Day 130 - Letter from a Belgian War Horse!

Letter from my Dad (in Flemish) to a bureacractic institution about his pension and war service in Buchenwald concentration camp and elsewhere)

Written: 16th December, 1985

Beste Heer; Mr. G.M. BOVY

Hartelyke Gelukwensen voor het nieuwe jaar.

Al mijn papiereu; levensberwyren, reducktie-kaart en formulier voor reistpensioen opgerhonden eender naar de Fuidertoren of wel Wolvengracht.

Als het past nal ik in Engeland vertoeven rond den 12 en tot 45 en van Januarie en in Belgie van der 21 en - 23 en.......

De kweste van rechthebbend op een "Order van Leopold II", in mejn geval, gerniem dat het ze was indertjiel en nooit aangevraagt zon een nieuwe indicening met 70 percent invaliditeit.

En vierder wat betrefgt een individuale decoratie voor aktei; date moet gedaan worden door uw commanding officer of wel gelykgestelde.

Gernien dat Meyintreer, Van Tolderverelt ...., een voormalige officier was in 't Belgiese Leger en Madame De Nile op 't zelfde adres dan; het contact was tueen, Vice-Admiral (Royal Navy, Mr William Stanton, Reserve Officer British Army; Mr. Ronald Stanton en Major in the British Army; Mr. Reginald Bellen,  Zyn dat genoeg commanding officieren????

Alsdat ik de Belgiese Inlichtuigsdienste heb geraadplaagt zal ik natuurlyk het hetzelfde doen met de Britse, beginnende met de
"War Archives: WHITEHALL, LONDON.  Meyn schoonbroeder advokaart en officer in 't Briste Leger kan een affidavit op maker....
In geval van meerdere gegevens:

Het was in Buchenwald dat een gealtieerde weerstande gesticht was onder al de intelligencies orgenten weerstenders en politicken.

Tot dewelke ik rechtstreeks behoorde na een strict verhoor de welke van het grootste belamy was, genierm: de acht V-2 en in Buchenwald alsook DORA met zyn "ïntercontinental bullistic missile":, ondergrondse jet-installatioes, de PANZER - grenadiers rondom de Etterberg: dat was onskamp en constaint niewuwe  S/S in training ter plaatse en mogelyk om wapenen te parachuteren woor een eventuel uitbraak.

Voor dat, het was nan node een koerier to hebben; ingeval van mislukking, een andere, enrh.

Ik was tweede in lyn; gereedgewaakt Nummer een, een EIZASSER? gelukkiglyk, bereikte ryn doel holocaust van finale bombing en wat niet getroffer was kon niet meer getransporteert worden als gevolg.

Wapens werden niet gegropt in geval van "repercussions" op andere dampen, maar wy  waren in straat van zulks te nemer van de dode S/S.

De slachtoffering was enorm maar verhekering "Victory" was groter.

Een gelyk dat, stormden we uit, ieder in Tiejn vechtcommandos met een leider op het gejraste ogenblik en de stoelen varen omge-keerdt met 200 gevengenen op ovre rekening plus medewerking van de U.S.A. 8th Army.

Commanding Officier in Buchenwald was Blum,  Brusselse publisher en senator, thans overleden co-stryder en politieke gevangene Antoinio, ....

Voor de Amerikaanse "Control Commission, S/SGT. ELMER G. Luchterhand (unity Wisconsin).

Jose De Wever, Dentist Antwerpen, Camuz - Boekhandelaar Brussels.  Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas,  allernaal overleden house, Moulineux, Paris en Wales.

In memo: van zovele dappere mensen; de folteringen, ontsnappingen liekten en inviduale akties van moed.

Zal ik quoteern van, "THE MAN ON HIS OWN", Patrick, Ledeux 1963-65 FIRST PRIZE IIIrd CUNEO Festival of Films on the "Resistance";

"He means to react, so this means: Act!
Simply because his whole being, his faculties, his whole
intelligence make him say,
"No, I won't be passive any longer"

Myn mede-genoaten soldaat George, Barbaix wonende to Oostende heeft Engeland bereikt en in lichtingen verstrekt bestreffende de verplaatsing van de soldering voor de nachtbombers verantwoordeljk met de vernietiging van en van de u-boot basises in  Noord - Duitsland en die andre alsook in Oostende verlost in GROSS-STRELITZ kamp de Russen, ingelyjdt voer le maander met de kozaks

Dankie u voor uw aandacht.
Laat me geweten van de mogelykheden!
Fyd is aan het uit lopen veer ans, de laatste

Hoogachtend,

Signed by my dad Louis and written in 1985!

