Learn more about Hester Kool by visiting her Survivor Encyclopedia: Washington State profile: www.holocaustc... Hester shares her story as a Holocaust survivor. Recorded on April 23, 2009.
Hester is my grandmother, and she just celebrated her 96th birthday last week! The comments on this video are very touching, it’s amazing to see how many people have heard her story and been moved by it.
Please tell her Happy Belated from a complete stranger who is over the moon that she is still here! For someone like me she is a beacon of hope & strength. We must remember that history repeats itself and I fear that it's doing just that. Regardless, Happy Birthday Hestor! You have been blessed and in return you have blessed us with your accounts of such a tragic history.
I am so glad to run into someone that is related to Hester on here. And to me this is been a wonderful experience to hear her she was so exact and i love the maps... And it was such a pleasure to learn so many things I look at a lot of these videos and hers of course touched my heart very much and I have tears in my eyes please give her a hug from me. And I will see you all in heaven along with the Messiah
When we complain about trivial things, just listen to the stories of the survivors, like this brave lady, of the Holocaust and realize how lucky we are. She endured heartbreaking and terrifying years as a young Jewish girl. She used her wit to finally escape and make it to freedom in the USA. My father was in the US Army and fought in the 3rd Army under General Patton. He never sweated the small stuff and appreciated the simple things in life. I know there were many atrocities he must have experienced, that he didn't talk about. He landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Through a miracle he survived and made it back to the USA where he was a civilian for a very short time. He re-enlisted in the Army after marrying my mom, I was born in 1948. He was stationed in Germany when I was just six years old. I remember I was in first and second grade at one of the American Army schools for Army brats like me. When we would go shopping off base to some of the German cities there was still a lot of remnants of buildings that had beened bombed down by the USA and our allies. I asked my dad why there were so many buildings like that, because at 6 or 7 years of age I didn't have a clue. My dad simply replied that there was a war. We also went on a tour of one of the concentration camps. Being so young I still didn't know much about the Holocaust. I do remember the part of the tour where they showed us the gas chamber. Jewish prisoners were told it was a public shower, because the ceiling grates appeared to be like shower heads. As I grew up and became more educated, I realized the great cruelty of that insane monster Hitler. Sorry, I think I have gone at length, but we must never forget.
Yeah. The Holocaust is one of the worst things in history. It wasn’t just Jewish people who were victims. It was also non Jewish people. Roma, Sinti, etc. And Shitler wasn’t the only monster. Same with most- not all- of his crazy Nazis like Josef Mengele, Amon Göeth, just to name some. I feel sorry for survivors and victims of these psychos and I also feel sorry for all the others that died. And also for victims of Unit 731, in Japan and in China. They all never survived. Unit 731 is similar to the experiments conducted in Auschwitz.
I cannot imagine how terrifying this whole era would have been for a child, nor how difficult to navigate the dangers alone. Kudos to your spirit and fortitude to survive, thrive and make a record of what happened so it will never be forgotten.
I was born in Den Haag in 1937.. I am not Jewish but there is so much in your story that I can relate to, God bless you and yours. Oh, I live in Australia since 1951.
Her parents knew that she would be safe if she worked in that factory. Also makes me sad to hear that she felt bad leaving the family that “hid” her but also abused her ❤😢
I'm so sorry. What a hard childhood you had. As I listened to you talk dispassionate about your past, I thought, "How brave she is and was to go through all that as a young person and then to face those memories so bravely, too, as an adult." Thank you for sharing your life story.
My goodness, Hester's story was gripping from start to finish and she's an excellent witness/storyteller. I could see her story unfolding in my mind's eye.
And many think they had a rough life growing up. An amazing journey for you Hester to some how go with the tide that overwhelmed you, tested you and stole your family and childhood from you but you managed to come out of it all onto a shore to a second chance at life. Your strength, endurance and dignity is so inspiring. Your family that passed away in that horror would be so proud of you that you are a living testament to them and carry their legacy forward.
Absolutely amazing. My God, what these people lived through. We are so fortunate to have their stories. It's so difficult to even conceive of the magnitude of lost lives...
Thank you Helen, for your testimonial. Bless your memory! It is so important to know and remember what atrocities happened under the Nazi’s. And it did not happen far away, long ago. And it can happen again if people are racists and nationalists! ( I was born in ‘62, raised in Amsterdam and always go to the beach in Zandvoort.)
