Maud Dahme, Holocaust Survivor talks about hardships as a child

By that time, Hitler's Nuremberg Laws were being used as the chief weapon for isolating Jews, boycotting Jewish businesses, and stripping Jews of professional positions like teaching.

In November 1938, after Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass in which 7,500 Jewish stores and scores of synagogues were destroyed 38,000 Jews fled Germany. Nearly two-thirds sought refuge across the border in the Netherlands.

Simon Eschwege and his wife Meta, Maud's grandparents, were among them. They came to live with Lili, Hartog and the girls.

Maud said, “One morning in May of 1940, we all woke up, and there are planes in the air, and tanks in the streets, soldiers marching. And what happened? Hitler had invaded the Netherlands.”

Five days later, after the Nazis bombed the port city of Rotterdam, the Dutch surrendered, sealing the fate of Holland's Jews. Ultimately, 75% would be exterminated in Nazi death camps-- a higher percentage than in any other Western European nation.

As in other occupied countries, Jews were forced to register and those over the age of five had to wear a yellow star on their clothing.

Maud, “I had no idea what it meant, but my little sister wanted one, too. I felt very grown up.” Maud’s Mother Lili sewed a Jewish star on both girls clothing.

Maud, “Once you had the star on, you couldn't use public transportation. You couldn't walk through a park. There were signs, "Forbidden for Jews." My mother was told, "Oh, you can't go to the local supermarket anymore. You now have to go to this store at this time. It's only for Jewish housewives". My father's business, they had to take in a German so they could be watched to make sure that everything was on the up and up. They took our cars, and if I was downtown with my parents, and people were coming towards us, I had to get off the sidewalk, and we had to walk in the gutter to let people pass. What a horrible feeling for a child, not really understanding yet what was happening.”

New regulations were added each week, posted in The Jewish Weekly, a Nazi-sponsored publication distributed only to Dutch Jews. By the summer of 1942, Holland's Jewish population had become increasingly isolated.

Maud’s parents received notice to go to their Synagogue where the Rabbi read a letter from the German command saying that they were going to resettle all the Jews from Maud’s my hometown of Amersfoort, and take them on a train to the east.

The Jews of Amersfoort were to assemble at the train station. The first stop would be Westerbork a Dutch transit camp that relocated 1,000 Jews a week to Nazi concentration camps in Poland. Hitler's orders were specific.

Maud, “They told us the suitcase we could bring and what we should bring with us, and do not forget your money and your jewelry, and we would be relocated away from the war scene because there was already so much bombing and everything. And the fathers would get jobs and don't worry about anything. Just leave your home. We will make sure everything is secure so when you come back, everything will be there for you.”