In 1933, there was a growing Fascist regime in Italy and German Nazism was well on its way--the political situation in Europe became very tense. There had arisen in Holland a new political party, the N.S.B., or National Socialist Party. This group of Mussolini and Hitler followers was indoctrinating and brainwashing some of our young people into becoming Fascists.

One day I noticed that some of Kees' friends were trying to lure him into joining the N.S.B. He had mentioned this to me several times, but I had never taken him seriously. And at that time, I did not have the slightest idea of the extent of the disaster awaiting the Jewish people. Kees had become so angry with my parents for not letting us go steady (he was not Jewish), that when I came back from my summer vacation trip to Germany, I found out he had joined the N.S.B.! Kees began openly wearing Fascist insignia and regularly attending their meetings. I explained to him how misguided he really was and tried in vain to stop him before he became too involved. But it was too late. Unfortunately, he became more and more engulfed in Nazism. In the end, he paid for it with his very life, however not before destroying the lives of many innocent people, and almost mine as well.

The swastika was casting a dark shadow over not only Germany, but all of Europe. Its darkness would soon spread into every corner and touch every heart--some with contamination, some with terror.