10. October 1944: the Germans search the house

This poster orders males aged 17 - 40 to present themselves for labour. At the bottom it states that all those who try to flee or resist will be shot. In the accompanying story, it states that the order includes all males aged 17 to 50.
Source: http://gooiland.50plusser.nl/?page=article&warticle_id=104073&RAZZIA-TE-NAARDEN-OP-24-10-1944-1#.WiM6BUpKuUl

Those who presented themselves were sent to Arnhem to dig trenches, among other tasks. Bob Lambooy’s father was in this group. Apparently he soon regretted his decision, because one night about a week later he knocked on our door after curfew and asked if we could give him shelter. We immediately let him in.

He had fled from Arnhem and spent the entire day walking back to Bussum. On the way he had to be extremely careful not to be spotted by the authorities. It was particularly risky to be caught out after curfew, which was only allowed if you had an "Ausweis".  “Uncle Al” Lambooy slept in a spare bed in my bedroom. He only dared return home after about three days. We had already informed his wife the next morning that her husband was hiding at our house.

Some background about “Uncle Al”: In 1939/40, he had been attached to a Dutch Army bicycle squadron, where they made daily journeys of about 250 km on heavy bicycles without gears. If this was impressive, their fire power must have been the opposite. Armed with carbines only, they were no match for the Germans with their automatic weapons.

The Wehrmacht cordoned off our area. Nobody was allowed on the street. German troops searched all the houses for men aged between 16 and 60. We had foreseen this, and as a precaution, Father, who was 47, and some of his neighbours in a similar predicament, had taken to sleeping under the floor of the bank’s conference room. In the evenings they would go down, and emerge the next morning. 

Actually they quite enjoyed the camaraderie. They had mattresses, plenty of drinking water and crude sanitary provisions. Mother ensured the carpet and table in the conference room were rolled back over the trapdoor in the floor after the men had ‘gone to bed’. We children were not supposed to know about this, but my four year old brother once saw them go down. When he told me what he had seen, I told him he was on no account to tell anybody else.

Early on 24 October, the Germans rang the main bell of the bank. Since the bank was closed that day, nobody opened the door, and the soldiers left. A second time, however, they walked around the building, trying first unsuccessfully to gain access via the staff entrance. Then they found our door and rang the doorbell. Our housekeeper, Senta Willinger, went downstairs to open the door, as we were afraid the Germans would force the door if we did not open it. Senta was born in Germany and spoke fluent German. At first she tried to intimidate the soldiers by telling them importantly that ‘Herr VON Ziegenweidt lived there. Unfortunately, this did not have its intended effect. A couple of soldiers came marching up the stairs. Mother had made me put on shorts and told me to go play with my 8 year old sister and her dolls.

That day was my fifteenth birthday, exactly a year shy of the compulsory draft age. Mother distrusted the Germans and wanted me to appear as child-like as possible. When two soldiers stopped to talk to Mother in the hallway outside the living room I could not suppress my curiosity. I stood up and went to the hallway. Immediately a soldier came to me and asked “Wie alt bist du?” (how old are you?)  Mother went pale with fright and quickly told them it was my fifteenth birthday that day, whereupon the man laughed, put out his hand and said “Gratuliere” (congratulations). After that they looked about a bit, searched the toilet twice and then departed for the next house. They were regular Wehrmacht soldiers, and not the feared SS. Presumably they realised they would not be able to find any men in our home. But as soon as they were gone, Mother was furious with me. How could I have put myself in such a potentially dangerous situation!

Later Father told us they had seen the soldiers’ heavy military boots through the grille of the air vent as they marched up the steps to the bank. Only after the Wehrmacht had lifted the cordon around the area, did the men dare to emerge from their hiding place.

It was very important that hiding places be kept secret. Especially children and old people had to be kept out of the loop. Oma had long ago become terribly curious as to where Father hid. With a very serious face and with much secrecy, Father told her he had found an ingenious solution. We lived opposite the station, where trains no longer stopped and passengers no longer waited. The waiting room doors were not locked, and you could still go in. “Nobody will look for me over THERE, so every time the Germans come by, I will go and sit quietly in the waiting room,” he told Oma confidentially. 

It wasn't long before Oma had told Miss Brouer and Senta the secret.

For me that 24th October had a very tragic end. Dick de Bruin, a friend of mine, lived at 17 Albrechtlaan. Dick was 16 and his father 45, so both were supposed to report for work for the Germans. 

Months earlier, they had made a hiding place for themselves under the floor of the toilet. I had heard that Germans would sometimes shoot through wooden floors in case people were hiding underneath them. I had told Dick I would personally prefer to hide above one of the dormers, rather than under the floor. The dormers had a flat top measuring about 1 by 3 metres. If you lay down flat nobody could see you from below as there was a little ledge.