Five Brothers and a War

1943—Food Supply Becoming Scarce

Food was becoming more scarce as the war was turning against the Germans. Whereas 1939-1941 was pretty much going their way, 1942 was a clear turning point, having seen the first year of American involvement. Between the Americans finally joining the effort, and Russia having both been a distraction to the German war effort and a very significant drain on German military capacity, things were looking much less attractive to Germans in general. Such was also the case in Holland, where the occupiers were rapidly losing patience. The war began to create more complications in providing sufficient food for the family. In order to make food supplies more stable, and in an effort to take matters more into their own hands, the van Pelt family decided to grow at least a part of their own food. This would come in both the vegetable and meat form. The backyard was not big enough to fully compensate for the shortages, but behind the high wooden back fence was vacant land waiting for a building project. Times of war are usually not ideal to build houses because of unavailable building materials. So the land behind the house was a logical choice to cultivate. A vegetable garden would be planted in that vacant lot—all the way to the neighboring Speenkruidstraat. This would not only help provide food, but as Leendert liked smoking cigars, it would also provide tobacco. Leendert must have thanked his lucky stars, having sired five sets of healthy muscles. There was a limited number of garden tools, so everyone had to work in shifts, like they do in the coal mines, turning the soil. They not only had to dig, but they also had to get rid of annoying weeds. It didn’t take more than a couple weeks to make the first section of the newly acquired (“confiscated”) plot ready. It was the full width of the house (just in case the neighbors had similar plans) and around 20 meters deep. The first year was a great success, with everyone enjoying the fruits of their labor. Naturally the following year was a given to repeat this newly acquired know-how in agriculture. The Spring of 1943 arrived and the family was eagerly looking forward to the new growing season. The land was ready to be worked again. So Leendert came home with a sack of potatoes. He had carefully selected “Eigenheimers,” the perfect brand for the soil. Now that the sweat-producing labor of the previous year was out of the way, Leendert could better concentrate on securing the family’s survival for another year. He had gained some experience how to go about this new and unfamiliar activity. His strength was producing sales for his employer, not planting potatoes for a family. But he took this new challenge as seriously as his day job, employing the same meticulous general approach. Armed with pegs, strings, measuring stick and a little shovel, the new potato growing season had begun. Leendert was fastidious about accuracy in his planting technique, with everything in nice straight lines, and very evenly spaced. It had taken him three hours of his Saturday afternoon to complete the job. A highly satisfied man announced that, “The potatoes are in, Marie. I can’t wait to see the result!” Tired, but happy, he lit a cigar. He was an ardent cigar smoker. Tobacco was rationed and hard to get anymore. The previous

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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