Alan’s TTIM Stories #25

Her passion was dance. The young child enjoyed the exhilaration of movement, discipline, becoming one with the music, the sweet pride of exertion, and striving for extraordinary achievement. Dance defined her life.

Her aristocratic parents provided the opportunity to continue her ballet training from an all-girl’s private school in England at the age of 8. In 1939, the world took a tragic turn – war.

Her mother brought her back home to Arnhem. England had declared war on Germany and the Netherlands had a history of neutrality dating back to World War I. This move proved flawed when Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. For protection, the young girl used an old family name “Edda van Heemstra” to sound less English.

All admiration of a strong and efficient German government disappeared with the brutal execution of Edda’s uncle as retaliation of sabotage with no connection to her uncle. Edda witnessed train cars at the Arnhem station being loaded with Jewish families with destinations and consequences unknown. An estimated 105,000 Dutch Jews lost their lives during Nazi occupation.

Her half-brother went into hiding. The other half-brother, not as lucky, was sent to work in a munitions plant in Germany.

Edda attempted to continue her dance training in the midst of surrounding atrocities. It also was a way to contribute to the Dutch Resistance efforts. Money made from underground recitals help fund anti-occupation activities. Now a young teen, she was not suspected as a currier of messages and a supplier of food to Allied flyers hiding in the woods above town. The consequence of discovery would be disastrous.

The first sign of hope filled the skies as Allied bombers flew over Arnhem on their way to destroy German industry. Soon the sounds came close to home as the airbase above town was targeted. The war came closer with the bombardment of Nijmegen to the south in February of 1944. Plumes of black smoke were visible from Arnhem. They mourned the deaths of fellow Dutch citizens as a result of the bombing. In another attempt at safety, mother and daughter moved in with relatives in the neighboring village of Velp.

Hope of liberation rose after the D-Day landings. After a summer of fighting in France, an unexpected turn north with Operation Market Garden brought the war dangerously close. The Allies fought to capture the bridge over the Rhine River at Arnhem. Two thousand British paratroopers escaped the battle from the ten thousand first engaged. Arnhem turned to rubble. Edda witnessed the horrors of war as a volunteer at the local hospital, caring for the bloody and broken bodies of soldiers and Dutch citizens.

Whether retaliation or supply difficulties, the Dutch faced Hunger Winter in 1944-1945 with an estimated between 18,000 to 22,000 deaths. The occupying army had the priority on food.  A very Dutch adaptation for survival – flour was produced out of tulip bulbs.

Edda suffered from the effects of malnutrition – jaundice, anemia, oedema, and respiratory infection1. Selling smuggled cigarettes allowed her to pay for life-saving penicillin.

1945 brought the end of the war and the complete liberation of the Netherlands. The young teen returned to England to resume her dance training. The heart of the dancer was betrayed by a failing body. She pivoted to modeling and eventually turned to acting. She also resumed the use of her English name – Audrey Hepburn.

Star of 35 movies including Charade, Wait Until Dark, My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and an Academy Award for Roman Holiday, her near death experience during the war led to empathy for children as she traveled the world as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1989 to promote clean water, immunizations, and the elimination of hunger.  

Sources:
Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen
Wikipedia 1

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