Courage Born of Faith

By Edward Boersma

Heading westward into the wind, ten year old Eddie pedaled his bike as hard as he could. Ahead of him was his mother, also on her bike; behind him, two “uncles” recruited by his father to oversee this little caravan as it fled to safety into the early morning darkness. There was a suitcase on each bike. Eddie’s two little sisters each sat on a suitcase behind an “uncle.”
They traveled to a small town named Zweeloo, 25 to 30 miles from their home. The going was hard, with headwinds, and fear of German checkpoints. One of the “uncles” pulled Eddie along with a piece of rope.
Little did Eddie know this would not be the last time they were forced to flee, to run and hide. Would they be caught next time, or worse yet, killed? Where is dad all through this? Why isn’t he here helping us?
"Courage Born of Faith...An Account Of Survival Under The Nazi Yoke..." is a well told account of this family who lived through it all, survived, and like Job in the Old Testament, gained rich blessings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pastis Enterprises
• Release date: Jul 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476026961

Edward Boersma

Edward Boersma was born in the small town of Nieuw Amsterdam, in the province of Drenthe, the Netherlands. In 1934, Edward's family immigrated to America in December 1947. The family settled in Bellflower, California. Ed graduated from California State University, Long Beach, in 1960. He began his teaching career in 1961 and was in the education field for ten years. While a senior at California State University, Long Beach, he published a paper with his Geography professor, Dr. Burton Anderson, entitled, "The Changing Location Factors of the Los Angeles Milkshed." Ed has been self employed for many years in enterprises closely related to agriculture. He lives in Visalia, California with his wife Betty, a Queensland Heeler dog and a cat, both named Jack. His passions are sailing, flying, reading and travel in his RV.

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Introduction

One evening in September 1988, as I was driving home alone, I had an hour and a half to reflect. My mind went back to my life and that of my family before we came to America. Someone should write the story, said my daughter. My wife promised to read it if it were ever written. So did my mother-in-law, mainly because she always kind of liked me. My own mother would read it because Eddie wrote it. I thought having a readership of three is a good start. However, years passed with nothing having been written.

I did, however, start collecting materials: pictures, letters, documents, taped interviews, books, photographs, diary notes and at least five trips to the country of my birth. I also read many books filling one bookshelf and one drawer full of stuff. Still, nothing written. The big problem was how to make sense out of all the pieces. This story is not a prelude, because everything in it has already happened. Neither is it a postlude, because it is still happening. It is my story, because I was a part of it, I lived it.

I don’t have the skill of a novelist such as professor John Timmerman, or the poetic skill of a folk poet such as Sietze Beuning, or the ability to tell stories like James Schaap. But all three helped me to compose thoughts.

Someday, perhaps, my children and grandchildren may like to know something about their roots, their parents and their grandparents, and even my sibling’s children might be interested.

Perhaps they may learn to sing like my mother did when my sisters and I quarreled as children. Waar Liefde Woont, Gebiedt Den Heer Zijn Zegen. (Where love abides, the Lord will provide a blessing).

In general, childhood memories are usually not reliable as a guide to writing a story. It is hoped that I have avoided most pitfalls through my research and cross referencing against a known source.

Edward Boersma

Visalia, California

November 2010

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents, Frank and Angie Boersma. It was they who had the courage and the grit to leave behind their home in the Netherlands. Their lives were an inspiration to their children, Ed, Ann, Jane and Bill. In their life they showed a stubborn self reliance, a deep respect for hard work, an uncompromising love for God, family, and in the end they enjoyed triumph over a fair amount of adversity. We are indebted to them for their ...

... Courage Born of Faith.

Acknowledgements

A story such as this would never be written without the encouragement of a number of people. Even subtle reminders and questions from friends and relatives sent me back to the computer. Sometimes my sister Ann would ask, How are you coming with your book Ed? Often I would have to say, Not too good. I was embarrassed. Sometimes I did nothing for months.

I once read a story by Marvin Olasky, the editor-in-chief of World Magazine. The title of the story was DQ, which stands for Determination Quotient. My parents, for example, had a high determination quotient. They stuck with it and they succeeded.

The apostle Paul also had a high determination quota. He also kept pressing towards the goal. The author Tom Clancy said, Writing is most of all an exercise in determination. James Michener, I’m not a good writer, but an excellent rewriter. Then there’s me. I have never written anything.

There are two people who encouraged me and worked at trying to improve my determination quotient. They are my wife of fifty-three years, Betty, and my youngest daughter, Julie Kay Boersma-Phillips.

Betty is my number one encourager and my top notch editor. (Ed, you’re way too verbose. Say it with fewer words). She constantly reminded me to get the story written. We will fix it later. I can’t thank her enough for all the help and encouragement she gave me. Thank you, my dear. I love you!

