Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to someone that I have looked up to my whole life. At 87 years young, she has already experienced much in her life. She immigrated to the United States as a teenager. She has six children, four girls and two boys. She has 18 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, and she is working on her very first great-great grandchild! She lost her husband nearly 23 years ago and has lived alone in her home or in a retirement community since. Don’t let that fool you though! She is a fun loving, social butterfly and enjoys playing games with friends and visiting with her family. She also plays the harp, the mandolin, and the piano. While I recognize that not one trial has defined her existence, today, we will be discussing the period of time that she lived in Holland during the German-occupation of WWII as a child. Please welcome Ria Seele, my grandmother!
Background and Pre-war
Frederika, known as Rika as a child and Ria as she became older, was born in Gronigen, Holland, Netherlands in 1933. She was #11 of 15 children. Her family lived in a shared home, two or three children to a bed, with a kitchenette and living room as the main areas of the home. When the neighbors that shared their home moved out, they took over the other part of the house which gave them access to a true kitchen, a bathroom, and another bedroom. “I loved my home and was proud of it. At one time, I charged the neighbor kids a dime and I let them in the house,” she playfully shared. As a young child, she remembers playing a lot with her sister Wilhelmina. She recounted, “We played school and with our dollies, you know, like little girls do. We would teach them, and when they were naughty, we would spank them [laughter], child’s play, you know”. She also recalled that in the evenings, all of the neighborhood children would come out in the streets and play together. She remembers life being happy and good at that time.
She had just barely turned seven when the Germans began to occupy her home country. This thought gives me reason to pause because I currently have a seven-year-old. I cannot imagine my seven-year-old daughter going through what my grandmother reported to me. Although the Netherlands was considered neutral in World War II, the Germans invaded the Netherlands and after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch army surrendered. According to various articles on the matter, the Germans’ goal of occupation was to get nearer to France so they could defeat the troops there easier. Dutch royalty had fled to England leaving their people to contend with the brutal force occupying the land. ("The German invasion, n.d.)
Ria’s Thoughts on Occupation
The first thing Ria remembers doing was covering up all the windows in the house. If the Germans saw any light shining out of the windows, they would shoot it out. They had also been given a 6 o’clock curfew as well, which meant that there was no more camaraderie with neighborhood friends in the evening. According to Ria, “If anyone was seen in the streets past curfew, the Germans would shoot you, no questions”.
Ria also had three older brothers that were forced to serve in the German army. Her brothers each had different experiences serving in the army. One of her brothers would send home his dirty clothes so his mother could wash them and send them back. He would complain that they were very hungry because they only had cabbage soup to eat. His mother once sent him some food with his laundry, but the letter sent back home expressly stated not to send anything except clothing because the Germans would discipline the soldiers for breaking their orders. Another brother would escape from the army and return home. After he’d been home for a while someone would see him and report it to the Germans. The soldiers would come inspect their home looking for him. He would crawl out of a tiny window and jump onto the neighbor’s roof and escape. They would catch up with him and send him to the barracks and then later he would escape again. Her oldest brother was to search out wounded soldiers and take them back to their camps and he would tell his family horror stories.
Her feelings about the war, “I was worried about what was happening. I worried that I wouldn’t see my brothers anymore. Every day we heard of people getting killed.” Ria also commented on her mother, “ I don’t think my mom slept one night during the war. She probably dozed here and there, but she was worried.”
She also shared with me about what it was like to live under German regime.
“They took away all of our radios. We had a kind of stereo that my brother turned into a radio and he would try to get information about the war – late at night. I was eager to hear. My brother would say, don’t you say a word. If they caught my brother, they would have killed him. I was worried that we would get caught.”
“My dad had a stall with two horses – for work – for deliveries of coal and oil. In the stall we also had 2 small pigs. We would feed the potato peels to the pigs because we didn’t want them to get too big because the neighbors could find out and report us. Well, when we finally slaughtered the pigs, my mom cooked it all right away, discretely by burning wheat at the same time – which made wheat postum – [which was a caffeine free alternative to coffee]. Under the cradle in the bedroom, there was a false bottom and I’m sure they hid meat there. We also had large pots in the attic where my mom would keep the salted green beans all winter. We would hide a little of the meat under the beans. My mom also hung the sausage high up in the chimney. [The Luttmer family hid their meat because they could face consequences for having it.] One day, Gerhard [her younger brother] ran out of the house with a mouthful of meat. Someone asked him what he had in his mouth and he told them it was meat. Well a couple of hours later, the Germans came to search our house for meat. They didn’t find it. And that’s how it was back then; if a neighbor saw you doing something you weren’t supposed to, they would snitch.”
