 |
|
AMSTERDAM 1940s--Imagine how devastating it would be if troops from
a foreign power rolled though San Diego’s Mid City neighborhoods. It happened
to 11-year-old Herman Mol in his hometown of Amsterdam. This Pillar to Post
exclusive is his remembrance of living conditions for citizens when German
troops occupied the Netherlands.
|
By Herman Mol--I was 11.5 years young, living in Amsterdam, when the war started.
When the Germans moved into this city, in May 1940, their eyes popped open! The
invaders saw store windows filled with items they hadn’t seen in years, like
coffee, tea, chocolate, all kinds of pastries and cakes displayed in the bakery
window, a full display of meats at the butcher, you name it.
_________________
Editor’s note: Herman Mol
lives in Ottawa, Ont., Canada, where he and his wife raised their family. He
has written and given lectures on the occupation years endured in the
Netherlands during World War II. Pillar to Post is grateful to Mr. Mol for
sharing his memories as the world remembers the 69th anniversary of
D-Day.
_________________
It was a complete feast for
them. And feasting they did!
It didn’t take long before
all items that had to be imported, like tea, coffee, chocolate, etc., were
completely gone! People were hoarding, and the Germans were taking and
transporting the goods to their homeland.
 |
Recent photo of Herman Mol at a war history lecture. He's standing
beneath a British Lancaster bomber.
|
Toward the end of 1944, the
stores were completely empty. No food could be found anywhere. Factories were
stripped of their equipment, and even our trains and artworks had been
transported to Germany.
Introducing new rules and regulations on a regular
basis
First came the order to
burn books that were not longer allowed to be in anyone’s possession. This was
soon followed by orders to hand in every item made of copper; radios had to be
handed in, etc., etc. The threat of heavy penalties, including the death
penalty, made sure that most people obeyed these rules.
Here are some dates to remember:
1940: Burning of forbidden
books
1941, Jan 14: Compulsory registration for the Jewish
population
1942, July 19: Bicycle
raids by the Germans
1942, Sept. 4: Silver coins to be handed in
1942, Nov. 24: All church bells
to be taken away
1943, May 13: Owning of
radios prohibited
1944, Aug. 19: All males
ages 17-40 ordered to register
1944, Aug. 23: Rations
restricted to 1,000 grams bread, 1 kg potatoes,
100 grams cheese per week
1944, Aug 27: Rations
reduced to 500 grams bread and 1 kg potatoes
1944, Sep. 22: Natural gas
delivery much reduced
1944, Oct. 9: Electricity
delivery cut off
1944, Nov. 3: Trees, wooden
bridge railings, wooden fences, etc. are disappearing from the streets in order
to supply some heat
1944, Nov. 24: Milk no
longer available
1945, April 24: Food
kitchens closed
1945, April 29: “Operation
Manna” launched
Introduction of ration cards
Ration cards were soon issued. Farmers were issued quotas. A certain percentage of their products had to be shipped to Germany. The remainder was distributed to the Dutch population by means of ration cards and farmers were allowed to keep the remainder for their own use.
 |
|
RATION CARDS—Please note the dates on this card: October 1 to
November 25 1944. This is significant because by these dates the stores were
empty — and that is precisely the reason this ration card is still around! Top
coupons are for meat; bottom rows for bread. Those marked “reserve” are spares
and could be applied to anything that might become available.
|
That system worked pretty well during the first couple of years of the war. During this time there was still enough food in the stores to be able to get the rations allowed. After 1942 items like eggs, meat, milk, etc. were getting in short supply.
Ways and Means
Food became scarcer. The
only way to get a little more than the ration cards allowed was to go around
the system. And the only place one was able to get these items was at its
source: the farmers! This was only possible by trading.
Milk and eggs
During the early 1940s we
would simply save all the green waste (potato and apple peels, etc.) and take
it to the farm and trade a quantity for either a liter of milk or some eggs.
The farmers used these items to feed their livestock.
Before this time, farmers would
come to town and collect the leftover peels, etc. But now they could stay on
their farm and watch the people from the cities come to them with these items
and beg for a trade. This worked well during this time because potatoes and
vegetables were still somewhat available. Twice a week I traded green waste at
a farm for a jug of milk.
