In the beginning the Germans started to organize the Jews. Loudspeakers were around all neighborhoods, telling us all the orders which we have to obey, otherwise we were going to be punished. The first thing on the agenda was to take our radios to a special place. And of course we all did. And that shows you because of that -- not having a radio, that’s the only way you could get news around -- we didn’t know. And that’s why were cut off from the rest of the world, and we didn’t know what was going on.

We also had to register in order to get the food stamps because in Belgium during the war food was rationed so we had to register. When we registered to get our food stamps we also had to buy and pay [for] the yellow star and we had to wear the yellow star. And that too was punishable in the case you did not. And youngsters had to wear the yellow star from the age of five. So immediately you knew that we had been different people.

Young mothers had to go to clinics. And all those things were free of charge before the war. And I went with my child at that time. Food was given for babies, doctors were giving the vaccination or anything which was necessary to help us to raise the children. Jewish mothers were not allowed anymore to attend those sessions. I was lucky, I was friendly with the person in charge. Her name at that time was Madame Louise, and she used to bring me once in a while food for my child. That was such an act of courage because in every place there were big posters [that said] if anybody is hiding a Jewish person, and if they would be caught, they would be shot. And let me tell you, this is what has happened to many people who have tried to be helpful; they have been shot in the public places to make sure we know.

Also, Jewish teachers were not allowed to teach anymore. Jewish children were not allowed to go to school. And Jewish physicians were not allowed to take care of their patients anymore. The Germans started to round up the Jews on the pretense that we would go to work. The resistance, or underground, was made up of the most wonderful and kind and caring people. And also because they had risked their own life, the churches and the convents have started to hide Jewish children.

Two ladies from the resistance came to my house, as it was prearranged, to take my child into hiding. It’s so difficult to find the words to explain what kind of pain that is, just to have your child who is screaming, not wanting to go. But they were kind and I think this was the biggest decision I had to make in my whole life. And I had to make many more.

Breendonck, was a camp in Belgium. My father and other men were taken to Breendonck. After they have tortured those people they were put on the train and most of them had been already dead before they arrived at any destination they had.

My mother worked for an old age home. Because she was Jewish she couldn’t work there anymore. And because it became harder and harder to find hiding places. Even the Salvation Army got involved in helping people, but you could only stay there one night because every time the Germans were coming to check. And also we were hiding in many different places. And finally the Nazis discovered us. We were taken in a covered truck to Avenue Louise – that was the Gestapo headquarters. We were beaten up, badly beaten up because they wanted to know, that we should give the names of people we know in hiding or where children were in hiding. And this is another reason that we were not allowed to know, the parents who had the child, where the child had been hiding in case we would be caught. We would be beaten and then of course people would talk. And this is another reason why we were not allowed to know where our children were hiding.