Joe Hoekstra was born in Giten, Holland, in 1915. He moved to the U.S. in 1951. His earliest recollections include the Spanish influenza epidemic which swept through Europe after WWI, the European depression of the 1920's, the rise of Hitler's Brown Shirts, and the Nazi party of Germany. As a youth, he witnessed the demonstrations between the Brown Shirts and other political parties. During 1938 he was able to travel through much of Western Europe and this was when he saw the Siegfried Line being built.
A reservationsit in the Dutch Army, Mr. Hoekstra was called up on August 29, 1939. When the German Army invaded Holland on May 10, 1949, he fought with his unit until the organized miliraty resistene faded. He then went to work with the Dutch Underground. In May of 1941 he was captured by the Gestapo and was brought to The Hague for questioning, but he managed to escape after being held for only two hours. He spent the rest of the war in various disguises and moved from one place to another.
Mr. Hoekstra also discusses the extermination of the Dutch Jews and how the Jewish leaders had to cooperate with the Nazis and furnish them with lists which contained the names of Jews. These lists were used to fill the concentration camps.
The general deprivation of wartime Holland is also detailed. Mr. Hoekstra recalled how he once had to walk 80 kilometers to get a cartload of potatoes.
He also offers his opinion on the V-1 and V-2 missiles and tells an amusing anecdote of watching a V-1 explode with a "pfft."