Heroes without Haloes: A personal memoir of World War II

By Ingrid Freerks Archibald and Nellie Erkelens Freerks

How to hide seven Jews across the street from Nazi Headquarters? One family managed for nearly three years in WWII Amsterdam, overcoming numerous perils, as well as extreme famine. Their personal story describes their day-to-day existence and struggles to survive under the most dire circumstances. It also chronicles the Resistance Movement in Holland and the many ingenious ways Dutch citizens devised to thwart their Nazi overseers. It documents the dedication and courage of the Dutch to help their Jewish neighbors survive Nazi persecution, often at great risk to themselves. Most of these safe-haven providers remain anonymous, hence the book is dedicated to these 'Heroes without Haloes'.________________________________________About the Author: Nellie Erkelens Freerks was born in Holland in 1920. She married her husband, Fred, in 1942. She helped her husband, extended family and seven Jewish hide-aways, survive WWII in Amsterdam. After the war she started writing her original manuscript in Dutch. She was unsuccessful in having it published in the 1950's as it was deemed 'too personal'.In 1957 the family emigrated to America and settled in San Francisco, California. Within a few years she started translating her manuscript into English, with the help of her two eldest children, and continued to edit and rewrite her efforts. However, soon she became a full-time and much-beloved childcare provider and put the manuscript aside. At times she did contribute articles to her favorite Dutch magazine, Libelle. Nellie became an American citizen in 1962. She succumbed to cancer in 1988. Her book is being published posthumously by her eldest daughter, Ingrid.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 198037077X
• ISBN13: 9781980370772
• Release Date: February 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"