Digging your own potatoes
During 1943 things were
getting a lot worse. Eggs and milk became luxury items, only available for
babies and the sick. However potatoes and veggies were still available. The
only way to get these items was to travel out of town. This was easier said
than done!
 |
|
COLOR CODED—Ration card colors indicate
different uses. Yellow
coupons were good for
potatoes; green coupons were for common use
(newspapers weekly
announced their usage);
pink coupons were for butter; blue/gray coupons
were for
skim milk. Notice the row of reserve,
or spare, coupons.
|
We were lucky in a way
because we lived close to the outskirts of Amsterdam. I took my mother’s bike
to travel to the farmers, because it was the only one that still had tires. I
carried three burlap bags with me. The distance to the farm was approximately
5-10 kilometers. A shovel was supplied and you just started digging your own
potatoes. After all my three bags were filled, payment was made to the farmer.
Farmers were having a good time. All they had to do was to watch those city
folks experience something of the hard work they were so used to and then
collect the money. But we were more than happy to be able to get these potatoes
and stored them like the squirrels do.
Transporting three bags of potatoes on a lady’s
bicycle
Trying to transport three
burlap bags of potatoes on a bicycle is an art. I managed to put one bag on the
handle bar and two on the back carrier. The only problem was: I couldn’t get on
the bike! Someone had to steady the bike while I settled down on the saddle.
With a push from that person I was on my way, all the way praying and hoping
that I didn’t have to stop while biking through the city. I remember very well
that as soon as I arrived at our apartment building, I just put the brakes on
and let the bike lean over until it hit the sidewalk curbs. The sidewalk curbs
were a big help with this trick. In all the runs I made, I never did run into
any problems and always arrived safely at home.
When money became worthless,
many farmers (not all) accepted only jewelry, linens, etc. for trading. This
was a turning point for farmers. Before the war farmers were looked down upon,
were poor and situated at the bottom of the ladder. Because of this trading
(city folks didn’t have a choice), people lost most (if not all) of their
personal belongings and farmers became a lot richer. Quite a number of farmers
took advantage of the hungry city population! From that point on farmers never
looked back and moved quickly to the top of the ladder.
Newspaper Clipping re: rations
 |
|
NEW POTATO COUPON—The local
Amsterdam newspaper clipping
reads: The Hague—The secretary-general
from the
Department of Agriculture
and Fisheries makes it known that
from June 28 until
July 4, each coupon
from the potato-coupon card
marked “33a”, gives you the
right to buy ¾ kg of potatoes.
The timeframe for coupons “Potatoes 32A”,
which
gives you the right to buy
½ a kg of potatoes, is extended until July 4.
|
This newspaper clipping gives you an insight about the amount of food (in this case potatoes) that was available per person for a one week period. The last paragraph also tells you that the system had run out of potatoes the week before the 28th of June. That’s why the extension till July 4 was added.
The story behind this clipping is that people had been standing in line (for who knows how long) and by the time it was their turn, they discovered the store had run out of potatoes.
It also tells you (since this was printed in June 27, 1944) that food was running out. And indeed this marks the beginning of the soup kitchens, since week after week coupons could not be honored and less and less food was available for the population.
Gathering the ears of wheat on a farmer’s field
One of the last times I was
able to collect something to eat for our family was when the farmers where
finished with the grain harvest. It was not an easy job! Have you ever seen
what a field looks like after the harvest? Nothing left but stubbles and here
and there a stalk of grain. Now try to walk over that in sandals made from a
piece of a wooden plank. I tell you it hurts! After I had collected a burlap
bag full of grain stalks from in between the stubbles in the field, my feet
were a mess! The stubbles cut into my feet and they were pretty bloody and
sore.
Back home, somehow we had
to take the grains out of the ears. The best way of doing this was by using a
flat sieve made from metal screening. On our apartment balcony we crunched the
ears, put this on the sieve and than threw it upwards, time and time again. The
wind did the rest. It blew away the light stuff, while the grains were left
behind. These grains were then put in the hand-cranked coffee grinder, and
ground into flour, which enabled us to bake a loaf of bread, or use for
porridge or mix in with the food from the soup kitchen.
Food in exchange for blood
The hospital asked for
volunteers to give blood in exchange for some extra food coupons. Well, blood
was one item we still had. My friend and I didn’t waste any time to walk to the
hospital and donate our blood. At that time, donating blood was in its infancy.
