In hiding
The children were placed in new families. Sometimes with people who had children of their own. Sometimes with couples who were unable to have their own children. Every family who took people in was taking a risk. If they were discovered, the foster parents were sent to a concentration camp.
Foster parents
Liesje with her
foster grandma.
‘Suddenly my name was Liesje Koopmans. Luckily I could keep my own first name. I called Mr and Mrs Koopman ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’. I received a few cards from my mother in Westerbork. I kept asking: “How long will it be before she comes back?” “Probably soon”, would be the answer. I had a picture of my mother next to my bed. Every evening my foster mother would say to me: “Your mother will be back and you can give her a kiss now.”’
Liesje de Hond
Adapt
For the children this was a huge change. They were away from their home and families. They had to adapt to their new environment as quickly as possible. They were often given a new name, sometimes even a new religion. Some children had to switch homes on a regular basis. Some of the children had a relatively good time in hiding. Others felt lonely and helpless.
‘My first hiding place was with the Heddema family, with three children in a lonely farm in the country. That’s where I got my new, Friesian, name: Japje Mulder. I had to forget the name Salo. I did, but I forgot a lot more too. Who my parents were, where I was born. I gave up my entire identity. I was simply Japje Mulder.’
Salo Muller
Chaos and order
'There had been a betrayal in the area and my foster parents got scared. I had to leave. My foster father took me to a deserted building shack. I was there for a whole month. My foster father would bring me food and drink every day. I slept on my jacket on the wooden floor. The only thing I had with me was a parcel, tied with string, which held one extra pair of trousers, a shirt and my book. I kept that book with me the entire time I was in hiding. Incredibly boring and difficult really. But I was fascinated by the graphs and tables. They exuded order; it all made sense. No chaos, no confusion.’
John Blom
A new baby
foster parents.
‘I arrived in Leeuwarden via the Friesian resistance worker Sjoerd Wiersma. I went to a childless couple. Suddenly they had to explain to everyone where the baby had come from. They said I had been evacuated from Rotterdam and even had false papers to prove it. My last name was changed slightly, from Waterman to Waterland. My foster parents were delighted to have me. I was their own, very much wanted child. Someone said at one point: “That looks like a Jewish child.” People suspected but no-one talked.’
Foke Waterman
