Re: The story behind the Annalies photo

Wim:
My family, ten Hove, lived in Voorduinstraat, Haarlem and knew Annalies and her husband Joost. They were told they had to be resettled in Germany. They left some possessions, including furniture and their dog when they left with my Mother’s family. The photo of Annalies was given at the time. The photograph stayed with my family when they left the Voorduinstraat sixty years later and turned up again when my Mother moved house recently. I took the photo as I could remember when clearing my Grandmother’s house my Mother pointing out furniture that had belonged to Annalies. I wrote to my Mother about it.
My Mother, Sylvie ten Hove, was very young then, and wrote back:
“The only dim memories I have is not actually so much of Annelies and Joost but from the old lady who may have been the mother of Joost or Annelies. Tante Alma. I think she dies soon after but she used to sit in the chair near the french windows in Oma's house. Again, all I remember, she was there and then she was not.
The dog was lovely and again some vague memory that it may have had some Russian type of name like Natasha.
Oma had been asked to take care of it but later on I heard that, because it was such a pedigree dog, that some family member came to collect it and Oma was quite upset.
Don't forget that at the time people didn't actually think they went to their death. They expected to be able to return.
I was very young at the time, so these are only impressions of a small child. It is all just a vague feeling of tension all round.”
Wim Hulme