This was literally and figuratively la pièce de “Résistance”, the main reason for my three week visit here in Holland. Eleven High School seniors, 8 girls and 3 boys formed the cast for the stage show in the “Bellevue” Theater in Amsterdam. http://www.gedaechtnisbuch.de/namen-statt-nummern/english/index-engl.html They shared, with the sold out house, their experiences in putting names with the Dachau prisoner, mostly Resistance members, numbers. How they became involved and affected through their discoveries. Their visits to Dachau and the preceding camps most of the prisoners had been through before Dachau.

The presentation started at 9 p.m. due to the fact that every year on May 4th a two minute silence is observed from 8 p.m. I went with two of my cousins to the Noorder Markt to observe the event. A brass band played just before the silence. They played “Abide with me”. This brings back strong emotions because this was the hymn the women, our mother was with, sang when they were stuffed in the box cars, on their way from the camp Vught in Holland to the hell of Ravensbrück on the 5th of September 1944. : (Blijf bij mij, Heer, want d’ avond is nabij)

Abide with me, fast falls the even tide.

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

 Henriette Schulze, a German student, wrote the biography of our mother in the “Names instead of Numbers”. My twin brother who lives in Germany  assisted her with the information she used. I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with her last Saturday, together with the only other German student in the eleven students cast, Anne Krombacher. Henriette did an outstanding biography. And I am sure that our mother will be very pleased, when she gets to read her copy. This was well worth the long journey. I feel proud, grateful and honored to have had a mother and father who stood their ground and acknowledged their strength and survival to have come from God.

Nineteen numbers have been changed in to names in the book that Jos Sinnema put together with these students stories, including the one of our mother. In addition it is also a very good history of concentration camp Dachau by the details and historical photos that were added to these nineteen biographies. It is available at: http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/nl/exposities/expositie-geen-nummers-maar-namen/publicatie

Willemijn, the 96 year old, the last ambulant AGFA Commando Dachau survivor tells her story and shares her advice to all of us but particularly the students.