Day 113 - "Who Dares Wins!

For those that were in better health the government found easy jobs like Commissionaires, cleaners of  "Wagon Lits" for the state transport catering service run by a privateer called "Peeters"who the had the tender forever!

Most of the time, I continued to persevere, always remembering the motto I had adopted, from the S.A.S.,  "Who Dares Wins".
Daniel and George just gave up on claiming their rights through government organizations : it had all been too much and it was all over for them.

I still wanted to lead an adventurous life and was thinking that with our money from the government we could venture out independently as entrepreneurs!  At a reasonable rate, we could obtain an army truck which we could then convert and use as a refrigerated fish truck for transporting fish to inland sites.  We could even get a three man trawler, the speediest in the harbor, which when permitted to do so would be ideal for trawling using two booms.

I mentioned the speediest in the small fishing fleet because during the war these small trawlers had been equipped with Skoda motors.  These motors were so powerful that insurance companies would not consider insuring them until, later on, when the laws had
been changed to allow fishing with two trawler nets on each side.

Daniel and George let it all go for the funfare with the girls - to whoop it up on their meager subsistence level.  After his demobilization, Barbaix, eventually became involved with the stock exchange and never got out of it, except for his general hobbies in electricity and who knows what!!!

I don't know how far all that carried him but it looks as if he led a life of leisure for the rest of his life.  He got married and settled; finding it too much trouble to get his car out of the garage to meet a friend from long ago................

Daniel started his career from jail contacts, this was after he had been imprisoned for emptying a couple of Army and Navy stores as an inside job, helped by and used by a British storekeeper

To be continued....

Day 112 - Conclusion!

"After a while, we had all returned, myself first, then soldier Barbaix and eventually Daniel from the East.  The only thing we could think about was enjoying ourselves but where was the money going to come from, that was the question.

I had just passed our Control Commission, which decided on who was a Political Prisoner and who was most certainly not!  Besides all this, of the ten thousand genuine survivors,  there were ninety thousand imposters: all this prolonged our agony with endless waiting. The whole process was embedded in red tape.  Then there was the battle of the government.  The one we had experienced during occupation and the one in exile.  All this had to be sorted out by the competing factions or eventually compromised on.

With the question of the King, they made short measurement.  Everybody agreed to it, that he should abdicate until his son was ready for the throne.  In the meantime, Prince Albert was his "Voogd".  In fact, it was a moral and symbolic decapitation of  the King himself.

There were a few Political Prisoners who held seats in the Senate and some also controlled newspapers, like Blum, for the People.  The rest was firmly united and organized in the Association for Political Prisoners.

Wherever we seemed to go; I remember seeing demonstrations in the capital which were organized to help speed up our cases so we could start our normal life again.  We now had to fill in lots of papers and were considered to be demobilised soldiers.

Not one of the survivors was really in a very healthy state of body and spirit afterwards and so we were considered to be invalids!!!!

All this was gradually achieved over a two year period.  Some didn't have very far to go, used up!!!!

To be continued .....

Day 111 - Goethe Quote about Hope!

"I have about 10 more blogs/pages to complete from my Dad's war experiences.  My Dad, simply named his last chapter, 
 - "Conclusion"!

I began my Dad's memoir/blog talking about Goethe, the great German philosopher, who it is said, spent a lot of time sitting by a tree in what eventually became Buchenwald.  This spot now seems to me, a good place to put this quote:   

Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE, Conversations with Goethe

Day 110 - Self-Imposed Amnesia!

I believe it is likely that people with the same type of  background and ideals would have been naturally attracted to each other and would have been looking out for similar beings!!"After the war, like myself, George and Daniel both went their own way to fight again for their existence"!

It seemed to me, that after their war experiences they both operated with a self-imposed state of amnesia.  Mostly, as a cover because few people would be able to understand or comprehend their plight and inner conflict. 

My opinion is, even if it has to take a lifetime to accomplish, one has to find the strength to overcome and persevere with ever changing world values!  Now, more and more,  I think I understand!  Gradually, everything is fitting together for me, like in a puzzle!  

During the war, people like my sponsors,  formed an integral chain  in trying to keep the Last Empire together by participating in patriotic actions.  Whether achieved secretly or officially or within the confines of the concentration camps themselves - it made no difference!  Each contribution was just as effective and contributed to the whole. 

So, it was thus, we were all used, because we had something to give and the strength, faith and stability to fulfill things.........

My memoir, "To Each his Own",  is a tribute to the vindication of all survivors and an honorable memory to all absent brethren alike, who I hope, have not departed in vain........................

To be continued

Day 109 - Belgian Friends Reunited!

"I went back to ordinary living and fighting and competing for my everyday existence. I didn't accept any charity, I only accepted my lawful rights and earnings.  My status was recognized by Counter Intelligence and government departments.  

