During the years proceeding WWII for most families times were tough. Tom remembers that when he was 8 years old that the house was put up for sale with about everybody else on the block. And times did not get better. In September 1939 when Poland was attacked the Dutch army was mobilized just in case. Holland was neutral and the man with the mustache next door had promised to always "honor" neutrality. But nobody trusted him and obviously for a good reason.

Only 8 months later - in the early morning of May 10, 1940 - the Germans attacked and Holland entered into a five year period of occupation, oppression, misery and hunger.
The food supply in the big cities was getting rapidly worse.
From 1942 on he and his brother Henk stayed during the summer vacations on a farm in Spierdijk, a small town in the province of North-Holland. During that time they could built up their strength again before going back to school in September.

But then on June 6, 1944 the face of Western Europe changed again with the allied invasion in Normandy!
Although in September, 1944 it appeared for a few days that liberation was around the corner the allied forces were suddenly pushed back. The frontline in Holland would come to a grinding halt for a period of 8 months! 
South of the big rivers Holland had been liberated while the Northern part remained occupied bearing here in mind how small Holland really is. Dad is convinced that with today's communications this could have never happened.
On September 19, 1944 two days after the failed airborne operation at Arnhem (See the book "A bridge too far" by Cornelius Ryan) there was not a German soldier left in the West, they had all fled because the allies were advancing so fast that they panicked. They were selling uniforms, cloths, equipment and all kind of belongings in exchange for bicycles or any other type of transportation they could get their hands on. They showed no intention to wait for the allies to arrive.
In Rijswijk, a suburb of The Hague, hundreds of people were standing along the roads with little Dutch flags ready to welcome the allied troops supposedly passing through from the South on the way to The Hague.
Tragically it never happened. This day went into history as "Dolle Dinsdag" or translated "Crazy Tuesday". 

Then the National railroad went on strike and stayed on strike until the end of the war. The Germans became angry.
Many railroad workers were executed but they did not let themselves be  intimidated by the threats of the Germans.
It only strengthened their resolve. The strike surely paralyzed the German war machine but at the same time it also seriously hindered the delivery of food and supplies to the western part of the country. 
Nothing moved which resulted into a shortage of almost everything in the West. 

There was also no coal coming in because all the mines were located in the liberated part of Holland, in the South, and since Holland was hit by one of the worst winters in history it caused many people to die from starvation and cold.
With no coal available there was also a shortage of electricity, water and heat. 
Only a few hours per day the homes received electricity and water and the use of it was heavily rationed. 
Once you passed your allowance you were fined and cut off. 
The Nazis could not care less about the population, to the contrary, they took away the little what was left for themselves. Besides the soup kitchens there was nothing available except for may be a few barter items in the black market providing you were lucky enough to have something to exchange.

After the battle of Arnhem on September 17, 1944 had failed, all men from 16 to 60 years old - not having a special permit -were picked up by the Germans during raids in October 1944. They were sent to Germany to work in their factories.
Tom's brother Henk had just become 16 years old. They both fled the city into the countryside soon after the raids with about 30 others under the guidance of a Jesuit priest teaching at the college on which Henk was studying.
They were moved out of the city on an early October morning during curfew and were put on board a barge docked in the neighboring town of Leidsendam. They were hidden under a load of empty crates because barge skippers were not allowed by the Germans to carry passengers. Only one time during the trip they were allowed to climb on deck to get some fresh air and that was when the barge crossed the lakes so they could not be seen from the shore. 
Once in Alkmaar they had to disembark before the Germans would come on board for inspection in the locks.
From then on it was by foot each carrying his own belongings whatever he had taken with him.

One by one they were dropped off at various farms. Tom remembers very well that he and his brother were the "lucky" ones:  They were last!!  They got an extra hour to go on feet. He will never forget the many blisters on his feet.
It took awhile to get these back to normal but it was all more than worth it to be away from all the miseries in city.
The stay in Spierdijk ended up to be very short because the family on the farm was hiding members of the resistance and considered it much too dangerous for us to stay. If the Germans would ever find out they did not want us to become victims. They decided to ask their daughter in Burgerbrug if they would be willing to take us in and they did.

So we moved to the farm in Burgerbrug and stayed there until the end of the war. During the harsh winter following thousands of hungry city people would visit the countryside each day, sometimes walking distances of 100 KM or more, to get some food to bring back home. Some of them came on foot, others on bicycles with garden hoses around the wheels
 (rubber tires were only available for the Germans) again others with pushcarts and then not to forget the ones who made the trip pulling sleds. Most of them were women because most men had been picked up and transported to Germany.
During the curfew hours however they had to stay of the street and the owners of the farm, the family Bruin, would give them a place to sleep. Before they would hit the road again in the morning each one of them would be given a good meal and some food to take home. 
Compassionately and tirelessly the family did everything possible to reach out and to help them.
They never refused anybody and there were nights they lodged near 30 people. But they would make room for them.
It was from these traveling people that Tom heard about the bombing of The Hague in March 1945 but they told him that the area destroyed was at the other end of town so that he should not worry too much. But he did anyway because communications were so poor during the war it was difficult to get a confirmation.

Tom's brother Henk got a little homesick and biked to The Hague on Liberation Day May 5th, still on a bicycle with garden hoses as tires. Being a distance of 110 Km+ it took him a full day. He wanted to see for himself how things were going at home. He stayed a few days but then returned to Burgerbrug realizing that it would take time before everything in the city would be back to normal. Although the Swedish Red Cross had dropped some food it was all still very limited.

In June 1945, a few weeks after the war had ended, Tom's parents visited the farm (on a tandem bicycle - again - with garden hoses) to see how we were doing. Tom had not seen his parents since he had left on the barge in October.
So it was a happy occasion. He noticed them looking tired, pale and underfed obviously a result of the hunger winter.
They stayed a few days with us in Burgerbrug and then returned but all agreed that we should stay a few more months on the farm until the food situation and rationing in The Hague had improved.
We stayed until August and then returned home to get ready to attend school again in September.

Since the war Tom visits them regularly and became part of the family and remains to be that until this very day.
He always wonders what would have ever happened to him and his brother if they would have stayed in the city.