Lecture on World War II by Miel Andriesse

Dr. Miel Andriesse (Belgium) will give a lecture on World War II at the Meeting Centre.

Samuel Andriesse was born in Eindhoven on 28 June 1942. His Jewish parents decided to go into hiding and Samuel was separated from his parents. After several wanderings, he was taken in by the Verhees family in Helmond, consisting of a father, mother and three daughters aged between 16 and 20. As he had a rather Jewish name, his name was changed to Mieltje, and it has remained so ever since. His parents were betrayed at their hiding place. They were murdered in Auschwitz on 31 January 1944. Miel was lovingly taken in by the family hiding him, but later he was sent – against his will – to live with an aunt, because according to his grandmother he had to be raised as a Jew. In 1962, he emigrated with his foster parents to Israel, where he lived until 1979. Miel attended hotel school in Israel and worked in the hotel industry. He has remained in contact with his host family to this day. Miel posthumously applied for the Yad Vashem award for his host parents, which was presented to Moesje and Uncle Carel in 2006, via their daughters Riek and Elly.

In 2009, Miel received the volunteer medal from the municipality of Eindhoven for all his volunteer work. With his guest lectures, he wants to combat prejudice and promote acceptance. He is under no illusion that it will help one hundred percent, but every person reached is one more. Andriesse also wants to show how decisive a war is for people. He is still experiencing the consequences of this. 'My whole life is injury time, because I shouldn't have been there anymore.'

The lecture is free for members of the Heemkundekring de Lange Vonder; non-members pay a small fee.