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| Rudi
van Damme, 17 years old. Rudi was born son of civil servant in Amsterdam,
Netherlands. Rudi's family was protestant and very religious. They went
to church regularily and had not joined any political party. They were
concerned about their children's education and tried to offer them a childhood
as joyful as possible and taught them to respect the lives of other people
as they also were God's creation.
Rudi and his 19-year
old brother Wilm went to a private school where they were educated according
to protestant principles. When Rudi's older brother had friends that clearly opposed the Nazi regime and the war. They wanted to stop the Nazis and thus founded a small resistance group. At their meetings, they read political texts and composed flyers which they typed on an old typewriter and put them into randomly selected mailboxes. They also secretly stuck these flyers to walls at night, hoping people would read them before the Nazis or collaborator would tear them from the wall. The young resistance group asked the people who read their flyers to stand up and oppose the Nazi tyranny. It was no childish game. The teenagers were serious about it and willing to sacrifice everything, even their lives. When the Nazis would find about them, the kids would be killed without a trial. Rudi's brother was in a conflict. Should he join this political resistance group? His parents did not like any political involvement, but his religion told him to appreciate life and love his neighbors. The Nazis did not appreciate life and murdered and loitered Europe. It was not right doing nothing about that. His brother decided to join the group and brought his brother to the group, too. In 1943, they were deeply involved in the actions of the group and lived with the constant fear of being betrayed by comrades, of being discovered, and of being shot eventually. And in addition to this, they had to hide their political activities from their parents. It was a very difficult situation for Rudi and his brother in every aspect. |
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