I definitely have typed some of the Flemish inaccurately.  However,  I was going to translate it but then I realized that it doesn't need to be translated it speaks with a universal tone!!!!

Most English speaking people can read between the lines and understand the message about war and its impact and effect on the lives of individuals. !!!!!. My dad was 62 when he wrote the above letter!!!!!! 

. 

Day 129 - Partly Peeled Potatoes and Ear Wiggling!

PEELING POTOTOES

Today, while peeling some spuds or potatoes I realized that it was not necessary to peel the skin off completely!  My dad always used to say that the goodness of potatoes is mostly in the skin!

Also, fortunately for me, I have had the benefit of being around quite a few compulsive people in my life.  My observations from watching people with compulsive tendencies has enabled me to learn a thing or three - I now have come to the realization that making everything perfect does not increase my personal satisfaction about the object produced!  So, my mashed potatoes had quite a few peels in but it was still edible!!!!Hey, I think I may have learned something today!!!!!

EAR WIGGLING

Yesterday, my friend Veronique and I went for a walk and I mentioned that my dad used to be able to wiggle his ear and she said that her dad could do that too.  Veronique's father was born about the same time as my dad and is Flemish too!  Veronique thought that maybe the ear wiggling talent may have been something Belgian boys learned in that era or that possibly genetics are at play!!!

She also mentioned a book she was reading on children who had been adopted.  The book mentioned that something like 98 percent of adopted children try to find their natural parents. That reinforces my experience that most people have an innate desire to connect with their roots. 

Like mentioned before, "I didn't know who I was until I learned more about where I came from!"

Day 128 - Abstract from a paper about Xenophobia!

The Logic of Xenophobia

1. Jens Rydgren
   1. Department of Sociology,Stockholm University,SE-106 91 Stockholm,Sweden jens.rydgren@sociology.su.se

Abstract

In this article I discuss the subjective rationality of xenophobic and racist beliefs. Although such beliefs are mostly non-rational from an objective perspective, because of their incongruence with reality, under certain conditions they may appear rational from people’s subjective point of view – in particular in situations of uncertainty. The reason for this is mainly cognitive limitations and biased background information. I argue that xenophobic beliefs are often underpinned by categorization and inference biases. More specifically, xenophobic beliefs may arise out of invalid inductive inferences and by stereotyped categorization processes. Both these types of erroneous inferences result from thought processes that have the same form as cognitive mechanisms people use successfully in their daily lives, which give them good reason for relying on them without much reflection.

Day 127 - Is this Poem Relevant Today! !What do you think!

Based on reading the news lately, I felt compelled to include my dad's poem about war again!!


Piece written by my Dad and found with his memoir as a loose sheet of paper.  I bolded To Each His Own which was the title of my Dad's memoir.  Also, he talks of spectres, past and present - our family fought the Germans in WWI as well as WWII so he may be referring to that part of our family history!

Glory To War

To Each His Own, evolves a picture of an adverse assembly of spectres, past and present, sitting on a multitude of battle ready horses with mad, drunken, hysterical staring eyes; guided firmly in the saddle by a terrible ghost of grim corrupt dignitaries cloaked in all kinds of beautiful apparel of stupendous splendour, rich ornaments, tiaras, uniforms and medallions.  Covered by an eerie aura of bad stormy weather, darkening the pomp and glamour spectacle galore; wallowing in unsurpassed greediness with the sweet, rotten stench of death ever present around.

Passing by like a macabre parade; trampling casually on the mutilated corpses of long suffering mankind, foe and friend alike.

Little voices crying from beneath the holocaust, faintly heard, by the stunned helpless survivors.

We are next ...

Tell the world, please!

Written by: Louis Emanuel Fynaut

Day 126 - My Dad's 17th Birthday - May 10, 1940!

