AMSTERDAM
Dear Mies and Toon
What a World! What a World! Will the misery never come to an end? Since October 15th we have had no lights, and have had to sit in candle light, which is awful for a home like this, with 300 inhabitants and nuns; particularly as it is already dark now by 5.30 pm. Fortunately I made a point of getting myself stocked up with candles at the beginning of the war, but if we have to burn them every evening, and we have no wish to go to bed at 6.30 pm, then they can very quickly get used up. In spite of all this, we still manage to have a game of cards in the evenings, each with his own candle, but once the game is over, there is not much else one can do than go to bed. At least one can be warm there, because we have no heating at all. I wear three layers if clothing, on top of that, a warm woolen dress, a cardigan, and then a fur collar round my neck which has been so useful; Do you remember the Mole fur? As well as that I wear warm slippers. Any coal there is, has to be kept for cooking. Up until now we have been having hot water on Fridays only, this enables us to bath and to do our washing. No-one takes in washing any more. And so we sit all miserable in the dark.
A lot of houses have been burned down, this is because many Germans have been murdered. Then they retaliate by collecting a number of men, and shooting them, and by blowing up houses with hand grenades. I never thought our country would have to suffer so much.
The great majority of people get their food from the central kitchen. They receive 1/2 litre per person per day. The first day it is Potato soup, the second day Beetroot puree, the third day cabbage and potatoes mashed together, the fourth day porridge, the first day Potato soup, etc., etc. No-one can get a meal for himself, so those who have nothing else, go hungry; people are saying the men should go to Drente to dig up potatoes, but if they do that, they will be sent to Germany, and never be seen again.
Any business or firm that happened to have stock in hand, be it food or clothing, has had it all taken and plundered by the Germans. Any bicycles or cars - one still sees them in the street occasionally - are taken away and the unfortunate owners told the English will see they are compensated. As there are no trams running, people come into the city on anything they can find, they have even been seen on wheelbarrows and dustcarts. Some people get about by paying a high price for a lift on a barge.
People who have queued for 3 to 4 hours for their mid-day meal, can be sent home without anything; they are told they can have a double portion the following day. I hope we won't have to go and fetch our food, what a thing that would be, with so many people. It is to prevent this that we have no heating here, our fuel is kept for the cooking. We must not complain about our food here - obviously we don't get meat or fat, but we do get enough. We can buy jam for 3 guilders, a jar of sugar hagelslag for 3.50 guilders, 2lbs of apples for a guilder, 1 lb butter for 40 guilders, 1 lb of meat for 16 guilders, cheese 8 guilders, a pack of 4, 32 guilders.
Bye Bye Mies and Toon
a kiss from your loving Mother
