Five Brothers and a War

Homecoming

As the Dutch celebrated, so too did the van Pelts. Wim van Rossum had returned to his home across town, leaving only Piet and Bertus at home. Leen was the first of the three missing brothers to return home. Leen left Kees to go home somewhat later, likely about ten days. For Kees, the ride home was a genuine joy ride. Dutch flags were everywhere. For five long years they were declared taboo by the Nazis, and a lot of emaciated people used their depleted energy to jump around like new-born lambs in the spring time. Now that the Germans were gone, taking their high-handed demands with them, he could take foodstuffs along as well without anyone trying to steal them. For the rest of the population, the worst hunger pangs were gone after the British, Canadian and American food-drops, so the general mood was tremendous elation. Having spent more than four months on a farm, basically surviving on fresh, raw cows’ milk with full milk fat, Kees stood out like a badly swollen sore thumb. On his return home his newfound girth was given great acclaim. His father promptly renamed him Bobbertje Bloedworst , loosely translated as “Bubbled-up blood sausage.” Bertus was even less complimentary when he wrote Jan about Kees’ new name, “De benaming van dit menselijk varken is van Papa” (“The naming of this human pig is from Dad.”) The last one to arrive back was Jan, although his journey started weeks earlier. Jan was free to leave Germany as of April 19, 1945, more than two weeks before Holland was liberated, and less than three weeks before the complete capitulation of Germany. With the war still raging, he was given a harrowing ride on an American army truck on some narrow roads through the Black Forest to France. He first was taken to Paris where he was given a medical exam, and then to Toulouse, well south of Paris, where he had to wait for Holland to be liberated. The stay in Toulouse lasted about a month. Seven weeks after he left Germany, on June 5, Jan finally made it to Eindhoven, staying with his unmarried aunt, Esther “Hes” Sonneveld (who was her father’s caretaker until his death right before the war came to Holland), and perhaps Bets van Pelt. Somehow, Hes had managed to travel from her home in Rotterdam to the more southern city of Eindhoven, prior to its liberation. Then, when the city was liberated, she was able to avoid the most severe effects of the war earlier than the rest of the family. While Eindhoven had been liberated since the previous September 18, Jan could not travel while an active war was in progress, recognizing that no civilian transportation was either permitted nor even possible.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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