Derek

There is so much misery in the world, I feel like telling everyone a Holocaust story which has a lifesaving ending.

During the Holocaust there were many non- Jews who were heroes.

This is my story about one of those heroes and how he is the reason I am alive and able to write my story.

I was born 3 months before the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, also known as Holland. In my book; I’m Not a Victim – I Am a Survivor, I am very critical of the Dutch. Odds of me surviving the Holocaust were; 6 million to one.

There were FOUR occasions between 1940-1945 where I should not have survived.

Dutch Bureaucrats, Dutch Police, and Dutch neighbours turned against Dutch Jews, many like both my parents’ families had lived in Holland for over 200 years.

The Bureaucrats handed the Nazis the complete 1939 Census results, identifying where every Jew lived.

The police offered, equivalent of Aust $15, for every Jew that was betrayed, mostly by neighbours, to the police.

Out of 107,000 Dutch Jews – 102,000 (95%)were murdered in concentration camps.

They included;

My mother’s family; her three sisters and husbands plus 3 children aged 13, 4 and 3. As well as her two brothers one with his wife plus children aged 9 and 8.

Total next of kin family 14. My mothers extended family 26 were murdered.

My father’s family; his mother, his brother and wife and his siter. Total next of kin 4. My fathers extended family 37 were murdered.

My mother was the only one out of her total family who survived.

My father was the only one out of his total family who survived.

Per head of population, the Highest number of Jews murdered from any other Western European country.

Of the Dutch Jews deported to concentration camps, only 5000 survived.

There were three other occasions when I was close to death.

Survival 2 will be published in August.

In January 1945, the month I turned 5 years old, Kramer the Nazi commandant of Bergen-Belsen and his guards stopped feeding the Jews. By feeding I mean a bowl of hot water, made from turnips with a bit of bread in it, thousands of prisoners began to die of starvation including Ann Frank (March 1945)and her sister Margot(February 1945).

Read how and why I survived.

Survival 3 in September.

In April 1945 the Nazis decided to empty Bergen-Belsen, Star Camp and put all Jews onto Cattle wagons to be murdered in gas chambers in Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia (Check Republic). There were 3 train departures, we were on train 3 which became known as the Lost Train.

Read how and why I survived.

Survival 4 in October.

May 1945, finally we were on our way back to Holland but I had caught the deadly Typhus decease, I only had 3 days left to live. Read how and why I survived.

Here is the story of my first survival.

Jews were allowed to go shopping at certain hours on a specific day. When we walked to the shops, my mother always took me, 3 years old, in the pram and held my 5 year older brother by the hand, about a 15 -20 min walk. My mother was one of the first women to drive a truck in Holland, and she got to know the local police.

One day on our way to the shops, she bumped in to a policeman she knew, he said “hello Suze where are you going” my mother replied “Hello Derek, to the Waal (shop name) to buy Eddy and Boy (my brothers’ name) some winter clothing”. They chatted on bit and we continued on our walk to the shop.

Once my mother had done our shopping and as we walked outside she noticed Derek was standing there.

Derek approached my mother and said “Suze don’t talk, don’t look up push the pram and hold Boy’s hand.”

After about 5 minutes we came across a road block manned by Dutch Nazis who were picking up Jews, put them in trucks to be taken to concentration camps, majority never to be seen again.

One of the Dutch Nazis called out the Derek “Hey Derek good catch, young woman with 2 young children.” Derek mumbled to my mother “don’t look up and keep walking”.He walked us home and stayed outside our flat till the road block was dismantled. This saved our lives and showed there were some decent Dutch policemen as well.

Israel named 5,516 Dutch citizens to receive the ‘Righteous amongst the Nation” award. Unfortunately, I don’t think Derek was amongst them.

Suze, Boy and Eddy in 1940