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“A day of horror and suffering. A day that made us tremble with fear.” Jenny van Dinter's mother wrote about September 17, 1944. It soon became too dangerous near the John Frost Bridge and the family had to move into the cellar under the house. “Without our father, because he was called by the fire brigade. I wouldn't see him for a very long time.”
The burning house
Jenny's mother had put fruit and vegetables in jars, luckily they were still able to eat something. “The shooting continued and rockets flew over the house. Everyone was in panic and no one dared to leave the basement. We tried to get some sleep on three wooden planks and ate cold beans.”
When the third day arrived the house was on fire. The door was blocked with rubble, so they were trapped. “My mother screamed for attention and two German soldiers pulled us out of the cellar through the grate. We screamed in pain and fear.” The family ran from a burning city center towards a hotel. “Velperplein was full of dead and wounded soldiers. We had to keep walking around them.” Jenny will never forget this thought, she says. “It will stay with you for the rest of your life.”
So that you understand what a war can mean for all people
The father of the family was still away. “We left Arnhem around September 20. With 2 large horses and a box truck that we filled with all kinds of things. After three days we arrived in Eerbeek.” Jenny's grandparents lived in Spakenburg and the family eventually ended up there through a fishmonger.
“Magda, my sister was weak and stayed with mom while we had some lessons in an old schoolroom. We lived on potatoes and fish and slept in the utility room on 2 beds.” Jenny's father came back, but didn't talk. “He was sick and weak. Later we heard that he had been arrested and had been held in a prison in Amersfoort. There he was given little food and much torture. He escaped with a friend through high fences.”
Hungry
The Hunger Winter started and it was tough. “Somewhere in the village there was a kitchen where you could get some soup made from tulip bulbs. It was too dirty to see, but we all stood in line just to get something warm. Sometimes I would add a slice of bread and my mother would say, 'I'm not hungry' and divide the slice of bread into 3 pieces.” The cold froze everything and made it even more difficult to find food.
“There were days when we didn't even get out of bed. We played word games to pass the time. My father had a leather belt, he cut small pieces of it to chew on to keep your mouth moist. We also brought snow in to vacuum.” The war was close, because the shots could be heard day and night in Spakenburg. But the Americans were closing in.
The family was ordered to the large cellar. “After a few hours my father left. It was so packed that we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get out again." The family decided to leave Spakenburg. “We were not so strong anymore and Magda had to be carried a lot by my father. I don't remember how far we walked every day.”
After a 53 kilometer walk near Apeldoorn, the family arrived in a liberated area. “Despite being dirty and weak, we revived a bit. We were liberated”! In July 1945, Jenny was able to return to Arnhem with her sisters and parents. “Here all the misery came back again. We didn't sleep anymore because we were so scared. We no longer had a home and all memories were gone. I didn't know where my friends were or if they were still alive."
Back home, without a house
There was nothing left of the house on the Rhine. They were assigned a house through the Red Cross. “But this was almost empty, because the Germans had taken everything with them when they were retreating.” Clothing was distributed at a school building. “I don't think I've ever been so happy to get a coat and new shoes before.” The stores were also filled again by the American army. “The first real food for me was a hot dog.”
Gradually the family felt better and recovered. “You never actually forget the war. Even though we have been liberated for 77 years, there is still a lot in my memory.” After the war, Jenny tended a grave of an English soldier who had died during the Battle of Arnhem. “We contacted the deceased's family in England. And I sent a photo to the widow who had a three-year-old daughter. After two years she came over to visit the grave and stayed in our house. A friendship was born that lasted for many years.”
