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Wim will get a ‘struikelsteen' *
My Uncle Wim will get a ‘struikelsteen’ *
An photo of the 'struikelsteen' created for Derk Willem (Wim)
It is 1945. The Nazis are still defending the Deventer bridges from attacks by allied forces. ‘Wim is lying in his bed. We’re just joking around. He is in a lot of pain because of his back problems, but he is holding up well. Wim, 18 years of age, is my oldest brother.’
(Excerpt from my book 'Memories of World War II)
Wim died two years after the war from a wound in his back, incurred during an action for The Dutch Resistance and now, on the 12th of November 2021, almost 75 years later he will receive a ‘remembrance’ plaque in Deventer (The Netherlands).
* Stolpersteine (in English: “stumbling stones”), are shiny bronze plaques to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime in more than 1,100 locations in 17 European countries. Victims include Jews, homosexuals, disabled people, Romani people and Resistance fighters. My Uncle, who died at the age of 20, was a Resistance fighter!
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In 2019, the then 89-year-old Han van Nijen, together with his brother Fokke, visited the house in Deventer (The Netherlands) where he and his family lived during the Second World War.
It was an emotional visit and brought back memories that had been tucked away!
That same year Han, (who is my father), visited me (Renate van Nijen -Dutch artist and writer) in Spain to celebrate my 60th birthday. He told me about the visit to his parental home in Deventer and many emotional stories about his experiences as a teenager.
At that time, he hadn’t realised that his entire family were active in The Resistance. Now the memories come back to haunt him.
I asked him whether I could write a book about his experiences and he agreed.
I interviewed him via Skype and WhatsApp and every single story jogged his memory to trigger another story, and yet another. His father, his older brother, an uncle and the landlord were all in the Resistance and my father himself was also deployed, although he did not realize that at the time.
Wim, his older brother, still a young boy during the war, was shot in the back sometime in 1944 during an action for the Resistance, when he was only 18 years old. The wound did not heal and two years after the war he died from his wounds.
His name is mentioned on two memorial stones, in the Dutch towns of Markelo and Deventer. He is also mentioned on the website of the Workgroup ‘Struikelstenen’ in Deventer and he is mentioned in the book 'De Ondergrondse' by Coen Hilbrink (a well-known Dutch Resistance fighter).
When I decided to write this special book about my father, the current resident of the family’s original house in the Diepenveenseweg, a lady called Marion Kemeling Schurink, very kindly sent me various videos of the house, which still has many features of those war times, to inspire me. It was the start of a special collaboration. In fact, it is actually Marion who donated the ‘struikelsteen’.
You can read more information about this little book called 'Memories of World War II - the war seen through teenage eyes' by clicking on this link. I made a special painting for the cover of this book (which is also translated into Dutch). I donated the original painting to the current owners of the house and they told me that should they ever move on and sell the house, they will leave the painting and a copy of the book for the next owners. I think this is a nice detail.
Click on the book cover to find out more about the book and to purchase!
But even more special is that now, on November 12th 2021, that very special stone will be laid for my late Uncle Wim in front of the house where he was regularly carried down to the basement on a chair by my father and his father, during aerial bombardments.
My father – now 91 years old – and his two younger brothers Laurens van Nijen and Fokke van Nijen will be present during this special commemoration.
A class of young school children has also been invited and afterwards a visit is planned to the Etty Hillesum Centre. (Etty Hillesum who lived in Deventer, but later moved to Amsterdam, was a Dutch author of diaries and confessional letters in which she describes her spiritual awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people during the Second World War. She voluntarily decided to go to the Dutch transit camp Westerbork (as a social welfare), but she died in Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943.) Her work is known internationally and I feel a must read!
So as an artist and a writer you are often taken on a special journey. Memories of World War II will give you a good insight what life can be like for young children during war time.
