I’ve written a little about the story behind the story of Snow on the Tulips. If you have read the book, it’s there in the back. How 14 men were arrested by the Germans on April 7, 1945 in
Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, taken to the little town of Dronrijp and shot them by the canal on April 11. How one of the men survived and was found by the townspeople. How my cousin brought him to my aunt’s house where she cared for him until the war ended only 5 days later.

When I was in Waupun for a coffee with some of the local ladies, one of the women shared how her grandfather was a member of the Dutch Resistance and how he escaped from the Germans one day by jumping out of a window, hanging onto the bar that held the sign for the business on the first floor of the building, and fled. It was an intriguing story and I was sorry I didn’t hear about it sooner because it certainly would have made it into the book.

She sent me a copy of her grandfather’s memories of that time. He had a fascinating story. I loved reading it! And then I came to the last part of the story.

Are you ready for this? Hang on to your seats now.

On April 7, 1945, he was hiding on the third floor of a building in Leeuwarden when the Germans caught up to him. They pulled up in their car and went into the business on the main level. This gave him an opportunity to slip out of the window, and using the pole the business sign hung on, lowered himself to the ground. He injured both feet but managed to hobble to another house around the corner.

When he got there, he realized that he left his briefcase there with the names of other Resistance workers in it. They all needed to be warned. Some of the men managed to get away, but not all of them. 12 of them were arrested. (The other two were collaborators). One of the men, Heinrich Harder, had gotten away, leaving his wife alone. She was six months pregnant. Feeling he couldn’t leave her, he went back and was arrested.

Heinrich Harder

H

These men were taken to the canal in Dronrijp and executed on April 11, 1945. Gerard de Jong was the only survivor. I did learn in some of my research that Douwe Tuinstra also survived for a while. When the men came to the scene, he told them he was injured too badly and they needed to take care of Gerard. 

Douwe Tuinstra

Heinrich Harder’s wife gave birth to a stillborn child a few months after the war.

And to think, I met this woman with a connection to my family, sitting in a small town in the middle of Wisconsin. I am stunned and amazed at how God has orchestrated all of these events almost 70 years later. Then her aunt contact me through my website the other day, the daughter of this man who escaped. 

All I can say is, “Wow, Lord. This is so cool!”

And, as Paul Harvey said, “Now you know the rest of the story.” (Then again, you never know what else I might learn along the way. Stay tuned.)