“Everyone was fighting for their own. There was a German grain warehouse across the alley. The food was kept in gunnysacks and they would load the sacks into the backs of trucks. [I] would put [my] finger through the holes in the sacks and held up my dress to see if I could get anything out of there. I did that several times. [Laughter]. I never got enough to get a meal, but it was good for a snack. We could pop it kind of like popcorn.”
“I lived in the middle of the city and I would have to cross two bridges in order to get to school. When the sirens went off, the bridges would go up and I couldn’t cross to get home. I would stand as close as possible to the houses so that I
wouldn’t get shot or bombed. I’m still scared of sirens. When I hear sirens, sometimes, I still want to hide. On my way to school, I used to like crossing through the park to get there, but after the war broke out, the soldiers used the park for their bunkers. My mom and brother told me not to cross through the
park or to ever go in one of those bunkers because they weren’t safe. One time I went in one and oh, the filth that I found there. They would take women and leave them in there. I never needed to look inside one again. So, I was afraid to go into the park alone, especially as I got older, because the soldiers would grab you.”
“In my town there were a lot of government buildings so they did a lot of bombing there. I would hear bombs going off. The soldiers had light bombs that they threw to see where they were in the street. One night they threw one right in front of my house and we thought the front door was on fire and left a big dent in the street. I was scared when they used those that my house would burn down.”
“Planes would fly over at night – we were scared because American planes would bomb us. The German planes had a different sound and we knew we were safe when they would fly over. A lot of nights I would sleep underneath the table - my mom
wanted us all together – until the planes flew over. I would go to bed hungry because there was no food. My mom would say go to bed and you won’t feel it and I’ll give you some bread in the morning."
Holocaust
After Hitler ordered Jewish people be sent to concentration camps, the Netherlands was penetrated with German troops searching out innocent Jewish people. In fact, most of the captured Jewish people during WWII came from the Netherlands, including Anne Frank. (Griffioen, et al., n.d., para.1&2) Ria recalled a personal memory about a Jewish neighbor, “Once a truck came by and pulled a Jewish family out of their house after they had already gone to bed – they were already in their nightgowns. I knew them, they lived just four houses down and I played with the little kids that lived there. A neighbor across the street wasn’t afraid of the German soldiers, and she was yelling at them to stop and spit at them; I’m surprised they didn’t just shoot her. But they didn’t care and took them- their whole family.
I happened to be awake still and watched out of the window and I cried saying ‘No! No, don’t take them!’
After the war, one boy from the family came back. All the neighbors met with him and he told all about what had happened. They started with his mom and shot her, and then his dad, and all of his brothers and sisters. They left him alive and tortured him.”
Though this was an anxious time, Ria’s family tried to help people when they could.
“My dad hid Jewish people in our house several times. He knew how to hide them. They would hide somewhere in the attic. Soldiers came many times looking for them, but they never found them. [Laughter]. I was scared a lot of times what happened to my neighbors and friends. Once, we had a Jewish lady that came looking for food because she and her children were starving. My dad gave her some food and she walked home, but the soldiers found her and killed her because she had food on her. My Dad felt bad because he gave her food and felt like he should have known better.”
“My dad delivered coal and oil – we all had coal stoves and needed oil for lamps. Sometimes, my dad would give extra coal and oil to those that needed it even though they didn’t have the tickets for it. My mom would complain because that meant less for us, but we had plenty to keep warm.”
End of the War
As you can imagine, the end of the war felt like a time to celebrate! The Germans had left the Netherlands and many hoped they could once again be reunited with their loved ones. As the Luttmer family gained hope as the war ended, they continued to experience trial and suffering. Ria recalled, “There was a big celebration May 5, 1945 in our town. There was dancing and music in the streets because the Canadians had freed us. We all talked with neighbors and had whatever food and drink we could find. The Canadian soldiers were there. My older sister and Leisha were sitting on the front steps when some soldiers came by and asked for directions. The soldiers asked them to come along and they were both raped. I remember that was a terrible night. My older sister took it better than Leisha. Leisha was very hurt and had a bloody lip and lots of bruises. We had a lot of candy and gum given to us by the Canadians and my mom made us throw it all away in the trash and said it was trash, it was filthy because of what it represented. My parents complained, but I don’t know if the soldiers were reprimanded or not. I just remember that was a horrible night.”
The Luttmer family was eager, as was every other family, to see family members again. They weren't prepared for the experience that came to them.
