Five Brothers and a War

Vacation in Belgium

During their 1939 vacation, the van Pelts stayed in a quaint boutique-style hotel, and the three younger boys (Leen and Piet did not make the trip as they were 19 and 17 respectively) would climb the hill to explore the castle and its grounds. The owner of the hotel was a short and stout Jewish fellow who spoke both French (Bouillon is in the Walloon, or the French part of Belgium, just three kilometers from the French border) and Flemish, the Belgian version of Dutch. He was an affable person who engaged the family in conversation on a daily basis. Certainly, the subject of Hitler’s latest acts of aggression was often brought up. Aside from being so close to France, Bouillon was also only 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Germany. When it was time to thank him for giving them such a fabulous time, the hotelier embraced Leendert and Marie. When they said that they looked forward to seeing him again, his final words were, “I will never see you again because I will be gone from here since I have no doubt that the Germans will be in my country and, like they did in Germany, will round up all of us Jews.”

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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