A fragment of the courier’s life…
“We then selected about a dozen urgent cases of Jews to take to Switzerland. Dries and I had realised early on that, if ever we were caught, it was essential to be able to account for what we had been doing where, without compromising others or ourselves and that we should always be able to back up each other’s stories. Therefore, before setting out, we would sit down and make up a story to tell the Germans This routine was to save our lives.
On January 6th, 1943, we started our journey with ten refugees. We smuggled them safely to Brussels in small parties and there they were given excellent French I.D. cards through the organisation of Margot Nyst. From there we took them along our route to a number of safe houses in Belfort where we arrived three days later.”
[…]
“However, when we explained that we had walked across from France, his expression softened and without a word he let us in. It turned out that this man, who never told us his name, was the owner of the hotel, and a Frenchman whose feelings for the Nazis closely matched our own. When we had taken off our muddy shoes he showed us a most welcoming double room, where he presented us with a laundry basket for our filthy clothes, a few packets of Players cigarettes, and a stiff drink. We soothed our aching limbs under a hot shower, slipped between the spotless sheets, and fell into a dreamless sleep.”
