Behind the Fireplace Memoirs of a girl working in the Dutch Resistance eBook Andrew Scott Grietje Scott
Download As PDF : Behind the Fireplace Memoirs of a girl working in the Dutch Resistance eBook Andrew Scott Grietje Scott 
As World War 2 progressed, the Okma family took six Jewish refugees into their house, hiding them in a secret room behind their fireplace. The youngest daughter, Kieks, joined the Resistance, delivering illegal newspapers, guiding British parachutists around The Hague and preparing safe houses for Special Forces who were dropped in from England. As the War continued, she fell in love with a Resistance commander, and worked with him to rescue wounded colleagues, steal weapons from German arms dumps and move weapons around the country. They had a tumultuous parting and she continued her work, acting as a courier with a two hundred km bike ride to the north of Holland. When she returned home, she appreciated how much the war had changed her and her boyfriend, and prepared to try a reconciliation.
She escaped a firing squad four times, and survived the war, mentally scarred by her experiences. She sought help, but the help she was offered came in a poisoned chalice, and she kept her secret to herself for almost fifty years.
Her family in Holland was recognised by Yad Vashem, the Israeli organisation that records those who saved Jews from the Holocaust, and she was awarded a pension for her work in the Resistance by the Dutch foundation Stichting 1940-1945. It was only when these organisations acknowledged the truth of her claims that she had the confidence to tell her family of the events from long ago.
Behind the Fireplace Memoirs of a girl working in the Dutch Resistance eBook Andrew Scott Grietje Scott
This book is a autobiographical look at a young girls' experiences surviving the German Invasion and subsequent occupation of Holland during WWII. The writer is excellent in her description of the time, the political and social climate as well as her feelings during this difficult time for her and her family. She also does a great job describing her experiences in the Dutch Underground Resistance and proves to be tough, strong in character and resolve. I read this book very quickly as it was hard to stop reading, it was engrossing. The book was interesting, including many facts and aspects of occupation that I wasn't aware of. I have read other Holocaust survivors books by those who originated in Holland, this was a great book to include in that selection. There are many aspects of this book that are very moving, including her family assisting other Jewish Holocaust survivors, escapes, struggles for food, and ultimately the decision to write this history.Product details
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Behind the Fireplace Memoirs of a girl working in the Dutch Resistance eBook Andrew Scott Grietje Scott Reviews
Such a detailed account from the inside of the Dutch Resistance during World War II. This is an intense and extremely well written true life story of the experiences of a very brave Dutch woman, her family and others involved during the harrowing and tumultuous times of the Nazi occupation. It not only captures the events but also the realistic emotional experiences off those who were caught up in this trying and heartrending time. I highly recommend this book.
This is a true story of courage and fortitude expressed on a daily basis in the plans and actions of a woman and her companions and friends as they carried out secret, dangerous missions in their Dutch Resistance organization during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
I was inspired by their resilience and determination in the face of continual threats of torture and death by the Nazis. It is like an historical thriller.
This account of one family doing the right thing in occupied Holland during the war was well-written and totally engaging. I could not help but admire this family who sheltered Jews in their home and worked for the resistance. The book centered around the daughter Kieks, the youngest in the family. She took great risks for her hidden guests and in her resistance work. What bothered me terribly was the lack of gratitude and understanding shown the family by their hidden guests who had the attitude of guests staying in a hotel wanting good service and refusing at times to cooperate with safety rules set by the family to insure everyone was safe. There was by some, the attitude that I will do as I please. ( I have read similar accounts along this line in other memoirs and find it deeply disturbing).It got worse after Kieks married and moved to Canada where she developed PTSD and no one believed her account of what went on during the war and her involvement with the resistance and hiding Jews. She was declared mentally ill and subsequently it ended up destroying her marriage. I highly recommend this well-written account.
As a devotee of bottom-up history, especially that of WW2, I found Behind the Fireplace to be an intriguingly fresh perspective of the brave resistance workers, with peeks into the perspective of those they rescued. It could be compared to reading the account of those who hid Anne Frank and her family, and reflects a fresh Dutch voice added to the account of Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place. Every survivor's story is unique, and I never tire of them. The story of Kiek's engrossing and increasing involvement, her need to do something, anything to thwart the Nazi atrocities is convicting and impressive. She made a huge difference, and the cost was high. The post-war grief, confusion, pride and shame are quite shocking in how true they still ring today. with our newly increased recognition of post-traumatic stress. Kiek's post-war nightmares could be descriptions of my own husband's after repeatedly flying helicopters into enemy fire to rescue ambushed soldiers in Vietnam. We as a culture now look squarely at PTSD in modern soldiers, and remember it being called "shell shock" after the World Wars, but to look at it here as it affects a woman of WWII is a unique perspective, one long overdue. Behind the Fireplace fills a void on the shelves of World War II memoirs and biographies.
This is an amazing story and is very authentic. It reveals many of the problems experienced by both the people hiding and the people hiding them and their feelings. It was hard on everyone. Also, reveals some of their feelings about how things were before and are now since all were living as families in their separate homes with their separate lives and now families are stuck together for years with very different lives. Kieks is continually trying to find the best way she can help in the fight against the Nazis. Her family members are doing the same. It also reveals some of the daily things that happen in their house and the interactions of the people and reactions when the SS or people other than the family come to visit. I hope you will take the time to read this. I've read a lot of books about this time and this is one of the best..
A young persons self sacrifice to save the lives on Jews hiding in her home and with the entire family therefore facing death if they were discovered.
They increasingly hid more and more people and had to find the means, at great risk to feed and sustain them. This young woman had to endure sexual degradation to save herself from execution when, while sourcing food, she happened upon a Nazi transport convoy of a secret missile. The other civilians who were caught up in the same net were machine gunned by the Nazi's while she lay hidden in the snow. Having endured these horrors society treated her with contempt for her actions in saving her own life. Not only was she wrongfully judged by her psychiatrist and husband she had to endure encountering her abuser while on holiday with her family after the war and thwart his attempts to make contact with her. She suffered not only during the war but paid a tragic price for her efforts for the rest of her life. Her redemption and recognition by the State of Israel were a salve that should have came earlier and hopefully have saved her some of her torment
This book is a autobiographical look at a young girls' experiences surviving the German Invasion and subsequent occupation of Holland during WWII. The writer is excellent in her description of the time, the political and social climate as well as her feelings during this difficult time for her and her family. She also does a great job describing her experiences in the Dutch Underground Resistance and proves to be tough, strong in character and resolve. I read this book very quickly as it was hard to stop reading, it was engrossing. The book was interesting, including many facts and aspects of occupation that I wasn't aware of. I have read other Holocaust survivors books by those who originated in Holland, this was a great book to include in that selection. There are many aspects of this book that are very moving, including her family assisting other Jewish Holocaust survivors, escapes, struggles for food, and ultimately the decision to write this history.
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