Blitzkrieg in the west

Friday, May 10, 1940 www.onwar.com

On the Western Front... The Germans launch Operation Gelb, the offensive in the west. Army Group C (Leeb) holds the German frontier opposite the French Maginot Line while Army Group A (Rundstedt) makes the main attack through the Ardennes and Army Group B (Bock) makes a secondary advance through Belgium and Holland to draw the main British and French forces north. During the day, Army Group A strikes, with three armored corps in the lead, heading for Sedan, Montherme and Dinant. The advance is rapid and the little opposition, mostly French cavalry, is thrown aside. To the north, Army Group B carries out parachute landings deep inside Holland which do much to paralyze Dutch resistance, while German units cross the Maas River near Arnhem and the Belgian fort at Eben Emael is put out of action by a German airborne force which lands its gliders literally on top of it. The fort is meant to cover the crossings of the Albert Canal nearby and this is not achieved. The Luftwaffe gives powerful support. At the end of the day the German advance has gone almost exactly according to plan. Meanwhile, the Allied Plan D provides for the French 1st Army Group ( General Billotte), consisting of the British Expeditionary Force ( General Lord Gort) and the French 7th Army (General Giraud) to advance to the line of the Dyle River and the Meuse River above Namur, to be joined there by the Belgian forces and on the left to link with the Dutch. General Gamelin is the Allied Supreme Commander and General Georges commands the armies on the French Northeast Front. The Allies react quickly to the German attacks as soon as they hear of them from the Belgians. By the evening much of the Dyle line has been occupied but the troops find that there are no fortifications to compare with the positions they have prepared along the Franco-Belgian frontier during the Phony War period. Some of the reserve is therefore committed to strengthen the line. Some of the advance forces of French 7th Army make contact with the Germans in southern Holland and are roughly handled. In Britain...Churchill visits the King and officially takes office as prime minister. In Norway... British forces are sent south from Harstad to Mo-i-Rana to join the small units trying to delay the German advance to relieve the Narvik force. Some of these units are now engaged at Mosjoen. In Iceland... British troops land on the island. They are the advance elements of a force which is to set up a destroyer and scout-plane base to help in the convoy battles in the Atlantic. Equally, they will prevent the Germans using the island to aid their U-boat campaign. See my dad's story beginning Day 1 of this blog!

Day 125 - Left in the Dark, May 10, 1940 - Belgium!

"In May 1940, Dunkirk, the biggest Churchill defeat of the lot....Letters between Churchill and the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, revealed the ugly truth that Churchill, himself, gave the secret order to Lord Gort, the British General in command of the British expeditionary force at Dunkirk, "Withdraw, fall back," or as Churchill put it, "Advance to the coast." That was Churchill's wording. "And you are forbidden to tell any of your neighboring allies that you are pulling out. The French and the Belgians were left in the dark that we were pulling out."

I just found the above information on the Internet.  Churchill's decision had a big impact on my family in Belgium fThe most profound thing I have learned from my Dad's memoir and subsequent readings is that life is very random!

From May 10, 1940 onwards my dad, his family and the Belgian and French people were left very much in the dark and initially had to rely to a great extent on their own resourcefulness to survive what they were confronted with as events continued to unfold ...........

Day 124 - Belgian Buchenwald Survivor!

Have just got back from a trip to Europe to visit my mother!  I was able to read a family tree book that she has in  her possession.  My maternal grandfather's family also came from Belgium and settled in London during World War One as refugees.  Yes, my mum and dad are related, which is something I had a bit of trouble coming to terms with until recent times! 

My grandfather on my Mum's side and my Dad's side were both Flemish!  The family tree book traces their common ancestors back to one man from Bruge, now Belgium, mid 1500's, who had four children.  Surreal to see photos of my ancestors staring out at me through the generations! 

I am not sure how this blog is going to continue and what form it is going to take - I will think about that later.  I am still jet lagged and consequently not thinking very clearly.

During my trip,  I visited Spain, France and Italy and was very close to Morroco.  I had time to reflect on some of the experiences my Dad mentioned about Morroco and World War II.  

I was very pleased to see a monument in the harbour at Ajaccio!, Corsica, dedicated to, Resistance Fighters from WWII.  I took some pictures - my dad would have liked that!!! I also visited Rome and Tuscany which included Florence and Pisa in Italy - loved that too!

I feel I should mention my maternal grandmother and her family as they also have had a great and interesting background.  The family tree book describes my maternal grandmother as a "cockney" - she was brought up in London, England - all her family and remaining family were can be very Londonish!!

My maternal grandmother spent a lot of her youth round and about The British Museum and The Strand in central London.  In an article in the, London, "Sunday Times",  my uncle described his mother as a feisty lady - she was alive at the time and took offence to that description!!! 

It is very interesting through reading the family tree to learn about  ancestors from the past.  It would appear that some family patterns and (dare I say, idiosyncracies)  and characteristics have coincidentally!!!???? manifested themselves again and again in future generations, Surreal!!!!!!!!!!!

For new readers this blog starts at Day 1 and is the story of my dad's war experiences during World War II from a Belgian POW's perspective. 

Coindidentally, I met someone yesterday, who mentioned to me that he has never come across anybody who had a family member  who survived a German concentration camp experience and was not Jewish - he is 70 years old!