The region where my grandmother lived had been liberated but the country was still at war and would be for three more months.
The liberation of Holland officially took place on the 5th of May 1945. But liberation in time of war is more a process than an event. In this case it was a long and difficult process for the civilians involved.
My grandmother and her employers are lodged with a family in a village called Uden. Life was not easy as she will tell you. There are many names in this letter.
We are with the family S. A young man, Jan, and his wife Pieta and 13 months old baby, Adrie, a cute little child. Within 14 days they expect their second. Dan there is Jan’s mother, Oma. Jan and Pieta are all right, but Oma is a terrible woman. At first it went all right but after about 3 weeks it becomes a chore to go to the soup kitchen and you had to pay for it anyway. 60 cents per day per person. It was taken from the boarding money. First the master paid it himself. Now Jan gets more than before but it didn’t go well anymore, what the problem was we did not understand. We found out that it was Oma.
Jan and Pieta rent the house from Oma but all the furniture belongs to her. All the time Oma was whining about the strange folk doing this and the strange folk doing that. We wore down her bed and the night stand was dirty and the carpet suffered so much and she did nothing but order me about.
Pieta has been ill three weeks. I did the entire household, kitchen, taking care of the baby and Oma was ill then. That saved me some trouble. And then the master needed to be massaged twice. My head turned over. Then Oma felt a bit better and continued nagging me. The food was never good enough, if I took something from the cupboard she would put it back. She would stand and watch what we ate. At one point I was almost afraid to eat anything. Then I told them that I refused to cook any longer if Oma interfered. Then she let me cook in peace, but she can’t stand me. I can’t stand her either, and the master can’t either. Now it has come to the point that we are taking care of ourselves. Jan and Pieta are very sorry about it, but they have to mind Oma.
All Oma’s things will be taken from our room. We rummaged around until we found two beds and matresses we could borrow. I am waiting for those to come at this moment, so we can make it all in order. I hope they will stay away a bit longer so I can finish this letter.
We were able to buy chairs. They are like the ones you have in your living room. And pans. From the Elizabeth society we received three deep and flat plates, three breakfast plates, three cups and saucers, three spoons, forks and knives and a milk jug with the ear broken off. Now we have something to get us going, also when we return to Groesbeek. That will be so difficult.
We have no sheets, covers, towels, tea towels. None of the linens. That beautiful breakfast table cloth you gave me is gone too. It was all stolen by the English. The factory was broken but there was much still in it. The English have been driving with cars for 8 days to get it all out, even the doors. We brought all our linens and bed sheets to the basement, in case there would be a fire. Thé R. has been inside the house. He was allowed in for 5 minutes. But everything was gone. It will be a lot of work before we will live on our own again. You get stuck with everything. No sewing cotton or darning cotton. Yesterday someone gave me half a skein of grey yarn. The master got jaeger wool underpants that was a bit too big. Madam knitted it again, and there were two sets of mittens left from the wool. And so we toil on.
I am just so busy with all sorts of things. The master can’t wash himself, or dress himself and comb his hair. The past few days have been a bit better. The doctor gave him an ointment for massaging. Now I do that all the time, and then I have to beat quite hard. But it helps and that is most important.
Dien I wanted to ask you something. Do you perhaps have a hat for me or a headscarf? I have a hat but it’s for Sundays. If I have to wear that one all the time, and it’s cold so I have to, it will be gone in not time at all. Maybe the three of you have something lying around for me. And a string for my corset. I tied it with all sorts of little strings. It suffered a lot from sleeping with my clothes on. Maybe you can find a way to get one here.
Dien, in Zeilberg I still have all my things. So it’s not too bad. They had a shell on the house. But fortunately they were in the basement of the B.’s. A lot of things are gone though. I went there on a borrowed bicycle. It got me half way. Nelly’s brother gave me another one. Gerry was in the hospital with a broken leg. He returned that very evening. I still don’t know about Daan yet. I tried via the red cross. I haven’t heard anything from you either. Isn’t it terrible what happened to Tony and Riek? Those people have really nothing now. I heard in Zeilberg.
It was madam’s birthday 16 January. Thé R. had put an advertisement in the newspaper wishing her a happy birthday. We replied with an advertisement with all our full names in it. And then yesterday someone came with a letter from Peter van H., Lena’s brother in law. They had read the advertisement and then knew I was still alive. They had been worried. I was so happy. There was also a letter from Johanna. There was someone here who had to go to Haps. I had given him a letter for her 14 days ago, and now I received one back. She has a son and is well, but she is worried about her father and mother. All the people from Gennep were evacuated. Venlo is bad, isn’t it? I have to go, I have to help. Bye bye. I hope to hear from you soon. Greetings to everyone and the best wishes and lots of kisses from
Mariet
P.S. The master and I both read English but we don’t see many English here. Herman spoke with them as if it was Dutch. I never knew.
1 Feb. This morning your message came via the red cross. I had a rash all over my body. I looked horrible. It lasted a couple of months but now it’s almost gone. Now I have a sty in the eye.
The liberation of Holland must have been a joyous event - but it was also a grinding struggle for those who lived it.
I shall always be grateful for having found these letters.
This is the second part of the third World War II letter. It was written on 30 January 1945. 