I passed the Commission, with flying colors and received, from the Prince Regent Albert, "The Distinguished Cross for Political Prisoners, with four stars.  Madame DeNile and Mister Van Alderwerelt eventually received recognition as well.  I saw both of them quite often as well as Antonio, who's family were well established in Brussels.

Daniel returned six months later, liberated at Gross-Strelitz by the Russians.  Daniel never received recognition as a political prisoner but that is entirely his own fault!  I tried my best to help him but when he had to face, "The Commission of Inquiry", he ran away!   Of course, there is a lot about this I do not understand but let bygones be bygones! 

George was, "another cup of tea", after many cumbersome adventures, he managed to get to England via Germany, Finland and Sweden.  Unlike us, his voyage by transport, was quite different.  He was bombed out of a wagon somewhere in Northern Germany but than made it to Hamburg by hitching lifts.

His papers had been burnt so he made himself out to be a, "Free Worker", which was voluntary, so, in this way, he was able to keep going until he found a suitable cargo ship that needed a deckhand.  From there he made it to Finland and then up to Uppsala, Sweden to load magnetic  ore.

Whilst there, it was "short work", to make himself scarce until it was time to sail with the supply barges.  He hid in the hold until his ship was out of sight.  He sailed to Stockholm, where he worked for the embassies on their "listening in" service and so on to England in one of those light, mosquito planes.  George came back home with, "The Invasion", but just seemed to want to forget!!!!

As in Daniel's case, I did all the groundwork for George in relation to convincing him and others of his  genuine, legal status as far as receiving official recognition for his war effort.  However, neither George nor Daniel pursued it and consequently, did not receive  any official recognition!  It is beyond me to understand .............!

To be continued ...  

Day 108 - Health aftermath - concentration camps!

"We now found temporary accommodation with my Aunt Helen such was her genuine hospitality until we found our own way about!  Antonio stayed on at my Aunt's house until his Dad and the others arrived from Buchenwald which was about a month after our arrival in Brussels.

Antonio's family had a wonderful reception, we couldn't get anywhere near them, the party was tremendous.  It happened on the old Town Square in front of the Town Hall.  My parents were informed, after my aunt had made me a bit more respectable to look at!.  Also, my grandmother was one of the family party and so our family reunion was complete in the best of traditions.  

My grandmother had been sure all along that I would survive and return to them all, how right she was.  In the meantime, my little brother had grown to a decent size.  After the party I stayed on in Brussels to arrange some of my affairs before moving on to the fresh salty air of the seaside.

We were very thin and emaciated, so the order of the day was be careful with food and our general condition! My English cousin who was in the Intelligence Corp (MI5 or 6!!) - he visited me in Ostend and didn't think I was going to make it to survive even at that point!  My grandmother's breed thought differently, being tough and strong and having a survivor mentality!

At this time, I was in the process of being rehabilitated and had to build up my body again to an acceptable level of health - it turned out I had a lot of false fat and water in my body that I had to get rid of  before becoming "normal" again!

The first week back in Ostend, I developed a very dangerous boil on the back of my neck, where I had been stabbed on that scary night in Block 52 at Buchenwald!!!!It was sheer agony and there was nothing anybody could do about it, it suddenly went after a week.

My ankle would give me trouble for a further five years until all the toxins had come out.  To my consternation it would bleed profusely, especially in the summer months.  My stomach would never rectify itself no matter how many doctors I consulted with!

I learned to live with what had become a very thin stomach lining with strong acids - my stomach gave me a good deal of discomfort for the rest of my life but I learned to cope with it!  My hand sometimes reacted to the weather but I was able to get on fairly comfortable with most things!

To be continued .....

Day 107 - Finally, back in Brussels, Belgium!

"Soon we reached the old Rhine River which we crossed on a pontoon bridge which had been built very quickly!   From there, we caught a train to Luxembourg which would place us right back in Belgium territory.  


We were now in Arlon and on our way back to Brussels.  From this point on, we were provided with plenty of good food, fresh fruit, vegetables and drinks.   We were refugees so were cleared by security as soon as possible - all of us with the inherent problems that go with being  a refugee!


At this point, a tall woman began airing her patriotic feelings  -  stating what we should do to the Boche.  In the first place, I do not like that name and secondly, calling all alike people after this infamous mass murderer is wrong!  Lastly, I do not believe we will go very far if we adopt such an attitude - if we do it will be proof that we haven't learned very much from all this!


A lot of people were now waiting around in hope and, more often than not in vain, for their loved ones to come back.  Revenge wouldn't bring them back either, but hope may do it - in a firm belief of a better world!


When arriving back home, some fanatics were still  dressed in their S.S. uniforms - which hurt to hear of such a thing - their little souls had been so badly indoctrinated that they couldn't change.  The maddened crowd would either lynch, drown them, or in some cases chop their heads off before the law could stop them.


We arrived in Brussels and our arrival back went unnoticed by all - nobody had expected us back like this!  A reception party has to be prepared in order to be successful!  In the first place, we were quite happy to be back - that was more important than anything else!


To be continued ..