It’s time us people starting putting more of these stories in limelight and focus more on using this to fight other evils in the world as it all connects. Social media should be used to address these stories and help us yes not forget though build passion and character to bring more justice and a human standard to not allow this again- rather than celebrity worshipping
I watch all of these holocaust programs, my heart cries for these poor people, I can't imagine being so mean and hateful to so many innocent people, sometimes it's hard to watch. God bless all those poor souls, may they never be forgotten ❤
So brave! I love you Hester. I am American/ Jewish blonde hair and green eyes. Was a Bat Mitzvah. @ 25 yo I moved to Switzerland. Long story short I lived on the border of Germany. Turs out same that the Swiss returned Oskar Schindler. I traveled to Munich, took a local bus to Dachau. Not one German showed acknowledgement of the Camp. Had German friends, not one would say anything except their grandparents had nothing to do with it. Still so shocking.
What a beautiful smart woman , this is the perfect example of how many talented , smart people were killed in the camps. Maybe they killed someone who had the cure for cancer or advancements in technology.So many people that were killed and it was a huge lose to the world. I am 43 and I can always remember having a thirst for history and I got stuck on the holocaust. No matter how much I learn or how many stories I hear I just can’t fathom how this happened or how those who went along with The Nazis thought it was ok . They say the world went mad and it’s true BUT IT STILL DONT MAKE IT RIGHT.
I am the same! I read and listen to everything that I can, just to honor all the people who’s went through the hell of the Nazis, and lost their loved ones. Every story matters. Each human life mattered, and was of worth. I try to figure out how this all happened, but one cannot make sense of the senseless.
Thank you for sharing your story. My mother and her family are also from the Netherlands, they lived near Leeuwarden. After the war they migrated to Australia. They are not Jewish but also suffered terribly during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Bless you.
Oh my ! How sad! What a beautiful lady and as I listened to her I admired her strength at recounting the terrible time of the war and so sad for her loss of her parents and family.. bless her 🙏🏼
Everyone needs to be on guard and make sure that this NEVER happens again! 6 million lives snuffed out, 6 million dreams dead… if those people had lived think what they might have contributed to the world.
This history is so critically important. I do grieve for his woman and all of the people who suffered, and those who were murdered so horrifically. I so admire this woman and all who share their experiences that prove that these things happened. I am grateful for all who tell their history, and I watch so that I/we do not ever forget. Much respect to this woman.
I am so very sorry that you or anyone had to live through this atrocity. I about died when my son came home from school and said that they were teaching him that the Holocaust never happened. I was so angry and furious. I went to the school and told them that they needed to fix it and I was told that the Holocaust was political propaganda. I told them that they were wrong because I knew people who had lived through it and even had the identification tattoo on their wrist. I had to take my friend to the school to prove to them that they were wrong and I was right. The school finally fixed the program and began to teach it properly because of my sweet friend who hated her tattoo until that day, after she liked it because it proved that it was real and not political propaganda. Sadly she passed away in 1995. I miss her she was such a sweet soul for having lived through so much pain and suffering. She also had no family left after Hitler and his psycho army were defeated.
On one hand, those people who hid her saved her from the horrors of the concentration camp. On the other hand, their motivation is that they wanted a free slave worker who would do all the household chores and take care of the kids, and they were unfriendly too. I’m on the fence as to whether these people should be praised or not!
Indeed. I need to know more about similar cases to understand their true motif. It is a good thing that she was strong enough to chose for herself despite the egoism of these people.
But they were putting their lives on the line as well. If that was how they would have treated their help, Jewish or not, they would have been noticed if it changed.
They most likely didnt have the money to pay her. It was a very difficult time economically and everyone had little money. They didnt even have money for most foods. Like Hester said, she was given bone broth to eat because there was nothing else to eat. They were good for helping her but after the war it was not necessary for her to babysit anymore. Maybe they would miss her if she left? Either way, the family didnt abuse her. She was fed and hidden well for two years when any other family could of given her up to the Germans out of fear
Not sure how she was a slave in this situation? They shared their rations. If they were caught with her like others were they would be dragged out (most likely the father) and shot in the street as an example.
