Mendelevski's Box

by Roger Swindells

  Jos interrupted, ‘Come on you buggers, this is no time to talk about war crimes, it’s a farewell party, these two are starting a new life away from all the bad memories and you lot, so get drinking.’ He quickly took the paper from Hendrik, folded it and put it under the bar before Simon could see the small item at the bottom of the front page:

  Amsterdam Friday 23rd November 1945. Amsterdam Police are appealing for help following the discovery on Wednesday of the body of forty-four-year-old antiques dealer Edwin Berger in his shop on Nieuwe Spiegelstraat. Police believe he was strangled some days before his body was found. The motive for the murder is unknown, theft has been ruled out as the contents of the cash register and the stock do not appear to have been disturbed. Anyone with information is urgently requested to contact the Gemeente Police at the Central Police Station on Elandsgracht.

  By ten only the hardened barstool crowd, Maaike, Simon and Jos were left, Jos’s wife having run out of pleasantries and disappeared upstairs an hour earlier.

  ‘We must be going soon, our train is at nine thirty tomorrow.’

  Jos produced two bottles of champagne, each boldly marked ‘Canadian Forces’ from under the bar. ‘Not yet, not before we toast your departure and wish you luck. Don’t worry about getting to the station. I have arranged for my friend to pick you, Maaike and Grietje up at quarter to nine.’

  He opened the bottles and poured everyone a glass. ‘Gentlemen, raise your glasses. To Maaike and to Simon, you will be sadly missed here in the Café van Loon. Go with all our good wishes for a new life together.’

  They said their goodbyes. Jos pumped Simon’s hand. ‘I don’t know how I’ll manage without you two.’ He laughed. ’Saturday tomorrow, the busiest day of the week, and just me and her upstairs to run the place. I’ll have no time for a quiet drink downstairs anymore.’

  ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. I remember when I came here for a job, you took a chance on me and I’ll always remember that. I don’t know how we’re going to manage without all your contacts to help us.’

  ‘Bugger off lad, I just did what anyone would have done.’

  Jos turned to Maaike who was trying to disentangle herself from Willem. ‘Come here Maaike, my lovely little lady. I’ll miss you so much, you’ve been like a daughter to me. I love you, you know that.’

  His huge arms enveloped her and lifted her off the ground and Simon thought, just for an instant, that he detected a tear on the burly landlord’s face.

  Maaike was in floods of tears and clung to him. ‘I’ll never forget you, Jos.’

  They walked slowly back to Slootstraat, sitting on their special bench by the canal for a few moments. ‘I’ll miss this, this is the last time we’ll see the Jordaan. It’s where we met, where we got our bad news and where we fell in love. So many memories.’

  ‘We’ll come back one day, I promise, perhaps we will be able to show our children where we lived but for now the future awaits.’

  ‘We must, and you must tell them about your family, what happened to them, what life was like for you as a Jew in Amsterdam in the war and about your father’s box.’

  Thursday 27th June 1946

  ‘Do hurry up, Irene. Mama has to get you to school and then I have to get to work. Put on your shoes, please. Quickly now, I don’t want to be late again, you’ll have to leave the rest of your breakfast. Come on.’ She left the breakfast dishes in the sink unwashed and pulled on her coat while making her way to the top of the stairs.

  ‘Coming Mama, I can’t fasten my shoes.’

  Cursing herself for buying ones with laces, she hurried back into the kitchen, tied the girl’s shoes and buttoned her coat.

  Aart, now living on the ground floor, was in the hall below, moving her bicycle so he could get his own out to go to work. He called up to her, ‘Grietje, there’s a letter for you. I’ll leave it here on the shelf so you can pick it up on your way out.’

  She eventually got Irene downstairs and picked up the letter, putting it in her pocket to open later. With Irene finally installed on the child seat, she cycled down the road to the kindergarten and dropped her off before heading for the first of her three jobs.

  Taking a mid-morning break from her cleaning she remembered the letter and, seeing the Leeuwarden postmark, excitedly tore it open. She was a little angry not having heard from Simon and Maaike since they left, and was very anxious to hear their news. The contents of the letter both shocked and delighted her while leaving her feeling desperately guilty at the same time. She had to read the letter over at least three times before it all sank in.

  Leeuwarden, 25th June 1946

  Dearest Grietje, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch for such a long time. This is just a short note to let you know that Maaike and I were married three months ago in a civil ceremony at Leeuwarden Town Hall and that we have secured two places on a ship which will be leaving Marseille for Palestine next week.

  I have rediscovered my faith and emigrating to Palestine, we call it Aliyah (or ‘going up’), and starting a new life there is something I feel the need to do. Maaike has said she wants to convert to Judaism when we are settled.

  We will hopefully be there before our baby is born in August.

  Enclosed is the key to Apartment 113B Zaandammerplein. The apartment is yours and Irene’s for as long as you need it. Matthijs van der Meer, Advocaat, of 2 Johannes Vermeerstraat will deal with the payments of the rent and you can contact him if you have any problems. He also has access to an emergency fund should you ever need it.

  I know your beloved Jaap and the boys will not be there to share your new home with you, but I am sure that he will somehow know that you did eventually get to the Spaarndammerbuurt as he promised.

