Last year as
we adjusted to life in a new country we were amazed at all the different
celebrations that went on in and around our city of Eindhoven. Nothing was mentioned
about Halloween except from the American friends I have. For some reason there
seemed to be two Christmas celebrations, one at the beginning of December and
one at the end. There was a Valentine’s Day. But don’t even get me started
about not having Ground Hogs Day. I really like having Punxsutawney Phil to
tell me what the weather will be like between winter and spring. I remember
driving around in the fall and seeing lights displayed here in Eindhoven but
not really understanding the meaning of what was happening. But this year with
my head a little more clear, my ability to read a few signs and the
graciousness of good friends to enlighten me and others to different events
around Eindhoven, I was ready to celebrate the Lichtjesroute.
The
Lichtjesroute is a festival held every year to celebrate the liberation of
Eindhoven during World War II. The celebration begins on the date the city was
liberated, September 18th and ends this year on October 14th.
During World War II, Operation Market Garden
was an effort when the Allies tried to capture three bridges that would help
them break into Germany. The plan did not work and as the route from Eindhoven
to Arnhem was known as The Corridor, the paratroopers renamed it Hell’s
Highway.
The plan may
have been a failure but for so many grateful Dutch people, the gift of their
life or the lives of their loved ones will never be forgotten. In my search of
the history of this festival I came across a name and some pictures. What I
discovered has moved me beyond words.
In 1944, in
Eindhoven, there was a beautiful young family by the name of van Slooten who
took into their home a Jewish friend to hide from the Nazi’s, a crime
punishable by death. They were betrayed but Mrs. Van Slooten sensed that
something was wrong and that the house was being watched. With the help of the
resistance they were able to move the friend to another safe house. One or two
days later, the van Slooten house was raided by the Nazi’s. They found nothing
but took Mrs. Van Slooten to prison and kept her there for ten days interrogating
her every day. She was seven months pregnant at the time with her second child
and was terrified. She had heard rumors of the terrible things the Nazi’s had
done to pregnant women in the concentration camps. She had no idea what had happened to her
husband or two year old son, Erik. Then suddenly she
was released, but a sympathetic Dutch policeman told her that she should go
into hiding herself, because she would be arrested again the next day. The
Nazi’s did that to break your resistance. So she could not go home and stayed
with friends, not knowing what to do or where to go, and without medical help
for the last months of her pregnancy. And then suddenly Eindhoven was liberated
by the Americans, so you can imagine how happy she was!
From Ren’e :
This is my mother
with my brother Erik (born in 1942). My mother was
expecting me for 7 months at that time. I was born on 20 November,
and she often told me that she could hear the guns during the Battle
of the Bulge when she had to get up at night to feed me. In the back
you see an American and a British soldier having a relaxed conver-
sation leaning against a scout car. At this time the Americans were
already getting worried about the slow British advance.
expecting me for 7 months at that time. I was born on 20 November,
and she often told me that she could hear the guns during the Battle
of the Bulge when she had to get up at night to feed me. In the back
you see an American and a British soldier having a relaxed conver-
sation leaning against a scout car. At this time the Americans were
already getting worried about the slow British advance.
She always called them
‘the angels who came from heaven’.
From
René van Slooten:
The little boy in front is my brother, 2 years old at that time. When
I showed the picture to some veterans on the 60th anniversary of
the liberation (in 2004), one of them recognized the officer on the
right as 1LT Herbert Viertel, B Company, 1st BN, 506 PIR.
The little boy in front is my brother, 2 years old at that time. When
I showed the picture to some veterans on the 60th anniversary of
the liberation (in 2004), one of them recognized the officer on the
right as 1LT Herbert Viertel, B Company, 1st BN, 506 PIR.
This story was shared with me by the son who would be born
two months later, Ren’e. His father took pictures during the liberation and he
is sharing them with us. Ren’e spent years to try to identify the American
soldiers in those pictures by showing them to American veterans who came to
Eindhoven every year during the celebration festivities around September 18th.
And six years ago one veteran recognized Lt. Herbert Viertel on one picture,
after which the veterans organization told him that he was still alive and
lived in Florida with his wife Peggy who had been an Army nurse during the war.
When he finally got him on the phone, it was very emotional for him and his
mother. His mother died in 2008 and Herbert Viertel died in 2009. Ren’e wrote
an obituary for him that was read at his funeral.
Ren’e van
Slooten also wanted to convey this message as well:
I wanted to express my gratitude, so in 2008 I have adopted a
grave on the American cemetery ‘Henri Chapelle’ in Belgium and a name on the
‘Wall of the Missing’ at the American cemetery ‘Margraten’ in Holland. The
grave in Belgium is from Lt. Rodney Renfrew from Coshocton in Ohio, killed on
10 February 1945 in Germany. And the name on the ‘Wall of the Missing’ is Capt.
John Doherty from Buffalo, NY, missing in action in Holland on 18 September
1944 (the same day my parents were liberated!). I was so lucky to find both
families and they are very happy that people in Holland still remember and
care. Doherty’s wife was still alive in 2008 and after 64 years she still had
no idea what had happened to her husband, so I was able to find out for her
where her husband was killed and why his remains were never found. She was very
happy to know that at last, and she died in peace last year, but I am still in
regular contact with Doherty’s granddaughters who live in Los Angeles. And last
May I went to the Henri Chapelle cemetery to celebrate Memorial Day with two
members of the Renfrew family. It was very impressive. If you get a chance, you
should go to ‘Margraten’ cemetery next year on Memorial Day. It is only an hour
drive from Eindhoven. Memorial Day there is very impressive, because all 8.300
graves have been adopted by Dutch families and they come to bring flowers. Last
May I took a picture of a Dutch father and his young daughter, who bring
flowers to ‘their’ grave at Margraten.
We will never forget what the United States of America did
for us.
As I look
back to that night I drove around looking in awe of the beautiful lights that
lit up the streets in Eindhoven, I’m now in awe of a story of a beautiful,
courageous, young mother who was brave beyond belief. To the young men that
came to her rescue so that she and her family could live a life of freedom,
thank you. And to Ren’e… Thank you so very kindly for sharing your story with
this American Girl.
Light up Eindhoven and celebrate
life.