Um. What??? It's also important to remember that keeping her active and working while lonely would have been very important. Vital, in fact. She admitted that she was quite spoiled previously, so any work seemed much worse regardless- again, something she acknowledged. As a family who would have been shot dead on the spot for harboring her, as well as having to ration their own supplies which gave them less, it's quite unfair to say to that their "motivation" was to have "a free slave worker". Your view sounds extremely USA privileged, where everything is seen in the absolute worst way and in your own current day standards. I'm pretty sure she, and her children she was able to have because of that family, would rather have her changing diapers if the alternative was... oh... I don't know, DYING IN A GENOCIDE. I can't believe that was what you took from this. I'm truly second hand embarrassed for you.
Thank you so much for telling your life story so ppl can learn from this! It's such an honor to be able to hear a recount of the war from someone who was actualy there and lived and survived through all those atrocities. I to have grandparents of course, my grandma (my mothers ma) she joined the partisans with the rest of her family, while my grandpa, her future husband lived on a small island Drvenik Mali near Trogir. His family (parents and grandparents) hid his fathers sister who married a man born of a hebrew faith (she changed her faith (which was none😂, some sort of christian but she wasn't even christened, but she still underwent a long and demanding processe before they couldvhe weeding) and their five children, from ages about 16 to 8, plus her parents and her brother, his wife and their two daughters (their son joined the partizans). They hid them in the basemant and everything was allright before the capitulation of Italy in 1943 when the Italians left and the Germans came. Because everyone who lived on the island knew they were hidding there (i mean it wasn't exactly a big house) and when the Germans came in 43 it became extrenly dangereos because there was two many ppl in the house so my grear grand mother took my grandfather and his two yonger brothers and went in zbjeg (I don't know how to translate exept run away) in El Shat, in Egipt - a lot of women with small children did that. My grandpa is 3 years younger than my grandma (his future wife, the one that went to partisans, he was the oldest, 13 and his brothers Jozo and Misha, 9 and 7. They had the oldest brother Antonio, 17 who run away with partisans and died during the fighting. But the real tragedy was that right near the end of the war Germans gave orders they everyone must emptied the island and sent everyone to be stationed in Split and one of the Germans found out they had no papers or weren't registered on the island and they killed - shot them all, my grandpas sister, her small children, her husband, his family and everyone who lived in the house. They always considered Slavs inferier people (not Arian enough I guess) even though they all had blue eyes and white skin (black or brown hair though) it was a punishment for hiding Hebrews and warning to others (one other family hid Hebrew relatives too but they run away to America via Lisabon just before Italy capitulated- that family, Tironi, had lot more money because they owned the only mill and bread shop on the island, plus they hid just 3 persons, a couple and a child, and they still had to leave their 5 year old boy but they returned for him after the war ended (and they had huge problems with their visa because of laws back then that you can't leave the US for 5 years or something like that. My fathers father joined the partisans, got tuberculoses and died after the war, but the fact he joined partisans stoped comunists from taking all his land and nationalizing it. Those were brutal times but the sadest thing is how short of a memory ppl have and how quicly they forget. The sadest is that people learned nothing from the horrors of holocoust and when someone learnes nothing they are destened to repet the "lesson", one way or the other.
How lucky that her friend helped her so she didn't end up in a concentration camp, unfortunately her poor family did and died in concentration camps, such a harrowing story for all those that suffered
Being a German I am so very sorry and ashamed of what my people did to you and your people. I'm glad you are such a strong woman and I wish you all the luck in the world.
Dear Elisabeth,it is not your fault,you did not do this.I lived through war as a child and I hoped no war will ever happen again but now Ukraine...so sad.
Elizabeth, unfortunately there are people capable of such evil in most countries. We just need to be aware and to do everything we can to stop them taking power.
Dear Elisabeth, You do not have to be sorry for the things that you didn’t do. What happened during the war could happen anywhere, at any time, because of the beliefs of the country’s leadership, and lies told to the population. We must all be vigilant, so it doesn’t happen again. You show yourself to be a very high morals person, to apologize for your forefathers deeds. Thank you for your kindness!
