Five Brothers and a War

Homecoming

On Saturday, June 9 there was a “Liberation Street Party” on the Hoefbladlaan, just around the corner from the van Pelt home. It lasted well into the night, and involved dancing and many other forms of frivolity. Bertus reported that Kees “ran around like a crazy stallion” and put a young woman in a wheelbarrow and then ran around some more. Apparently Bertus also suggested that his father put his mother into a wheelbarrow to do the same thing. But “the old man” didn’t think much of the idea. Bertus reported that the music at the party was wonderful, and there were very good baked goods there. By the time he made it to bed, about 1:30, he could not sleep, which angered him. Then he heard someone creeping up the stairs to the top floor of the house, and he was ready to spring into action. He did not hear the door open, but when the person asked if he was awake, his first thought was to plant a fist in the person’s face. But then he thought better of it, and realized that it was his mother, who had come up to say that she heard that Jan was in the country. It would seem that Leen made it home again, and reported that he had seen his brother. Hes wrote in her diary that Jan had spent that Saturday working on the land again, and on Sunday, he went to church with her, then spent the evening visiting with her. On the following Wednesday, June 13, Jan set out on a bicycle for Waalwijk, then by bus to s’Hertogenbosch, then by boat toward Rotterdam. After that, he managed to travel over land back home.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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