Now also available; the English version of Heroes die young!

Brent

Even though I never knew you

You were still there every day

You were there at breakfast

Or you suddenly appeared during a nice day out

With your arrival

You brought dark stormy clouds

Of suffering and sadness

I could see what you did to my parents, to Grandmother

Perhaps it would help

Whenever I tried not to listen

For them you were always a hero

To me you seemed the anti-hero

How could you be so silly and stupid?

By sticking your neck out, above the rest

Didn’t you realize that someone who chop it off some day?

I was only a small child

A child who knew nothing of treasons

A child that knew nothing of hero’s deeds

A child that did not have a carefree childhood

A child that knew: heroes die young.

One of the poems from AnneVera's book, a family novel about the war based on a true story. In the book the names of the people it concerns have been changed, because many cannot be traced back exactly. 95 percent of the story, however, is based on truth. The book is about Geert Schoonman, a resistance hero, called Brent in the book.

The book describes AnneVera's quest, in the book Anice en Eva, to the war past of the uncle and brother (Brent) of their mother/grandma Lotta. The life of Lotta, a resistance woman, is described with flashbacks and we read about what became of her after the war. The war has left trauma that is passed on to future generations. After Lotta's death, special items remain in the family, such as honorary medals, photo books and certificates.
Anice, who never wanted to know anything about the war, and Eva decide to go in search of the story behind these items. For example, Eva gets her mother Anice along with her and Anice also processes her childhood trauma because she is more able to understand the mourning situation from the past. The search seems to present itself very spontaneously for Anice and Eva. They go from one chance event to another and meet important people who know more about the story.

Have you become curious about the book Heroes die young. It can now be ordered via our webshop at www.djuun.nl for the symbolic amount of 1 euro. We will donate part of the proceeds to the Stolpersteine ​​foundation.

Do you want to read more about the life of Geert (Brent in the book) himself? Then look at these links:

https://oorlogsdodendinkelland.nl/

Geert  Schoonman was a commies and resistance fighter. During the battle for the Grebbeberg. He was a sergeant with the Liaison Service Genie. After the capitulation of the Dutch army he was appointed as border commissioners at Glanerbrug and later at Zundert. Geert became involved in the resistance, especially in helping allied pilots who had been shot down over occupied territory and were trying to find an escape route to England. Towards the end of 1943 he was transferred to Twente. There he continued his resistance as a member of the Knokploeg Enschede.

Geert has his own facebook site:

https://www.facebook.com/Geert-Schoonman-280888538788644

And his family page www.geert-schoonman.com.

Enjoy reading,

Anne Vera