  There is a parcel on its way to you containing the paintings of the boy and the girl in the gilt frames, which I know you admired so much and which I would like you to have. As you know, my father left one, the boy, in his box for me and the other one, the girl, was recovered from the man who must have stolen it when he betrayed us. He insisted it was sold to him by a woman, but surely that can’t be true, can it?

  Maaike and I have no words to thank you for everything you did for both of us. You picked me up from the street and gave me a home, love, hope and a new life and for that I will be in your debt forever.

  I will write again when we are safely in Palestine.

  Maaike sends her love and says that if our child is a girl she will have your name. Simon

  Her hands were shaking as she took the key out of the envelope and realised that the young Jewish boy, whose family she once cleaned for and then stole from, whom she had taken in when he returned alone from the horrors of Auschwitz with nothing, had changed her life forever.

  Afterword

  Simon and Maaike Mendelevski and their son finally arrived in Palestine on the 18th of December 1946. Despite holding valid immigration certificates, their original journey was interrupted by a British Royal Naval patrol vessel, which intercepted and boarded the ship on which they were travelling off the Palestinian coast near Haifa on the 20th of July 1946, before escorting it to Cyprus.

  Many of those on board were German Jews, a number of whom were returned to displaced persons camps in Germany. Others, including the Mendelevskis, who were Dutch nationals, were held in one of many detention camps near Larnaca in Cyprus. Their son Joshua Kees (Jos) was born in the Jewish wing of the British Military Hospital in Nicosia three weeks after their arrival.

  From November 1946 detainees were allowed by the British to leave the camps for Palestine at the rate of 750 a month. As a nursing mother Maaike qualified for release under a special quota and on the 25th of November the Mendelevski family became one of the first to continue their journey to Palestine.

  Simon’s father’s box arrived safely, courtesy of Jos van Loon, at Haifa docks in early February 1947, the British Mandate controlled Palestine Customs Service being blissfully unaware of the German and Russian gold coins, stamp col
lection, jewellery, watches and photographs in the false bottom.

  Simon and Maaike’s second child, Esther Grietje, was born in Tel Aviv on the 21st of May 1948, a week after the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.

  On completion of his compulsory service in the armed forces, Simon became a doctor specialising in paediatrics in Tel Aviv. Jos fought with distinction in the army in the Six-Day War in June 1967 and Esther qualified as a nurse at Haifa General Hospital.

  Grietje and Irene Blok moved into their new apartment in the Spaarndammerbuurt, the two paintings in their gilt frames taking pride of place in the hallway where they could be seen by everyone.

  Jos van Loon and his wife continued to argue and run the Café van Loon until their retirement.

  Relatives of Jewish Holocaust survivors continue to fight to this day for payouts due from insurance companies and for the refund of fines and ground rents charged to survivors on their return by the Amsterdam City Council.

  Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reichskommissar for the occupied Netherlands, was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and hanged on the 16th of October 1946.

  Anton Adriaan Mussert, the NSB leader, was executed by firing squad on 7th of May 1946 in the dunes at Waalsdorpervlakte, the site of Gerrit’s execution, despite two appeals by his defence lawyer Matthijs van der Meer.

  Edwin Berger’s murder remains an unsolved crime in Dutch police records.

  Further Reading

  In case you enjoyed reading Mendelevski’s Box, you might be interested in reading some of our other titles.

  * * *

  Amsterdam Publishers specializes in WW2 historical fiction and in memoirs written by Holocaust survivors.

  * * *

  Please note: We always welcome new WW2 fiction manuscripts and manuscripts by Holocaust survivors. You are invited to send them to: info@amsterdampublishers.com.

  The Time Between: Love, loyalty and betrayal in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam by Bryna Hellmann-Gillson.

  This historical novel depicts three young Jewish women, Pam, Jo and Hannah, and their family and friends during the physically, psychologically and morally difficult years of the German occupation, 1940-1945. They print illegal newspapers and false documents, hide Jewish children, commit sabotage and murder.

  * * *

  Their lives come together through Adrian, a young man risking his life in the resistance. He is Pam’s brother, Jo’s first infatuation and Hannah’s lover. “Isn’t this the between time?” he asks. “One day real life stopped, when the Germans came, and some day real life will start again.” For some of them, it did.

  A Quiet Genocide. The Untold Holocaust of Disabled Children in WW2 Germany by Glenn Bryant.

  Germany, 1954. Jozef grows up in a happy household – so it seems. But his father Gerhard still harbours disturbing National Socialism ideals, while mother Catharina is quietly broken. She cannot feign happiness for much longer and rediscovers love elsewhere. Jozef is uncertain and alone. Who is he? Are Gerhard and Catharina his real parents?

  * * *

  A dark mystery gradually unfolds, revealing an inescapable truth the entire nation is afraid to confront. But Jozef is determined to find out about the past and a horror is finally unmasked which continues to question our idea of what, in the last hour, makes each of us human.

  The Hidden Village by Imogen Matthews.

