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Hélène Egger - ‘The end of the war was in sight’
‘The end of the war was in sight. Around Vorstenbosch and especially Veghel, there was heavy fighting. I wasn’t afraid of anything because I wasn’t alone anymore. More and more people stayed at the house. People who had fled from the fighting. It didn’t matter to ‘my family’ everyone was welcome. At one time there were twenty five people living on the small farm. After the liberation of the south in September 1944, I was allowed to go to school with the other children. Mother Betje made a suit for me from an old blanket which she had dyed. Underneath I wore a blouse made from parachute silk. On my head I wore a beret and I wore real clogs. I was queen in my new outfit. I was one of them. I was a member of the family.
I had become used to country habits – chickens had their necks pulled and dead pigs were hung up on ladders – and began to love my surroundings. It was as if I had always lived there.
On 5 May 1945 the west of the country was liberated. Grandfather and grandmother will also have been liberated now, I thought when I heard the news. I didn’t think anymore about it. One thing was certain: I didn’t want anything else to change in my life. I wanted to stay in Vorstenbosch forever with my new family and friend Jo.’
Source: Extract from Ik ben er nog. Het verhaal van mijn moeder Hélène Egger. In cooperation with the author Debby Petter and Uitgeverij Thomas Rap.
Liberation
On 4 May 1945 the German army in Western Europe – and also in the Netherlands – surrenders to the Allies. All fighting ceases on 5 May. The capitulation in the Netherlands is signed on 5 May and this day is known as Liberation Day. In the following days British and Canadian troops enter the western region of the country. The southern region of the country; Brabant, Limburg and Zeeland had already been liberated in the last months of 1944 and the eastern and northern parts since March 1945.
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