Five Brothers and a War

Radios

Radios were a source of strength and information. Within days of the invasion, on May 16, 1940, the Germans took control of all radio and newspaper operations, censoring anything not complimentary toward the Germans Then on July 4, 1940, they ordered that no Dutch resident was to listen to any foreign station. Almost all Dutch ignored this directive and continued to listen to the news from London. Needless to say, the first two years of German occupation were largely favorable to the German side. Only when the tide began to turn did the Germans clamp down on information available to the Dutch populace. The Germans realized that most Dutch were not only able to, but also actually listened to the Dutch-language Radio Oranje out of London, not to mention the English language BBC. Therefore, on May 13, the Germans ordered the Dutch to turn in all radios that were not issued by the Germans. The van Pelts had two radios in their house—one was the main unit in the house, and the second was a small unit owned by Kees. After his initial objections, Kees agreed that by turning in his radio, the Germans would not have to know that they were keeping the better one. Throughout the balance of the war—as long as there was electricity—the van Pelt radio was listened to each day. However, to hide it, Leendert had some floor boards loosened in the shed under the bicycles. A small hole was then dug into the earth, and the radio was wrapped in cloth and placed in its hiding spot. Anytime they wanted to listen, they had to remove the bikes and the loose floorboards in order to gain access. They then used an extension cord to plug the radio into an electrical outlet in the kitchen. All of this had to be done very surreptitiously as the consequences for listening to a contraband radio would have been dire.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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