Johanna Wilhelmina Antoinetta Van Der Kleij

Opa and Oma both worked at Siemens Schukert – Den Haag They were both of Frisian stock and lived nearby one another in a suburb of Den Haag (officially ‘s Gravenhage) Peter marrried annie 13-11-1929 in the Hague They got married by proxy, as he had to leave for Curacao urgently as he got a job with BPM (Bataavse Petroleum Maatschapij. later Shell Oil) He left first and established accommodation, she sailed afterwards He was in Admin and responsible for payroll, A few times they went to Venezuela on a Company tanker 1931 april 23rd Daughter Judith born Curacao, I do not know the reason for return to Netherlands 1936 april 2nd moved to amsterdam 1936 sept 6th Son born Frits (Fred) in Castricum Netherlands We lived in a two storey duplex in Geelvink straat Castricum, and Opa rode a motorcycle to Amsterdam daily

1938 Jan 17th move to the Hague lived 22b Overtoum worked in a shop - radios He went into partnership with an acquaintance selling and repairing radios and other electrical equipment. This partnership broke up and Opa rented a shop at 226 Overtoom Amsterdam – we lived at the rear of the shop. At some stage Judi was playing in the street and was hit by a wheel that became dislodged from a passing truck. She was seriously injured and suffered pains etc for the rest of her life.

The Arbeitseinsatz: All Dutch men between the ages of 18 and 45 are forced to relocate to Germany in order to labor in factories that are often the focus of fierce bombing by the Allies World War II broke out and Opa was rounded up by the Germans and was put to work in a steel factory in Linz/a/Donau in Austria (known the as Ostereich) He was to check and repair instruments. https://www.voestalpine.com/group/en/group/history/1938-1945.html https://www.revolvy.com/page/Mauthausen%252DGusen-concentration-cam... https://www.revolvy.com/page/Eisenwerke-Oberdonau

Oma was virtually forced to leave the business and we went to live with her mother at a three bedroom apartment in Schalk burgerstraat Amsterdam https://www.bing.com/maps?q=Schalk+burgerstraat+amsterdam&qs=n&form...

The Netherlands were occupied by the German army and coastal part of the Hague was fenced off and armed with concrete bunkers. The city was bombed by the British at one stage. Food became in very short supply and Judi and I would have starved to death had Oma not ridden her bicycle into the countryside many times swapping our belongings for potatoes etc. Often she would be away for many days, as she had to forage further from home as tome went by After the war my father returned, and had trouble finding a decent job. There was very little food in Den Haag, we got some coupons for bread but the flour used was so contaminated that it gave very little nourishment. There were very little other foodstuffs available either. So to get some more food, she used to pack some goods on the back of her bicycle (shoes, bed sheets etc) and swapped that with farmers for eg. potatoes, onions etc. She went through some harrowing experiences on the road and in haystacks. Apparently, one time a German pilot strafed a line of cyclist on the road and the survivors jumped in a ditch to save themselves. She would be away for several days. Judi and I spent a lot of time in bed as it was very cold and there was no fuel.

Other people found themselves in the same predicament and this resulted in a exodus to other countries such as Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. One of my mother’s brothers (Wim) had migrated to South Africa some time before but we applied for Australia (mainly because of a propaganda film I had seen) Judi had found the love of her life in the meantime and flatly refused to come along She got engaged to her man (another Wim) – a lovely fellow who looked after Judi very well They both worked at a US chemical organisation – Hercules Powder Company. Wim worked for them his whole life and rose to management level. He was instrumental in many of the firm’s take-overs.

1954 may 4th  immigrated to Australia with fred (14 yrs old) and annie (45 yrs old) on the Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt,  https://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/johan-van-... Judith stayed in Netherlands as she was married to wim landed in Fremantle and then Melbourne disembarked in Sydney , possibly worked on farms picking fruit 

Opa, Oma, and myself landed in Sydney 5 May 1951 and were housed at a migrant hostel in Bathurst. A grazier from nearby Blayney decided to employ us – father as general rouseabout mother as cook. Both farmer and wife were teachers and wanted to return. My parents were to run the farm They could not cope with the isolation of farm life, and my father developed a hernia which needed attention. So we returned to Sydney and a similar job presented itself in Adelaide 1950's move to Adelaide ?

In due course we were installed in part of a big mansion in Unley Park, and I was enrolled at Unley High School to continue my education. After some months Opa could not perform due to his hernia and he suggested I leave school. asquith avenue nailsworth 2000's ? passed away in adelaide