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Rachel Scheffer |
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in hiding |
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1943 |
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We heard the stories from our
parents........ |
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My mother, Viviane Fraikin, her hand was always folded. It
happened when she was in the basement of a building in
Liege during a bombing raid. Broken glass had cut her
tendons. She was a classical pianist and played the
works of Chopin with her knuckles.
My father, Carel van
Helsdingen, was
a member of 'the 'Underground' (World War II resistance
movements) and he told me that he had been arrested
several times and put in several Jails in Europe and the Far East. A miracle happened one day when he was
put against a wall to be shot. The Canadians walked in
and saved him. Death would have been a matter of
seconds. In the Eighties I received a request from the
Red Cross to meet with Mr. Dekker the North
of Holland. After being arrested in Amsterdam he had spent
time in a Nazi jail with my dad. Mr. Dekker had to tell
me these stories. "Oh yes", he said, "Carel, your
father, was an expert in Jail survival and -
communications. He had messages sent out on little
hidden cigarette papers and he divided the daily bread
in many tiny peaces so that everybody could eat and
survive. He was the manager in Jail".
And presently I live around the corner of this jail on
the Amstelveenseweg in Amsterdam.
My stepmother, Rachel Scheffer, had lost most of her
family in Auschwitz.
She spent 3 years in hiding
in the attic
of a building
on the Rokin, Amsterdam. It was during this period
(1943-1945) that she gave birth to 2 daughters. Their
doctor
was also in hiding.
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René van Helsdingen
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It is a great honour to take part in the WWII
commemorations and the celebrations of the 60th
Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands and
I dedicate this
book to all of our parents.
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Luluk Purwanto |
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