I so enjoyed spending time hearing her story. With all of my heart I want her to know that Jesus loves her. Her story is so inspiring. He knows about her heart break...Thank you so much for sharing your tender story ❤
When I started to translate this little book to my son I began to cry for this little girl, but I had to remember this little girl was me. I am so happy that she could reflect back on such a horrible time and figure it was her beginning and grieve for her...but in all here years the hurt, loss and heartache of that young women was replaced by on who LIVED. ❤️ She said a lot of moving things in this interview be for me that and her daughter telling her to not be sorry for moving across an ocean...giving her a new life and a new start. WOW! She lived, so I am so happy she was able to do so and glad her daughter helped her see that.
What a hard life as a teen. If was a good thing that Helen just happened to be friends with a girl who was part of the resistance and got her a safer place to live. Yet, Helen was made to live in the attic and eat alone. But, great fully she was never found by the Nazi’s! It was a hard time after the war. Thankfully, Helen’s Grandfather, and aunt and uncle and daughter’s all survived!
“We were good citizens and we did what we were told.” That is how it still starts today. I pray for the people of North Korea going through the same thing.
She’s wonderful and a strong lady physically as well to have survived such a horror. I’m so glad she is got a family and she’s happy. I wish her a long life with her loved ones. Thank you for your heart felt testimony. ❤️
I’m always blow away by each survivor telling their stories….it will be shared & stayed in my heart forever 🙏🏻💝🇺🇸🕯️🕯️🕯️…..they should’ve have the highest of Aliyah’s……RIP sweet souls ….
As a former marine fighting in Afghanistan I've seen my share of cruelty but nothing compares to what this lady went through. What a lovely woman and story
Lol another “I served in Afghanistan” statement. Ya know. When people ask me where I served I give them my FOB and a physical location. Too many liars out there
Ya everyone likes a nice lovely story. I'm sure the orphans your kind killed in Afghanistan will have similar stories that will make you feel warm inside that sadistic thing you call a heart.
The Red Cross did a great job delivering 1200 care packages each Friday to the people in the Auschwitz camp . Money was also delivered and was exchanged for camp currency to buy items in the general store. No such programs offered in Soviet Gulags.
Already reminiscing ... my bubbe and Papa used to measure and tell time that way: 3/4 of an hour, ten minutes till two ... I'm now 55 years old and told my son the time that way and he said, "Huh? What time is it?". Memories. ❤️
Some absolutely amazing people survived to tell their stories so that we could’ve vigilant, we need to keep listening. Amazing woman with fantastic recall.
My grandmother was a young girl shopping in Rotterdam with her mum when they were suddenly bombed, they then moved too Zantvoord they were van de nulft family . They moved all over Holland during the war and hid members of the resistance.
Facinerend en heel oprecht hoe zij alles vertelt . Ben blij dat ze een goed leven had na al deze gebeurtnissen. Een typies Nederlands optimismus zie je in haar doen en laten. Respekt voor jou en je familie
Many unique anecdotes here for the history of that terrifying time. The map also made this account more relatable, and everything about it clearly points out the unceasing fear and misery of being hunted by warped and deadly humans. Thank you to her and for producing this.
What a wonderful lady, she went through so much! I wonder why the man she was staying with wouldnt sign for her to go to her grandfather? He risked his life, and his wife and children hiding her. If someone had betrayed them, they probably all would have been killed. Perhaps he thought she "owed" him, or there was perhaps there was genuine affection to her from the children and he wondered how they would cope without her. They would have to pay a nanny/ housekeeper lot more money. Such a tragic story, I don’t even want to think how her aunt felt hiding her baby, knowing she would probably never see her again. I wonder how many others that fifteen year old girl saved. She truly was a heroine. Thank you for sharing your story lovely Hester xxx
What a beautiful woman, thank you so very much for sharing your story and history with everyone, my heart goes out to you and hopefully everyone can learn from you. Much love to you and your family from New Hampshire in the USA ❤❤ Your strength is so amazing ❤❤
What is so remarkable is how these survivors after these harrowing and devastating experiences, the unimaginable horror and trauma, not only survived but went on to live full and productive lives, to marry happily and raise children who in turn live fulfilling lives.
@@ssaldfb For that portion, she’s talking about when she and her husband went back and visited Holland. It had been 55 years since she had seen her friend that she went to school with. They must have visited when she was in her later 60’s.
