Jan Geldof

"When he was arrested, he was transported in a train to Amersfoort, and from there to Bremen. There was a big accident including two trains. I have all the numbers, all the documents: where he lived, in which camp, what he did. In Bremen, like in many other German cities, trains were the most important means of transport. On wagons, they transported ammunition, tanks, and everything. Actually in all of Europe. And the junctions, the manoeuvring squares, they were very important. In Fulda, in Nuremberg, Vaterstetten, for example. But also in Bremen, in Dresden, all the materials are brought there and then they get bombed. And my father was assisting in shunting the wagons. This usually happened at night. During daytime, you were visible. And I found out in my research that my father witnessed a bombing as well. Because of his health, because of his lungs, he was brought to a hospital there. He was x-rayed and examined. I have the documents. About what happened, according to the doctor. I found them. And later, he was discharged from hospital. I have all of these documents. And he told me that he then walked from Bremen to Rotterdam."

"As I said, when he died, I started researching. This is how I saw many photographs of what happened back then, how destroyed Rotterdam was. Only the Laurenschurch and the White House were still standing. Everything else was gone. And the raid… It was a Saturday morning. The entire city centre of Rotterdam, that is surrounded by water, was closed off by German soldiers. And in the letterbox was a letter containing an order. It said that you had to report yourself on the street, bringing a bread ration for a day, a spoon, knife and fork. And that they will shoot if someone tries to escape. I researched all of this. Back to this Saturday in November: my father was amongst them and… all over Rotterdam there were collection points. One in the stadium of Feyenoord for example. They are building a new building, close to the collection point where my father had to go. Everyone from this area of Rotterdam was brought there. And from there, they had to walk to the train station, where they boarded the train and were transported to Amersfoort, and from there to Germany."