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 Renny  van Ommen-de Vries was arrested in April 1944 for her part in a resistance group led by Henk Dienske. Dienske succumbed to the ordeal, in the Nazi concentration camp Neuengamme, just before the war’s end. Mother survived Dachau and she and her closest friend worked for an American war press contingent in Gruenwald for a short period after their liberation. They were then repatriated with the war press single engine plane to Holland. The below documents were translated for my children and friends. In this horror their Faith sustained and comforted them. This is the legacy that we gratefully received from our parents and grandparents and I pray to help extend this legacy of their Faith to my children and beyond.

v     Ravensbrueck  Link to website on the conditions and history of this camp where mother was sent from Vught in September 1944.

v	v     Christmas 1944 in Dachau
v	v     Agfa revolt 1945
v	v     Waalkerk “The Bible in Concentration Camp”. An address to the Waalkerk church June ’45 by mother.
v	v     Father's Diary  A daily longhand diary for the 13 months of mother's imprisonment. I intend to do an English version. A better known diary was written just a few miles away in the same period by Anne Frank. Coincidentally my father received one of the very first published "Dagboek van Anne Frank" from Otto Frank with his dedication. Otto Frank knew dad through his work.

Gruenwald April/May 1945 Photos. First Picture: Nel Niemandsverdriet. Harry Cowe. Harry still lives near Seattle. He was 27 at that time, worked as an A.P. photographer and for Seattle Times. Next my mother. On the right is Nate Asch. His father was Sholem Asch, Polish Jew, who wrote "The Nazarene".  The second photo shows Charley Greene who was 29 at that time, I found him back in St.Paul, Minn. In the center is Col. Jay Vessels, Rick ?, Claude Farmer. These correspondents traveled through Italy with Ernie Pyle and Bill Mauldin. After the war their main duties were to document the aftermath of the camp atrocities and to accompany Hollywood and government V.P.'s. Other names in their group: Art Everett who became a top A.P. writer after the war. Don Jordan, cook. Paul Zimmer from Oakland, Ca. Colonel Max Boyd, public relations officer for their air force unit.  The middle photos show their send off home. A day permanently etched in my memory when mother and Tante Nel came to pick us up from our second grade class. The bottom picture was taken in the late eighties.                                              Mother passed away December 23, 1993 and Nel Niemandsverdriet on January 24, 2001

 

The Lindner home in Gruenwald before end of the war.                            A recent, 2005, picture of the same Lindner home.

These above pictures were given to Jan van Ommen by Hubert Lindner who met in Hamburg the week of July 4th., 2005. Charley Greene, in a January 2005 telephone conversation with Jack van Ommen, remembered the owner's name as Max Lindner. And Jan was able to track the next Lindner generation, who are again living in their family home. Max Lindner passed away in 1955. Hubert(us) Lindner is from 1935 and still remembers the war press contingent taking over their home. He was mayor of Gruenwald for several years.

1947 Reunion of the surviving women of Ravensbrueck and Dachau. Held at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Far right with white purse is Renny van Ommen. Nel Niemandsverdriet is in the upper right corner with the wide white collar. Pom Koppert is in the center in front of the table, arms folded. I received this picture yesterday, April 20 '05, from her son Sjoerd Koppert,of Montecito,  who came to see me on the boat in the Santa Barbara marina.