“Soldiers had to walk home after the war. Every day after the war we would stand outside and watch the young men walk back from Germany. Most of them came home in their underwear and had no shoes. Everyone was looking for their family members to come home. They would spend all day looking for loved ones. When we saw my brother walking up the street, we all ran up to him. He was weak, hungry, and dirty. It was not a good sight.”
What joy I can only imagine Ria’s mother, Roelfje, felt as her boys were finally home! Pained and sickly, yes, but they were home!
The Dutch Potato Project
Ria's family also participated in growing potatoes for starving Germans after the war was over. She remembered, “After the war, the saints [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] in America sent big, BIG boxes of food, clothing, bedding, and shoes to us. They had made homemade quilts. Oh, they were beautiful yellow, pink, and blue quilts. Everyone in our house had at least one of these quilts. Most of us slept with siblings, so we doubled up. We would gather at our meetinghouses and we could pick out whatever shoes we wanted. They sent so many different kinds of canned goods. I remember my mom opening a can of peaches and they were beautiful peaches. My mom looked at them and said they were too beautiful to eat! She cried, so thankful to have such food in our house. All of us had a peach and they were delicious.
President [Ezra Taft] Benson [who was then Mission President over the European Mission] came to our house and asked my dad to grow potatoes on the land he owned because the Germans were starving. He said, “No way! Those Germans can just die”. [President Benson] went to other land owners to ask the same thing and it didn’t go well, so he called a meeting and asked them to remember what the Americans had just done for them and to please consider their starving brothers and sisters in Germany. Many men wouldn’t do it, then my dad finally stood up and said he was right and agreed to grow potatoes for the Germans.
My Uncle had a truck at the beginning of the war that he didn’t want the Germans to take – because the Germans took everything! He owned quite a bit of land, so he dug a pit and he buried his truck there until the war was over. After the war, when he dug up the truck, he asked my brother Fred to help him get it running again. I guess Fred did a good job and my uncle gave him the truck for his own. Well, the potatoes were harvested and Fred’s truck was used to take the potatoes to Germany. See how it’s all connected?
As she says, “See how it’s all connected”, I can’t help but to be amazed how some people can be evil enough to terrorize and murder other humans, but other people can be selfless enough to care for others despite horrific experiences between them.
If you’re interested in learning more about The Dutch Potato Project, please watch the beautiful video below. The truck Ria referred to is also shown in the video.
Acquired Knowledge
In talking with my grandmother, I really desired to know of what she felt she gained throughout her experiences. Of course, it has been quite a long time since 1945, but I know the things she experienced aided her in difficult times throughout the rest of her life.
“The lesson I learned most was to stay close to the church. To have faith. My father would pray often and he believed every word – that we would all be together again soon – and that came to pass. We fasted and prayed a lot. We tried to keep the commandments as best as we could.
I also learned that you have to think for yourself. You can’t rely on someone else to save you – no one else can save you. No one can give you faith.
Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe…but also don’t rock the boat. [Laughter]. As long as it doesn’t go against your beliefs, go with what's happening."
She spoke about how her experiences affected the way she viewed family, “Family plays a big part. You learn from your family. We could fight each other and call each other names, but if someone outside of the family did it, you can bet I’d hit them over the head. There’s a bond there.”
Now at 87, living in a retirement community, the threat of COVID-19 has her quarantined to her apartment. When I asked her how her trials helped prepare her for something like a worldwide pandemic, she inspired me to become more flexible. “Go with the flow. Don’t get too upset. If you’re upset, you’re miserable. Enjoy the solitude you have right now and get through it. Make the most of it.”
Final Thoughts
I felt in some way that I should contribute my own thoughts to end this article, but every time I read them, they fell flat in comparison to Ria's. So, instead, I'll end with some final thoughts she had during our interview. “Everyone has something that is hard. You don’t know what I went through. You can’t feel the same feelings that I had. Having to go hungry, steal food to eat, living in fear. On the last day of the war, the Germans pulled us out of our house and said for every soldier that’s been killed, we will kill 5 people from your homes. We were lined up in the streets; they were going to kill my mom and dad. Just then, the Canadians came from across the street and the Germans ran and we were saved. I hope no one has to live through that. You have no idea how often I thank my Heavenly Father that I got to move to America. I thought the Land of the Free? You’ve got to be kidding? I was so excited.”
References
Griffioen, P., & Zeller, R. (n.d.). The Netherlands: the greatest number of Jewish victims in Western Europe. Anne Frank House. https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest- number-jewish-victims-western-europe/
The German invasion of the Netherlands. (n.d.) Anne Frank House. Retrieved May 8, 2020, from https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/german- invasion-netherlands/
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