Category: Memoirs
-
Development of the Stolwijk Area
Read More: Development of the Stolwijk AreaMost of the family came from a small area between two rivers, the Lek and the Ijssel, and most of them lived in or close to Krimpen aan de Lek. There is a highway now from Schoonhoven to Krimpen with a Skyway to Rotterdam (De Van Brienen Noord bridge). This bridge was built after the…
-
Emigrating to Canada: 1954
Read More: Emigrating to Canada: 1954Some time after the war ended and things were settling into place in Holland my brother Jaap emigrated to Canada, as farmland was still very hard to come by. That went well so I wanted to emigrate too. About two weeks before I was to be granted permission, I told a friend of my plans…
-
Back in Holland: 1949-1954
Read More: Back in Holland: 1949-1954This is the period of dad’s life that we know the least about. The few paragraphs here are written by Wendy with input from her sisters based on the few stories dad has told us. From pictures we know that he enrolled in an Agricultural School, probably in Gouda, and that he worked for the…
-
Indonesia: 1947-1949
Read More: Indonesia: 1947-1949Much of what follows is written by Wendy based on memories my sisters and I shared of stories he told us over the years, although there are a few paragraphs that he must have written very early on because they were written in Dutch. When I was 19 years old (1947) I was called up…
-
Second World War: 1939-1945
Read More: Second World War: 1939-1945In September 1939 the second World War started. I remember that many people were recruited for the army, the number of unemployed started to decline sharply and the economy picked up so at first we didn’t worry much about the war. We were confident that Holland could stay out of the war. I remember there…
-
The Dutch Royal Family
Read More: The Dutch Royal FamilyIn 1936 Princess Julianna became engaged to Prince Bernhard and they were married in 1937. Princess Beatrix, who was the queen of Holland when I wrote this was born on January 31, 1938. Prince Irene was born on August 5, 1939. We were very strongly loyalists. We believed the House of Orange was given by…
-
Highschool Years: 1941-1945
Read More: Highschool Years: 1941-1945In my class there were three students who planned to go to high school so the principal gave them extra lessons to help them prepare for this. I was interested in this too and when I mentioned it once at home, my dad was strongly in favour of that. He knew that it was impossible…
-
The Depression Years: 1928-1939
Read More: The Depression Years: 1928-1939The depression began in 1928. By this time the oldest three had left school which was normal after finishing grade 7 and were helping on the farm. That was really needed because we couldn’t afford outside help anymore. When dad married on March 30, 1921, three years after the first world war everything was still…
-
Traditions and Names
Read More: Traditions and NamesOur family had grown by then. I remember that the atmosphere in our home was good. The only exception revolved around names. Tradition was very important so my oldest brother, Adam, was named after Opa de Jong, Jaap after Opa Slingerland, Stiena (Christina) after Opoe de Jong, Jannigje after Opoe Slingerland, the third daughter, Geertje…
-
Cheese Making
Read More: Cheese MakingAs I mentioned before we were a large family. When the war broke out, I was just 12 years old and there were 12 children already in our family. I believe the marriage was good, and as children we could get along quite well, apart from some minor rivalry that typically happens among children. Looking…