A childhood in occupied Amsterdam

The life story of a young girl, Ans, caught up in the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands 1940-1945. A 45 minute richly illustrated talk using pictures from the family and other sources.

Topics include:

• working with the Resistance, and Ans running messages for them
• the suffering from bombing as the Allies tried to wipe out the disguised Fokker factory nearby
• how the population managed in extreme difficulties
• the Hunger Winter following the Allies' failure at Arnhem
• recovery from starvation post war
• tales of her family - her father was a famous sprint cycle champion, who performed an heroic rescue - and of mischievous smuggling by her relatives
• a number of interesting coincidences that connected the presenter and subject.

This is, naturally, a rather heavy topic, but with many humorous elements to lighten the mood!