Today, may 4 2020, the Dutch peaple remember all victims of WWII. I myself remember my mother, Els van den...
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Today, may 4 2020, the Dutch peaple remember all victims of WWII. I myself remember my mother, Els van den Bergh. As a 14-year old she, her parents, her sister and her sister's family, arrived in Bergen-Belsen february 1, 1944. Her liberation in Trobitz marked the end of a 2-year prisonnership. As her oldest son I have seen, and felt, her pain. She died young, leaving behind a family of 5 children, each of them scarred by her experiences. My first visit to Bergen-Belsen has been very emotional, ending a a more than 25 year old battle with my fear to face the place where she lived her darkest moments, losing her father, and at Trobitz, her mother too. To me, visiting Bergen-Belsen, has become my homecoming, the final way to come to peace with my mothers past. all that could never have happened without the love and kindness of those at the Erinnerungszentrum that helped me to cope with history.Now, 75 years after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, I express my gratitude to all that make it it possible to visit this place. I hope their endurance will enable many others to keep the memory alive, so that we never forget.
Shalom!