Maud Dahme’s Story

Maud Dahme was born in the Netherlands. She had a mother, father, and a sister. Her sister is two years younger than her. Her mother was German but she converted to a Jew. Her father was a Jew and his father owned a restaurant.

“I kept thinking about my ex-wife’s family. The Nazi killed them. I felt angry about it.”
-My principal.

“I felt really moved, sad, and inspired. I guess I was wondering ‘how did she survive it?'"
- My Guidance Counselor.

“I was happy students were learning as much as they can from Maud Dahme.”
- My Language Arts Teacher.

“It was sad. I read information about it. It was like I was living it. I have relatives in Holland. Some hid people. Some were allies of the Nazi. I knew about two young women who were friendly with the Nazi. When the war ended they had their heads shaved, so everyone knew who they were with.”
- My Math Teacher.

“Listening to her made me feel… it was nice to see she was able… to see her get through that and be able to survive… It’s just unbelievable.”
- My Science Teacher.

It was a happy family,then it happened!

May 1940

Germany invaded, Soldiers Marched, Airplanes flew overhead with soldiers jumping out, and tanks were on the street. The Netherlands fought for five days. Hitler got angry. He came in, bombed the biggest city and threatened he was going to bomb the other cities. After that they gave up! Soon after that, Jews were being isolated.

1941

Maud Dahme started kindergarten. Not long after, all the Jews had to leave public schools. The Jewish mothers of the neighborhood got together and started to school the kids.

Winter 1942

All Jews six years of age or older were to wear the Star of David that said “Jood” in the middle so that everyone knew they were Jew. Maud Dahme thought, at first, that it was a good thing. Maud was happy because she had just turned six; she was allowed to wear the star with the older people. Children around the neighborhood stopped playing with her and her little sister. The Jews weren’t allowed to go to the parks, or stores, or restaurants. Maud’s parents were worried because they, along with others, were told to pack their bags and get on a train so they could get away from the war scene. They snuck into their Christian friend’s house and found a letter about the same thing.

They decided to ask him about it. The friend said he was in the Resistance and not to go onto the train, that it was a trap. He said he could get Maud and her sister to a safer place. They parents finally agreed. They told them they were going on a vacation. The next day they went to a safe house and left them with the friend.

At three o’clock in the morning Maud and her sister were woken by the friend. They walked to the next town from their home town. After that they took a train somewhere else and got off. They went through the woods to get to a farm. The friend left them there with a man and a woman, which Maud and her sister didn’t know. The stranger was supposed to be their “Aunt.” A couple of days after being at the house, Aunt had some of her family there.

Maud told them that she was grown up to because she could write her name, and she wore the star. It was okay that she told them because they were also on the Resistance, but “Aunt” told her and her sister to never talk about where they use to live and never say they once wore the star. They weren’t allowed outside with the other kids until they learned their aliases, or fake names. Maud’s alias was Marty, and her sister’s alias was Rita.

After awhile, they went to visit “Aunt’s” sister. There, Maud Dahme saw her kindergarten teacher and her husband. They visited quit often. Suddenly they stopped going to “Aunt’s” sister’s house. Just five years ago she found out that they were caught. She also found out, that as punishment for hiding Jews, the sister had her seventeen year old son taken from her. The teacher, the husband, and the son were taken to the next town and killed.

1943

Germans promised that the Netherlands would be Jew free, but obviously some Jews were able to escape. People also got paid for telling the Nazi’s where Jews where hiding. The very next time they went to the “Aunt’s” sister’s house, Maud, her sister, “Aunt”, and “Aunt’s” sister, went to the barn, to the way back, and opened a small door. In there was a boy. When he was younger, Nazi went to his apartment (where his family lived), and killed all of his family. They couldn’t find him because his parents hid him before the Nazi came in. The Resistance found and put him with “Aunt’s” sister.

The boy borrowed a bike and went to visit a friend that lived close by. The bike’s license plate said that the rider was Mute. On his way there, he got stopped by the Nazi. When they asked for identification, he pretended he couldn’t understand. After a while they got annoyed with him and let him go and he returned safely but had to return to not going out.

When Maud Dahme when to go feed him, she made sure that there was no one there. But when she opened the door to the passage, there were six or seven soldiers there. She was thinking “either I drop the food and run, or I just keep going on with my business and pretend they aren’t there.” She went on with her business and pretended they weren’t there. They didn’t do anything. She was positive they would have shot her, and then shot the boy. She later found out that they didn’t shoot because they had families of their own, and they knew they wouldn’t have wanted to lose their own child.

Someone from the Resistance heard that soldiers got a tip that there were Jews at “Aunt’s” house. Maud and her sister were immediately moved to a different farm for a little while. The people they lived with fished a lot. Can you guess what they ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Eel!

The people of Netherlands weren’t allowed to own radios, and the newspapers only had what the German Officials allowed. Of course, people still snuck in the use of radios. Someone had found out that there was an invasion in France. Allies had come and freed a lot of the Netherlands. Everyone became very happy. At the apartment she was in she could see the tanks come in. Men in blue overalls, then the soldiers came in. Everyone came out of the houses and had been very happy.

After they celebrated their freedom, they went back to the apartment. There their parents were waiting for them. Their parents had survived! She took her dad to see the “toys” she played with. Those “toys” that she played with turned out to be grenades, gun powder, and ammunition. Next time she went to go play with them they were gone.

Maud and her sister didn’t really trust their parents because they didn’t remember them. They were both a little bit scared of them. She found out later that all of her family (aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, mother, and father) had first been sent to Amsterdam. Then they were sent to Bericks. After Bericks they were sent to Sobyberg, where they were all killed except for her parents.

They had no where to go. “Aunt” would have offered to let them stay but she had no where to put them. They decided to stay in her friend’s house, but two Nazi lived in one of the rooms. They had to live in the attic.

After the War

After about a year, Maud Dahme and her sister went to live with their parents at their old house. Their house was completely destroyed. All the furniture was gone, some of the wood for the floor was missing, the back half of the house was bombed, and all the windows were blown out. At the age of nine and a half she started school. All they other students made fun of her because of the way she talked.

When she was done telling her story

One student asked “what religion she is today.” Her answer was both, Christian and Jewish. One student asked “what was the worst thing you faced during the war.” Maud answered facing the soldiers. I asked, “How do you feel about the people who deny this ever happened?” Maud Dahme answered “it’s very upsetting, that she knows what happened because she was there.” She also said “I don’t argue with people who say it didn’t happen.” After all the questions she said, what happened was horrible. Genocide is still here today. Many people died over silly things. It doesn’t matter what race, color, or religion. We are all the same inside, isn’t that what counts.

After the Assembly

Maud Dahme’s favorite color is yellow and blue. She said that because yellow reminds her of the sun and blue reminds her of the sky. She showed the poem winners and me a book with all the Jews who passed away in the war. The book was two and a half inches think. She also showed us all the names of the people in her family that passed away. There was like 5 columns of names with her family. After Mrs. Maud Dahme left my co-writer and I went around to ask some of the 8th graders what they thought about the program.

Many of the students agreed that Maud Dahme’s fate is very powerful. Powerful enough to make you change your mind on ever hurting someone.