I recently had an opportunity to speak briefly about World War II with my Opa and Oma, who live in Heerlen, Limburg, The Netherlands.
My oma, Ida Magermans, told me that the Nazi soldiers were a daily sight in the area. She mentioned that when the American soldiers arrived, there was a time when she had put orange flowers on the table to show their support, but then heard shots being fired. Oma and her family rushed down into the cellar, but then oma remembered the flowers. She had to creep upstairs to hide the flowers, which she managed to do, before retreating back into the cellar.
Opa, Jan Havenith, mentioned that the Nazi soldiers took over the school building, which meant that the kids had to continue their schooling at different houses.
Both said that they remembered those years very well, but I didn't want to ask to many questions about this period of their lives. I was glad that they didn't have to suffer the Hongerwinter that occurred in the western provinces during the Winter of 1944/45 as Limburg had been liberated during 1944, while the western provinces had to wait until the May of 1945.
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