My daughter Julie really worked on my DQ. Dad, if you don’t do it, who will? Do you want me to drive down from San Jose and make you sit at the computer? She encouraged, she pushed, sometimes with tears in her eyes. Thanks Julie. I love you!

There are two people, both from Stadskanaal, who helped me with some obscure details which I had forgotten. They are Dick Bosma, * who now lives in Ontario, California, and Alice Bos (Drost) who now lives in Visalia, California. Dick and I were in the same school and class in The Netherlands. I spoke with him often about certain details and he helped me with some remembering. Alice gave me many pictures and possessed a wealth of detail which she shared with me. Thanks to both of you.

I also need to express a word of appreciation to the authors and writers of the books shown in my bibliography. There were many fascinating stories that confirmed my childhood memories.

EB

*Dick passed away on March 24, 2011.

Prologue

It began when I was almost six years old. Old enough to remember much, but really not quite old enough to comprehend everything. Comprehension came many years later. I remember walking the streets of Musselkanaal when the Germans invaded my country on May 10, 1940. Why was I in Musselkanaal when my family at the time lived in Zuidlaaren, some fifty or sixty kilometers away? Where were my sisters? Where was my mother? Where was my dad? Maybe I should start at the beginning so that the pieces will connect a bit better.

The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces, but my story takes place in only two of them. Groningen is the most northeastern province and Drenthe is south of Groningen. Both provinces border Germany on the East.

The Netherlands is such a small country. All of it will easily fit inside San Bernardino County in Southern California. Sometimes people wonder about the difference between The Netherlands and Holland. The name Holland is the name of two separate provinces, North and South Holland, in the western part of the country. Therefore, to call The Netherlands Holland is really not correct. Netherlands means low country, because nearly half of the country is below sea level.

My father was born in a small town in northern Groningen named Baflo. My mother was born in a small town in southeastern Groningen named Musselkanaal. How, then, did my father end up in Musselkanaal to court and marry my mother? I was born in a small town named Nieuw Amsterdam in the province of Drenthe. How did my parents end up in Nieuw Amsterdam? Why? Both of my sisters were born in a small town named Zweeloo, also in Drenthe. What happened? Why were we there?

Then, there was Stadskanaal, and Musselkanaal. The years 1940-1945 our family lived in Stadskanaal under German occupation where we experienced the terror of living under the Nazi yoke. How did we end up there, and why?

With the benefit of looking back sixty or more years, there is abundant evidence of Divine intervention and God’s providential care that He kept our family, and especially my dad, out of the clutches of the Gestapo.

Let’s see if we can find out what happened.

Dad, me, Jane, Mom and Ann. I think this picture was taken in 1944. I was ten years old.

Chapter 1

From Baflo to Loppersum

Baflo is a small town in northern Groningen where my dad, Fokke Boersma, was born on August 26, 1908. My paternal grandparents were Evert Boersma and Janna Buikema. There were five children in the family: Hein, Bets, Martha, Fokke and Tiet. I am not sure who was the oldest, but my tante Tiet was the youngest member of the family. My grandparents were very hard working people, hiring themselves out to the local farmers.

Northern Groningen was often referred to as het hooge land. Literally translated that means the high country. The average elevation above sea level is no more than three feet. The reference to high referred to far in the North and not to elevation above sea level. It was a region made up of a few well to do farmers and many subsistence type workers. In the year 1908, Baflo probably did not amount to much. Even at the time of this writing (2009), the town and the surrounding country side has only about ten thousand inhabitants. I have often thought about what made the Boersma side of the family tick. One thing that had a profound influence in their life, I think, was the geographical proximity of Baflo to the little town of Ulrum, about ten miles away.

In Ulrum, in the early eighteen hundreds, there was a Dutch Reformed minister by the name of Reverend DeCock. Reverend DeCock was a conservative Calvinist preacher who had a very strong influence in the small congregation of Ulrum but also in many of the surrounding communities, including Baflo. Eventually, the good reverend was instrumental in founding a new denomination called the Gereformeerde Kerk. My grandparents were life long members of the Gereformeerde Kerk. Eventually, the Gereformeerde Kerk became the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

As the Boersma brothers and sisters were growing up they were all blessed with intelligence, and were taught the value of hard work. Their growing up years were tough; they lived simply but never lacked for anything. They all finished elementary school education, but none, as far as I know, completed any higher education. I know my father was endowed with a very strong work ethic along with a very strong Biblical belief in Christ as Savior and Lord. Grandpa and Grandma Boersma eventually moved to the town of Loppersum, about 25 kilometers east of Baflo but still in the province of Groningen. Grandpa had a small farm, with about ten cows