  Deep in the Veluwe woods lies a secret that frustrates the Germans. Convinced that Jews are hiding close by they can find no proof. The secret is Berkenhout, a purpose-built village of huts sheltering dozens of persecuted people.

  * * *

  Young tearaway Jan roams the woods looking for adventure and fallen pilots. His dream comes true when he stumbles across an American airman, Donald C. McDonald. But keeping him hidden sets off a disastrous chain of events.

  * * *

  All it takes is one small fatal slip to change the course of all their lives for ever.

  Outcry - Holocaust Memoirs by Manny Steinberg. This memoir has been published in English, French, German, Chinese, Italian and Czech.

  Manny Steinberg (1925-2015) spent his teens in Nazi concentration camps in Germany, miraculously surviving while millions perished. This is his story. Born in the Jewish ghetto in Radom (Poland), Steinberg noticed that people of Jewish faith were increasingly being regarded as outsiders. In September 1939 the Nazis invaded, and the nightmare started. The city’s Jewish population had no chance of escaping and was faced with starvation, torture, sexual abuse and ultimately deportation.

  * * *

  Outcry - Holocaust Memoirs is the candid account of a teenager who survived four Nazi camps: Dachau, Auschwitz, Vaihingen an der Enz, and Neckagerach.

  The Dead Years - Holocaust Memoirs by Joseph Schupack.

  In The Dead Years, Joseph Schupack (1922-1989) describes his life in Radzyn-Podlaski, a typical Polish shtetl from where he was transported to the concentration camps of Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Dora / Nordhausen and Bergen-Belsen during the Second World War. We witness how he struggled to remain true to his own standards of decency and being human. Considering the premeditated and systematic humiliation and brutality, it is a miracle that he survived and came to terms with his memories.

  * * *

  The Dead Years is different from most Holocaust survivor stories. Not only is it a testimony of the 1930s in Poland and life in the Nazi concentration camps - it also serves as a witness statement. This Holocaust book contains a wealth of information, including the names of people and places, for researchers and those interested in WW2, or coming from Radzyn-Podlaski and surroundings. The book takes us through Joseph Schupack’s pre-war days, his work in the underground movement, and the murder of his parents, brothers, sister and friends.

  Among the Reeds: The true Story of how a Family survived the Holocaust by Tammy Bottner.

  Belgium, 1940. Melly Bottner is just eighteen with a three-week old newborn son when the Nazi occupation of Belgium begins. She and her young husband Genek live in fear as it becomes obvious that all Jews will soon be taken. Watching friends and neighbors disappear as the Germans carry out their shocking purge, the young family confronts an awful truth: if they are to survive, they must rip their own family into pieces.

  * * *

  Among the Reeds is a deeply personal family memoir that is part-biography, part psychological observation of the extraordinary wartime lives of a persecuted people. If you like true stories of courage, heart-stopping near misses, and tear-jerking choices, then you’ll love Tammy Bottner’s compelling account.

  The Mission of Abbé Glasberg in the French Resistance during WWII by Lucien Lazare.

  The Mission of Abbé Glasberg is the fascinating story of a priest - of Jewish origins - who dedicated himself to the task of helping the refugees who were streaming into France during the years preceding World War II.

  * * *

  Together with Father Chaillet, Abbé Glasberg created the ecumenical Amitié Chrétienne in May 1942 with the full support of Cardinal Gerlier, archbishop of Lyon.

  * * *

  See You Tonight and Promise to be a Good Boy! War memories by Salo Muller.

  'See you tonight, and promise to be a good boy!' were the last words his mother said to Salo Muller in 1942 when she took him to school in Amsterdam, right before she was deported to Auschwitz. She and her husband were arrested a few hours later and taken to Westerbork, from where they would later board the train that took them to Auschwitz.

  * * *

  The book is, in his own words, “the story of a little boy who experienced the most horrible things, but got through it somehow and ended up in a great place.”

  * * *

  Salo, at only 5 years old, spent his time during the Second World War in hiding, in as much as eight different locations in the Netherlands. The book tells the story of his experiences during ww2, but also explains how he tried to make sense of his life after the war, being a young orphan.

  Hank Brodt Holo
caust Memoirs − A Candle and a Promise by Deborah Donnelly.

  A story of resilience, Hank Brodt Holocaust Memoirs - A Candle and a Promise makes the memories of Holocaust survivor Hank Brodt come alive. It offers a detailed historical account of being a Jewish teenager under the Nazi regime, shedding light on sickening truths in an honest, matter-of-fact way.

  * * *

  Hank Brodt lived through one of the darkest periods of human history and survived the devastation of World War II. Born in 1925 into a poor family in Boryslaw (Poland), he was placed in a Jewish orphanage. Losing his family when the Germans invaded Poland, he waged a daily battle to survive. Moving from forced labor camps to concentration camps, one of which features in Schindler’s List, his world behind the barbed wire consisted of quiet resistance, invisible tears and silent cries for years on end.

  Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen Survivor & Classmate of Anne Frank by Nanette Blitz Konig.

  In these compelling Holocaust memoirs, Nanette Blitz Konig relates her amazing story of survival during the Second World War when she, together with her family and millions of other Jews were imprisoned by the Nazi's with a minimum chance of survival.