
to return, I had to go to the Town Council and
ask for somewhere to live, I was penniless. Jan
van Zutphen again assisted us by arranging
for the family to resettle at the De Nieuwe
Brug Restaurant.
Ijssel River Photo taken 2012
Then I discovered what had happened to my
family. My father had refused to hide at
first, but both he and my mother were hidden
separately and survived the war. They were so
well known, loved and respected, that people
wanted to look after them.
My eldest sister, Sonja, was hidden and helped
rescue American airmen. She was picked up
with the Americans, who were shot in front
of her by the Nazi’s. On discovering her
Jewishness, she was taken to Westerbork and
survived - but that is another story.
My older brother and the sister both perished
at the hands of the Nazis. My younger sister
was hidden between the rafters of a house
with twelve other people.
My younger brother was also hidden and
survived, but he was deeply traumatized by his
experiences. His escape is also another story
that he has declined to discuss.
De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant where Erica and her family
lived prior to the war and re-occupied after the war.
Erica’s son, Martin Moen, was born here in 1949
De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant renamed
Bar-bistro ‘t Bruggetje Photo taken 2012
PAGE 25
©2013 Edited and compiled by Martin Moen, Perth, Western Australia.