Five Brothers and a War

Den Haag Razzia

At the same time he opened the door and was handed that order, eight German soldiers quickly filed into the house. Methodically, they opened every door, every closet and every cupboard. As they moved to the closet with the trapdoor, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat or two. But it was small and filled with “stuff” and it did not appear to hold anyone, so the soldier moved on, and a sigh of relief was felt. They still had to deal with the normal questions about the whereabouts of their sons, which led to the equally normal answers that they had no idea where they were. Marie was as bold, at least on the outside, as the German officer. She finished up her answer by telling him matter-factly , “If I knew where my boys were I wouldn’t tell you anyway. I am their mother”. The NSBer who accompanied the Germans was exasperated by their inability to find the youths and by Marie’s mama-bear attitude, and he slapped Marie on her shoulder with his leather gloves and shouted that her answer was not the way to address a German officer. Bert was in awe of his mother when she answered back, “Young man, I shall pray for you tonight because someone should do your bidding with the Lord”. The German officer obviously didn’t understand the Dutch language, but did get the gist of what she was saying, so he ordered his underlings to go to the next house. Even when the Germans left, empty handed, vigilance had to be maintained until everyone was certain that there would not be a quick return visit. The van Pelts were luckier than acquaintances around the corner, whose house was to serve as action headquarters for the day. While the family could move and talk fairly soon after the Germans left, the family around the corner could not move, talk or make any sound at all. People who came forward as proscribed or were captured were assembled in one of three places in Den Haag: the K & W Gebouw (Kunsten en Wetenschappen Gebouw— “Arts and Sciences Building”), de Haagse Dierentuin (“Den Haag Zoo”) and the Gymnasium Haganum (A highly regarded classical school founded in 1327, located on the major road, the Laan van Meerdervoort ). From these initial gathering spots, the prisoners then had to walk to the Slachthuisplein (aptly, the “Slaughterhouse Square”) where they were transported to Germany. 15,000 men were picked up in Den Haag that day. Many ended up in a camp just 5 km across the Dutch border in Rees, Germany, where living conditions were deplorable. Prisoners were always hungry, and often had diarrhea, lice, and other maladies. One in ten prisoners died in that camp in the months from the end of November 1944 until the camp was liberated in March 1945. Even the forced labor survivors came home feeling that they had contributed to the deaths of Allies through their work in German munitions factories, and many spent years in recovery.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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