Presenting: Family Lore

So prior to obtaining her grandmother's diary, there were details Charlaine knew about her grandmother's background.

She knew that her grandmother Daisy was in Holland when World War II broke out.

She knew, of course, that because Daisy and Jacques were Jewish, they had to flee when the Nazis invaded.

But the details were shrouded in mystery.

Then, after Daisy passed away and Charlaine came into possession of the diary, the shrouds lifted, and Charlaine got a firsthand account of their lives.

I think they were, again, part of the upper class, and I truly believe that they didn't think the war would really affect them.

They would not be, you know, taken to a concentration camp.Simon Goodman w- wrote a great book called The Orpheus Clock, and it was quite evident in that book that a lot of the upper class Jews were even socializing before the war with people that ended up being Nazis, but it was just not even recognized.

So I think they kept waiting and waiting because they really didn't think anything was gonna happen.

Then, on the morning of May 10th, 1940, Dutch citizens woke up to the roar of German bombers flying overhead toward the North Sea.

As the planes passed, the residents of Amsterdam would have assumed that the Luftwaffe was headed to England.

But soon after passing by, the planes began to bank, turning 180 degrees, headed straight for the Netherlands.

The Germans began dropping bombs and paratroopers all across the country.

I can't say exactly when, but I have some translations of Daisy's diary, and she talks about how the atmosphere is changing, and she is feeling unsafe, but Jacques doesn't want to leave, doesn't want to leave everything that he's built with his business and his life there.

But I guess at a certain point, they had no choice.

What was their route of escape?

They took my grandfather's car.

I think it was like a Lincoln Zephyr or something like that.

They had to leave it on the side of the road.

There was too much traffic, and they ultimately made it on the last ship out.

Daisy and Jacques fled on May 14th, 1940, four days after the surprise invasion and one day before the Netherlands signed a capitulation agreement with Hitler, leaving the nation under full Nazi control.

They left with only a few personal belongings, including a little black book, which contained the inventory for all of Jacques' art.

Jacques kept the book in his jacket pocket.

And strapped to Daisy's chest was Charlaine's father, Edo, who was only about a year old.

Everything else, their beautiful home, the gallery, the furniture, the art, it was all left behind.

There was a lot, a lot of beautiful things that were left behind.