My niece Tammy read my earlier post - Interview with Dad (for Jack) - and wanted more info on some of the stories and info on some other stories. Here are his answers to her questions....
The rabbits were raised on the roof. Our house was made up of five buildings that formed a square, with a courtyard in the middle. If you were facing it from the main street, the rabbits were on the roof on the right hand side of the square. (The next post will have a map showing what the house looked like, and where the other shops were on the street.) They were raised just for the family, I didn't sell them.
A bicycle dynamo is attached so that when the wheels turn it generates electricity, which turns on the head/tail lights. There is a switch you flip when you want the lights on, which brings it in contact with the wheel. The dynamo was invented by my family under the HouVest brand name.
After the Germans had invaded the Netherlands, the British, in an effort to drive them back out, dropped bombs. These were phosphorus bombs, and when they exploded, they left goop all over the place that would burn. If it didn't immediately catch fire, then when anyone walked over it, especially if they wore wooden shoes - it would cause sparks. One such bomb hit our house, going straight through the first floor past one of the girl's beds and down into my dad's office, demolishing a heavy duty swivel chair where it exploded. Some of the goop caught fire. I and my brother Leo each ran down into the cellar where we had wooden boxes about 3 feet long by 2 feet wide and about a foot deep, filled with sand. These boxes were used to store carrots and other veggies during the winter. We each grabbed one box and ran back upstairs to throw the sand onto the fire (sand is best for putting out a phosphorus fire - water just spreads it). We only needed one box of sand to put the fire out. When the excitement had ended, it took BOTH of us to carry the one unused sand box back to the cellar - it was too heavy for one of us by ourselves. Amazing what adrenalin can do!
Before the war, yes there were Jews living in our area. In fact, there was a synagog just down the lane from our house. True Jews won't even light a candle on the Sabbath, so when they had their service, I would go over to the synagog and light their candles for them. One the Germans had invaded, all were picked up and sent to the concentration camps.
We had several renters. Above the bicycle shop, on the 3rd floor, was an elderly lady. Above the electrical shop, on the 2nd floor, was a lady who played piano for the silent movies that were shown across the street at the theatre. Her husband was with the Nazi party, so after the war started we didn't dare have much to do with them - we had to be too careful of anything we said. On the 3rd floor was a quiet family. I don't remember what they did for a living.
When Ruth and I emigrated to Canada we were only allowed to take $250 guilden (dollars) for the whole family. A coin collection counted as money - so there was no point trying to take it. Furniture counted separately and had no limit. My stamp collection would also have counted as money so I didn't take it either.
During the war, after we'd been invaded, the scouts met a school under the guise of being a school club, which the Germans did allow. We didn't wear uniforms though, as scouting was specifically forbidden.
As far as I remember, it was around May of 1940 that the Germans invaded our area. Their army came across the boarder. In the north of Holland they came by paratroupers and dropped a lot of bombs on Rotterdam. We new something was coming, so dad opened a store in Rotterdam where he stored a buick (car). When the Germans bombed Rotterdam, the buildings on either side of his store were hit, but not his store. Dad drove around Rotterdam, picking up the wounded and transporting them to the hospital. A few months later, he moved everything back to Heerlen. Shortly after he left Rotterdam, the British flew over and dropped bombs on occupied Rotterdam and flattened the building dad had stored the car in.
Heksenberg is a village in Limburg (a suburb) and the dance where I met Ruth was held at the village community hall.
In the electrical shop, we sold and fixed lights, washers and dryers, radios, irons, electric razors and other such things.
A sling ball is basically a medicine ball with a 15 inch long leather strap attached. There were 2 ways to play. #1 - 2 teams face off. First person with the ball twirls it around with the strap and flings it at the other team. They try to catch it, and if they do, they get to take 3 jumps forward and then twirl it and fling it at the first team. There is a goal line on each side and the aim is to get the ball over the line. #2 - 2 teams again and same basic rules, except the person flinging the ball has his back to where he is flinging it - so he isn't able to aim it as well as in the 1st version. I would have stripes on my arms from the leather strap, and when catching the ball - if you didn't clamp on tight, it could knock the stuffing out of you!
When I was a Rover Scout, (Rovers are 17+) our group, along with other groups, acted as brankaderes (not sure of the spelling) - stretcher carriers. There was a whole trainload of people, many of whom were bedridden, all going to Lourdes in hopes of being cured there. We carried them from the train station to the grotto and back. This was in 1948, so I would have been 20.
The bicycle race that I won was in 1947 (I was 19), on the Queen's birthday. A week before the race, I'd gone on holiday with my bike and came home the Saturday before the race. When I came in, dad told me he'd entered me in the race, which was the following day - Sunday!
