Anne Frank was a born leader, aggressive and responsible, who had a way with words and showed little fear for the Nazi regime while growing up in Amsterdam during the advent of World War II.
That’s the opinion of Margaretha “Rie” Feenstra, a 78-year-old whose haven these days is a sprawling home surrounded by nature in my city of Haverhill, Mass.
Feenstra should know. She and Anne Frank were schoolmates, traveled to class together, and socialized with one another. Little did Feenstra know at the time that her friend’s diary while in hiding would become such a prominent testament to the Holocaust and one of the most important works in American literature.
The two were school chums at the Montessori School in Amsterdam, two years apart in age, and by Rie’s own admission, “two peas in the same pod.”
“I could write a book of my own,” she reminisced. “I never gave Anne Frank another thought until I picked up her ‘diary’ one day at the flea market. It was misery. You don’t like to read about pain and torment. We saw enough of it.”
The two lost touch when Feenstra and her family were evacuated to a small city on the coast. The Germans had overtaken their home in 1944 and used it as a central office while the Franks were ultimately uprooted from hiding and transported to Auschwitz.
By war’s end, some six million Jews were killed including Anne Frank who, according to records, put up a valiant struggle until the bitter end of confinement.
“When Anne Frank and I walked to school, we conversed in Dutch and talked about the fear of war,” said Feenstra. “One day, I looked out and saw the Jewish synagogue being bombed. It sent a fear through all of us.”
Troops marching in the streets and banging on doors left a stark impression upon Feenstra. The planes overhead and sirens at night. Her city resembled a blitzkrieg at the height. Feenstra and her family remained resilient.
Rie ultimately met and married her husband Jacob in Amsterdam, a celebrated hockey player who belonged to the national team. They raised four children, all Haverhill High graduates. Today, their extended family includes seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Two months ago, the Top Notch Players at Northern Essex Community College staged a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The Feenstras were attracted by a notice in the papers and put their vanity aside.
No one knew Rei’s secret encounter with Anne Frank, much less the turmoil she had encountered. To muster up enough fortitude to see this production for the first time was commendable. Even the film versions had been avoided. It was a chapter in Feenstra’s life that she didn’t reiterate—until now.
The two showed up at the theater one night and took their seats up back. As the story began to unfold, so did the emotions.
“When the church bells began to ring every half hour from the attic where the Franks were staying, that set me off,” said Feenstra. “I remember hearing those bells as a child. We went to the theater knowing it would be emotional. I felt it was time to see how we would react to it.”
Jake, too, became very sensitive to the production, for his family took a Jewish couple into hiding for three years in Amsterdam.
“We stuck our necks out, too,” he traced back. “My whole family was at risk but we couldn’t just let these people die. When the war ended, the couple disappeared and we never heard from them again.”
When the Northern Essex production ended, Rie’s eyes were swollen with tears. She made it a point to introduce herself to the cast and applauded the performers for “bringing a very difficult subject to the stage.”
The Feestras have returned to Holland three times. A day seldom goes by when Jake isn’t connected to his homeland through the internet. He logs on, chats with others from the Netherlands, and continues to live his heritage profusely.
“America is the land of opportunity but nothing comes free,” he points out. “You have to pay the price with hard work and sacrifice.”
Tom Vartabedian
Latest posts by Tom Vartabedian (see all)
- Vartabedian: My Final Column - November 13, 2016
- A Hat to Match Any Occasion - October 19, 2016
- More Smiles Keep the Frowns Away - October 12, 2016
1 Comment