Description
Object description
Dutch civilian in Haarlem, Netherlands, 1940-1942; member of Dutch Resistance in Dalfsen, Netherlands, 1942-1944; inmate in Neuengamme Concentration Camp, Germany, 1/1945-4/1945; prisoner aboard SS Athen and SS Cap Ancona in Lübeck Bay, Baltic Sea, 4/1945-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Haarlem, Netherlands, 1921-1939: family; education. Aspects of German invasion of Netherlands, 5/1940; start of invasion, 10/5/1940; volunteering for war work; capitulation of Netherlands; sight of aerial activity over Bennebroek, 5/1940; arrival of German troops; attitude of Dutch populace to arrival of Germans. Aspects of period as civilian in Haarlem, Netherlands, 1940-1942: initial behaviour of Germans; Dutch attitudes towards war; impact of occupation on civilian standard of living; collapse of father's business; rumours regarding fate of Jewish civilians; question of collaboration. Recollections of period as member of Dutch Resistance in Dalfsen, Netherlands, 1942-1944: background to joining resistance with brother Jan Ketelaar working under Sipke Baarsma, 1942.
REEL 2 Continues: character of resistance leader Sipke Baarsma; organising resistance groups; listening to British Broadcasting Corporation; production and distribution of newsletters; use of safe houses; aid from farmers; Royal Air Force air supply drops; suspicion of Dutch agent; acquisition and concealment of weapons; organising weapons training; sabotage activities and question of restricting overt acts; reasons for not using false name; types of people who joined resistance.
REEL 3 Continues: female courier who gathered information on German V2 Rocket sites; members of his own small resistance group; German cordons and rounding up of suspects; aiding shot down Allied airmen to evade capture; intelligence gathering. Aspects of arrest and interrogation in Netherlands, 12/1944: circumstances of his capture by Dutch Schutzstaffel (SS) men; escape of brother Jan; incarceration in SD Security Police headquarters; capture of his wounded brother; further interrogation and sources of Security Police information.
REEL 4 Continues: treatment during interrogation. Recollections of period as inmate in Neuengamme Concentration Camp, Germany, 1/1945-4/1945: nature of train journey from Netherlands to Neuengamme Concentration Camp, 1/1945; procedure on arrival; initial impressions of camp; appells; establishment of privileged camp for Scandinavian inmates; aid received from Scandinavian inmates; sight of crematorium; types of inmates in camp; relations between inmates; behaviour of kapos; security in camp; medical problems experienced by inmates and his treatment for diarrhoea.
REEL 5 Continues: receiving food parcel; attempt to change identity to Danish inmate; train journey to Lübeck, Germany. Aspects of period as prisoner on board MV Athen and SS Cap Arcona in Bay of Lübeck, Baltic Sea, 4/1945-5/1945: embarkation aboard MV Athen at Lübeck, Germany, 26/4/1945; conditions on board motor launch Athen; fate of brother aboard MV Athen; transfer to SS Cap Arcona; re-transfer of Dutch and Belgian prisoners to MV Athen; Royal Air Force attacks on SS Cap Arcona, SS Deutschland and SS Thielbek. Aspects of liberation and return to Netherlands, 5/1945: death of prisoners from overeating on docking in Neustadt in Holstein, Germany; leaving ship; reprisal against kapo; physical condition; journey from Neustadt in Holstein, Germany to Brussels, Belgium; hospitalisation for typhus; return to Netherlands.
REEL 6 Continues: Attitude towards attacks on SS Cap Arcona, SS Deutschland, SS Thielbek and MV Athen. Survival instinct in Neugamme Concentration Camp. Question of rank held in Dutch Resistance.