by Neil Fleihmann
February 4, 1933: Hitler’s cabinet issues the “Decree for the Protection of the German People,” restricting press and political meetings to hinder opposition campaigning
February 20, 1939: A pro-Nazi rally organized by the German American Bund was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, drawing over 20,000 attendees
February 21, 1933: Hermann Göring orders the Prussian police to use firearms against “enemies of the state”.
February 27, 1933: The Reichstag building burns down, which the Nazis immediately use as a pretext to claim a Communist coup, leading to the suspension of civil liberties.
February 28, 1933: The “Reichstag Fire Decree” (Decree for the Protection of the People and State) is signed, abolishing constitutional protections and allowing for the imprisonment of political opponents, effectively enabling the Nazi dictatorship.
Chapter 1.
On May 5, 1940, at daybreak, it was not quite light yet, I woke up when all hell seemed to have broken loose. There was the sound of planes flying overhead at low altitude, wave after wave, and at the same time I heard artillery fire. I jumped out of bed and quickly threw on some clothes. My parents and sister had done the same and we ran outside to find our neighbors in the street looking up at the sky.
We all know how that story ends. But there are few left to tell it who lived it. Fortunately, Nell Fleihmann, Oakland, is still here. She is 103 years old and is the mother of Jack Fleihmann of Concord. In 1933, Nell lived in Holland. She was only 10 years old and would have no understanding that the developments in Germany would relatively soon change her life. It did and it was sudden.
She has written her experience of life under the German occupation of the Netherlands in a 50-page booklet that she and Jack has shared with the Diablo Gazette. We are going to share her story in a series of outtakes quoting her experiences from occupation to freedom. From this point, these are her words.
Invasion of Holland
The sky was full of small airplanes, thousands of men were dangling from para9hutes, descending slowly. They wore white jumpsuits and artillery fire from the ground hit many of them. Once.1these men landed, they unzipped their suits, stepped out and were wearing the uniform of Dutch soldiers, so that on the ground it became difficult to tell them apart from real Dutch soldiers.
At the time of the invasion, I was 17 years old and lived with my parents and sister in Wassenaar, a suburb of The Hague. My two brothers had left the nest, and both lived in Amsterdam.
The Dutch military had prepared for a German invasion and Dutch troops were stationed along the entire border with Germany. Our military never ·expected that German soldiers would be airlifted and dropped along our western seaboard, facing England. By invading the country from the air, the Germans had taken Holland by surprise.
The thought hit me like a brick, Holland was being attacked. Young as I was, I knew what that meant. War was going to be so terrible, causing nothing but death and destruction. How could this happen in our tranquil little country?
Many events in the last few years were leading up to war, but I had been in denial. Three other countries had already been invaded by the Germans and in Holland there was talk of an impending invasion. I kept putting these ominous signs out of my mind.
Invasion of Western European Countries ‘
Germany had annexed Austria. in 1938. The Austrian Government sympathized with the German regime and put up no resistance. A year later the Czech Republic was occupied and next came Poland. Germany had now broken the Treaty of Versailles causing England and France to declare war on Germany in 1939. The Treaty was the peace settlement signed after World War I ended in 1918. Many restrictions were then placed on the German Army. Germany was ignoring all the conditions of the Treaty and did not bother to declare war.·
In 1940 German troops invaded Holland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, part of France and had designs on conquering Great Britain .
The Dutch Government had hoped for neutrality, the same as we had during World War I. No such luck, however. Our army was powerless against the mighty German forces. We had been promised help by the British, but they had a small army and practically no Air Force.
During World War II, England served as a staging area for the Allied Forces. They enlarged their Army and had direct connections with the underground movement in Holland.
For the rest of my life, the trauma of what followed in the next five years has remained deeply embedded in my memory. For years the sound of firecrackers, and any loud explosion, would become a trigger that would take me back to the war years.
Bombing of Rotterdam
The day after dropping German parachutists along the coast, Rotterdam was bombed. Part of the harbor, one of Europe’s largest and most important ports, was destroyed, as well as the center of the city and 800 civilians were killed, one of these was a young woman who had been a neighbor of ours.
After this happened, the Dutch Government was told to capitulate, because if they did not do this the Germans intended to bomb more large cities.
For four days our Army tried to defend itself against the enemy but then was forced to surrender.
Dutch soldiers threw away their guns in disgust and some cried.
German troops and transportation soon poured in over the eastern border and we were now occupied under the command of the dreaded SS troops.
They wore a “skull and cross bones” on their uniform, and years later at the Nuremburg trials, these Nazi’s were condemned as war criminals.
The Belgians and Norwegians fell under command of the German Army, not the S.S. As such they suffered a less brutal occupation.
The day the Germans marched into The Hague, I took the streetcar and saw the hated troops enter that town.
Thousands of people with grim faces were watching along the road and many were overcome by emotion. In the afternoon, young Dutch men were forced into open trucks by armed German soldiers, to be transported to Rotterdam to help clear up the debris from the bombings. From now on things changed rapidly.
The Royal family fled to England, where Queen Wilhelmina set up an office. She remained there for the duration of the war. Her son in law, Prince Bernhard, joined the British Royal Air Force.
Later, in 1942, when the relentless bombing of London began, Queen Wilhelmina’s daughter Princess Juliana and her three daughters, left for Ottawa, Canada. Ships pulled out of the harbors and planes left Holland in a hurry. Many of those who managed to flee were Jewish.
At this point, early during the occupation, it was still possible for people to leave the country. Needless to say the Germans quickly put an end to that.
Part 2 Persecution of Jewish Citizens