The History

1938

• 09.11 – “Kristallnacht”

1939

• 28.08 – general mobilisation in the Netherlands
• 03.09 – German invasion of Poland; start of the Second World War

1940

• 10.05 – German invasion of The Netherlands
• 14.05 – bombardment of Rotterdam

1941

• 25.02 – the February strike
• 22.06 – German invasion of Russia
• 07.12 – Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour

1942

• April – wearing the yellow star becomes compulsory
• July- first deportations from the Netherlands
• 19.08 – British raid on Dieppe; Henk Pelser crosses the Belgian border for the first time
• September – Smedts and Pelser travel via Brussels to Besançon
• October – Pelser’s journey Brussels – Besançon – Lyon – Annemasse – Geneva – Chateauneuf-les-Bains – Lyon – Nancy – Brussels
• 08.11 – allied invasion of northern Africa
• 11.11 – Hitler occupies Vichy-France
• 02.12 – journey with Ekker: Brussels – Bouillon – Sedan – Belfort
• 05.12 – Belfort – Paris
• 08.12 – back in Amsterdam

1943

• 06.01 – Ekker and Pelser depart for Switzerland
• 09.01 – arrival in Belfort
• 14.01 – arrival in Bern
• 20.01 – to Cossonay
• 31.01 – capitulation German VI army at Stalingrad
• 19.02 – Pelser c.s return via Porrentruy – Sedan – Brussels
• 21.02 – arrival in Amsterdam
• 03.04 – Pelser is arrested
• 13.05 – German capitulation in North Africa

1944

• 14.03 – Pelser in court before the Obergericht
• 15.03 – on PoW transport to Mühlberg
• 06.06 – D-Day
• 25.07 – Mussolini deposed
• 08.09 – capitulation of Italy
• 17.09 – Operation “Market Garden”; beginning of the battle of Arnhem
• December – Ardennes offensive
• 24.12 – American POW’s arrive in Mühlberg

1945

• 07.03 – American troops cross the Rhine
• 22.04 – German guards abandon the Mühlberg camp
• 30.04 – Hitler’s suicide
• 05.05 – the Germans capitulate in the Netherlands
• 17.05 – Pelser leaves for Tröbitz
• 31.05 – Pelser collects Saartje, Klara and Jaap Elte
• 12.06 – to Leipzig
• 18.06 – arrival in Eindhoven and Amsterdam