Interview — Describes the German invasion of the Netherlands and ensuing anti-Jewish measures [1994 interview].
May 10, 1940, is a date that we'll never forget. Very early in the morning the skies were dark, dark with German airplanes who flew over our city, our little country. And by ten o'clock in the morning the German soldiers were marching down our street. We knew already what Hitler stood for because we knew what he had done to our family in Germany, and we were very very scared. There was nothing that we could do about it, we just waited, waited, and waited. Soon, or later, the Germans had learned what to do with the Jews in Germany and they got, they took a lot of our freedom away. First of all, the Jews were not allowed to have a radio; we were not allowed to have a bicycle, they took those away; we were not allowed to be on the street after five o'clock at night. And most of all they let us wear this Jewish star. This is the star that I wore when I was still walking around Valkenburg. We had to wear it, we had to take, wear it on our dress, and this is the star that says "Jew" on it that a neighbor of ours saved. Now the star itself was in hiding. They just didn't put that star in a drawer, this star itself was hidden between the walls, the walls of the house. In fact these are water stains that was, that came on this. And when I came back, as you see I survived, he returned it to us. This is so valuable. You see this in the books. You see it in the movies. But here you have a chance to see it in reality.
