World War 2 Letters
Operation Market Garden

"These World War 2 letters were recently discovered hidden in the back of a photograph album in Holland. Armgard Fretag tells the story."

Yesterday I was looking for pictures of girls in 1930s frocks in my grandmother’s photo album. In the 1960s her friend Dien gave her that photo album and added a few newspaper cuttings too. My grandmother used to sit down with me and look at the pictures, telling me who the people were and what they were doing.

There was an envelope in the back of the album. When I opened it several letters from World War II spilled out onto the floor. I read the first one. It was a letter my grandmother wrote to Dien on 10 September 1944 when she was 34 years old.

That happens to be seven days before operation Market Garden started. I remember my grandmother had told me she was in Nijmegen in that period. She told me about the wounded soldiers and about the people she worked for. My grandmother wasa housekeeper. Together with the maid (probably the girl named Emma she mentions) she ran the household of a rich factory owner and his family.

In her World War 2 letters my grandmother mentions wondering how things are in places like Deurne and Maastricht. What she means is that she wonders how her siblings are doing who live there.

The first of these World War 2 letters was opened by the occupiers' board of censors. My grandmother is careful in describing what is going on. “There is such a racket”, she writes. What she means to say is that there was fighting going on. In the other letters she talks about bombings and gun fire. In the first of her World War 2 letters she says “they are taking girls…they occupied the school”. In the second letter it is “The Germans blew up the church.”

This is the first of the World War 2 letters I found. The others will follow soon.

~ Armgard Freytag

Groesbeek 10 September 1944

Dearest Dien,

My, was I surprised last Thursday when your letter came. I was ever so happy to receive it. I did not believe the mail service still worked. Maybe this means you will also receive this letter. What a racket, hm?

Mr. and Mrs. -- were in Nijmegen from Saturday to Monday. There was a farewell party for André. He was going away for three years last Monday. I was happy when they arrived home. And just in time. Tuesday the busses stopped running. André came walking back from I don’t know where, but it was 60 km.

There has been such a racket here, there still is, but we are used to it now. Emma is so afraid. Friday she went to I--. with Harry. She had to go and see her mother in law. They went by bicycle, she on mine. I hope they crossed safely. It really is far away. Emma thought “good, it’ll be safer in I--. than here.” But you can’t know such things.

I still haven’t heard anything from Deurne or Maastricht. I expect everything is all right in Deurne but I don’t know about Maastricht. Maybe they think ‘Sister is all right there, we’ll just silently leave her there’. Well, I am not going to write them. Maybe that is not nice of me but they could answer my letters sometimes.

Today I wanted to go and have a look at Cuyk, so I walked there. I was not allowed on the ferry in Katwijk but I knew this so I walked straight to the crossing at Cuyk. But I was not allowed over there either. What a nuisance. I could walk straight back again. I left at half past eleven and arrived back at four. On my way back I took my time and sat by the side of the road every now and then. The weather was so wonderful. Today there was so much going on in the air. The air raid siren in Nijmegen sounded all the time. I could hear it well during my walk. It was so silent in the woods. I don’t think I saw ten people all together, except here in the village. It was all so beautiful, I was not bored for a moment.

On Friday we were afraid they would confiscate the factory, but for now it looks as if that won’t happen. That would be quite a situation. The concierge has four children who would have to go. The family Epskamp would come and stay with us now that Emma and Harry have left. This could still happen. We’re not out of the woods yet.

Have things quieted down in Horst? Are you quite calm?

They were conscripting girls aged 16 to 45 here. It went in alphabetic order. They reached D. Now my turn won’t come, I think. They say they will take married women too. I hope that is not true. Maybe they’ll forget the whole thing.

Tomorrow school will start again for the girls. The boy’s school has been occupied. It had just been given back, school had only started four days before they took it again.

I hope this letter reaches you. My kindest regards to you all, Beppie too, and for you a kiss from

Mariet

It looks as if the record for delivery of World War 2 letters was almost as bad as it is today!

There will be more World War 2 letters coming soon. Bookmark this page and a link will magically appear in a day or two.