During her childhood Milly had been suffering from
polio, and because of this she walked with an
impaired gait. Daughter Greetje of the Cohen family,
too, had a mobility handicap. Therefore we reached
the following agreement in case the Nazis should
come sometime to get us: There was kind of a remote
room on the third floor, which was not easily
accessible. There the two girls were supposed to
hide. There was only a slight chance for the Nazis to
find them there. I do remember, that there was a
curfew for Amsterdam. Jews were not permitted to be
in the streets after 8:00 pm, unless they had a special
permit. During the curfew the Nazis would stage their
raids. Almost every night we would hear the squad
cars with their sirens. This meant, that yet another
raid was being carried out, in order to haul off the
Jews to ”Schouwburg”, the subsequent deportation to
Westerbork, and then farther to the East!
We always were terribly afraid of them coming
immediately to get us.
Hollandse Schouwburg, theater for
shows and cabaret. It was closed
since July of 1942, and later on, after
removal of the seating, the
Schowburg served as assembly point
for the Jewish detainees prior to their
transfer to the transit camp
Westerbork.
