Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Miriam Troostwyk - May 28, 1998 and June 3, 1999

Return to Amersfoort

And then what?

And when we came back, our neighbors, which were Germans in Amersfoort, they had an um, uh, type...typewriter business. And there was--I remember when we went with the car, we came with a taxi or something, from the station. And when we came in our little street, there was a flag from the ceiling here down, such a big flag, a red one with the black swastika and white. So we knew that they were Nazis. And from that moment, we only said--they only did this and that was it and--but before they sometimes were speaking to us a little bit, but not much.

So these were German Nazis, not NSB?

No, German.

German, uh-huh.

Their name was Rettinger.

Rettinger?

Rett...

Well, you said you, you wanted to be Dutch.

Yes.

You--your parents the same, I, I, I assume. Did, did they, did they try very hard to assimilate...

No.

into Dutch culture?

They were speaking at home uh, German-Yiddish.

Uh-huh.

I was speaking Dutch to them. And they are suddenly in German-Yiddish only when I was very angry with my parents--that they didn't--that I was afraid they didn't understand then I spoke Yiddish or German to them. [laughs]

[laughs]

I have the most uh, wonderful uh, remembrance from uh, my childhood with my family.

In, in Holland?

Yeah. I was too small for Germany, so I don't know that.

Um, now you, you went--I'm sorry, I forgot the name of the town in the north. The--you...

Uh, Warminhuizen.

Warminhuizen. You were evacuated to Warminhuizen.

Yes.

Then you came back to Amersfoort.

Yes.


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