DOC The Trinity Of Truth by Ben Ammi in History

Description

As World War 2 progressed; the Okma family took six Jewish refugees into their house; hiding them in a secret room behind their fireplace. The youngest daughter; Kieks; joined the Resistance; delivering illegal newspapers; guiding British parachutists around The Hague and preparing safe houses for members of the Special Forces who were dropped in from England. As the War continued; she fell in love with a Resistance commander; and worked with him to rescue wounded colleagues; steal weapons from German arms dumps and move weapons around the country. They had a tumultuous parting and she continued her work; acting as a courier with a two hundred km bike ride to the north of Holland. When she returned home; she appreciated how much the war had changed her and her boyfriend; and prepared to try a reconciliation. She escaped a firing squad four times; and survived the war; mentally scarred by her experiences. She sought help; but the help she was offered came in a poisoned chalice; and she kept her secret to herself for almost fifty years. Her family in Holland was recognised by Yad Vashem; the Israeli organisation that records those who saved Jews from the Holocaust; and she was awarded a pension for her work in the Resistance by the Dutch foundation Stichting 1940-1945. It was only when these organisations acknowledged the truth of her claims that she had the confidence to tell her family of the events from long ago.