It was stipulated that one was only allowed to give blood once a year. In return
you received coupons for eggs and milk and vitamin C tablets — items that we
hadn’t seen for a long time. Only babies were getting milk and eggs. To top it
off: During the recovering time (one whole hour!) you got something to eat and
drink!
Much later we found out
that this blood was actually collected for the wounded German soldiers who were
fighting on the Russian front. Even if we had been aware of that fact, we
wouldn’t have cared.
The murder of a duck
On my lunch break from the
printing trade school, my buddies and I never stayed inside the school
building. The school was located at the outskirts of Amsterdam. There was a
huge area of green space with trees and bushes, etc. That’s where we spent our lunch
hour. Not that we had much to crunch on, because (as I have noted before) food
was getting scarce.
We must have made some
noise, because all of a sudden there was a duck staring at us. A duck in the city? While I was looking at the duck, all I saw
was a MEAL!
Well, it didn’t take me
long to make up my mind. The next day I brought a jute sack (gunny bag) with me
to school. I also brought an axe. At the end of the school day, I went looking
for the duck. And the duck was waiting for me — in the same spot!
There was no problem
catching the duck, because, as it turned out, she was sitting on her nest. Well,
that was double value! A duck and a couple of eggs!
The duck soon ended up in
my bag. Now I had to sit down for a moment and think about how to tackle this.
The duck obviously had to be killed. Being a city boy, I had never had occasion
to kill a duck (or any other animal that could be eaten). But I had read
stories and knew that you just had to twist their necks and they would die
pretty fast.
My hands went down the bag
from the outside and easily located his neck. I began the wringing. When I
thought the feat had been accomplished, I loosened my grip. Alas, my bag came
to life and an awful noise greeted me.
Next came the axe. Also
used on the outside of the bag. As long as the duck was inside, she wouldn’t be
able to get away, of course. The axe came down hard! But it bounced back up a
whole lot faster.
In short: It turned out to
be a slow and gruesome death for this duck.
But I still had to get
home. That meant a good half hour by streetcar and a 15-20 minute hike for the
last stretch home.
It is no fun traveling by
streetcar with a dead duck in a bag. I stayed at the rear of the streetcar and
pretended that the awful smell around us had absolutely nothing to do with me!
And, boy, did it stink!
When I arrived home and
opened the bag, I had to get rid of it in a hurry. Death throes had caused the
duck to dirty the bag.
To top it off, the eggs
were rotten and had to be thrown out.
And, the cleaning of the
duck was yet another problem. But enough about this poor duck.
Tulip bulbs - Mmmm!
Bread made from tulip bulbs
actually tastes very good. One of my friend’s mother made this bread and it was
like cake to me.
Eating a foamy substance
My friend Henk and I were
stamp collectors. Every Saturday we went downtown to the postage stamp market,
where there was selling, buying and trading of stamps.
One time, Henk brought his
complete collection to the market and sold it for 25 bucks! I was mad at him.
Why did he sell his
beautiful stamps?
On the way back home – a
one-hour walk - I found out why. He had noticed that street vendors were
selling something that looked inviting — whipping cream of some sort!
Of course, that couldn’t
be! We hadn’t seen whipping cream since 1939 for Pete’s sake! And we were
hungry! This vendor was using the same machine that had been used in better
times to top off hot chocolate with whipping cream. This stuff looked the same.
We knew it must have been 90% air, but our stomachs were empty and this foam
looked appealing. It tasted so good. At $1.50 a pop, Henk kept buying until all
his treasured money was gone! All 25 bucks!
Ten minutes later, we felt
the same hunger pangs we had before!
But just the idea!!!
 |
|
NOTHING WENT TO WASTE—Stinging
Nettles, a roadside weed, sold for 15c a half
kilogram.
|
Stinging Nettles For Sale
Because of vegetable
shortages, vegetable stores started to sell a variety of strange things you
would never dream of eating. “Stinging nettles” (brandnetels in Dutch) was one
of these exotic items. These nettles grow in ditches and when you touch them
they really sting! Blisters will appear wherever they touch you. This was
something new and made the news. I did save the picture that appeared in the
newspaper. As you see very clearly the helper in the store is wearing gloves
while weighing the nettles!
Original content:
More Herman Mol reminiscences ahead this fall in Pillar
to Post on how he and his family survived the last winter of WWII and how a
seldom-remembered Allied airlift called “Operation Manna” helped save starving
Europeans.
No comments:
Post a Comment