Introduction - Having completed the first two parts of this book, I must now decide how to tackle the bulk of the memoirs, written by Hinne, my father. Somehow, it has been made easier for me since my Dad's memoirs were published in serialized form in "Schylge Myn Lantse" (translation: Terschelling, my beloved, little land), a bi-monthly journal focusing on the culture and history of Terschelling. My brother Cees was in possession of a whole stack of these beautiful little journals. Some months before his death, on September 2, 2002, he instructed Tante Jannie from his hospital bed to make sure that these booklets would end up with me. And that's what happened.

Having perused these serialized stories I noticed that someone (I later learned that it was my brother Herman) had abbreviated my Dad’s text for publication purposes in the Dutch journal. I suppose there were good reasons for that, because Dad had a habit to go into too much detail. That does put me in a quandary, though. Do I translate my Dad's memoirs, or the published parts? After some reflection, I have decided to just paraphrase my Dad's memoirs in some sort of chronological order and not dwell too much on the nitty-gritty detail. Incidentally, it totally amazes me how much my Dad was able to remember. He seems to have had the ability of total recall. So, after completing the first two introductory parts, I will now begin with Hinne’s actual memoirs. - sdj

Starting Hinne’s memoirs

At the end of the 19th century the de Jong homestead was located on, what is now called, the Willem Barentszkade 34, West Terschelling. Looking out of the front window of the house, you would see the ships lying in the harbor and the sea walls that provided shelter from the fury of the North Sea. Today, it is difficult to imagine that it was once a farm! Leaving by the front door, you could deposit yourself on the benches in front of the house. Ideal places for "kletspraatjes," as in neighborly chats.

Willem Barentszkade 34, West Terschelling

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A sandy road separated the houses from the "Wadden Zee," that part of the sea lying between the island and the province of Friesland, in the north-west part of the Netherlands. A three-meter paved section separated the sandy road from the black basalt rocks which had been positioned in a gentle slope towards the low water mark People at that time were in the habit of throwing their garbage close to the water. Sort of an ideal place for rats. Also, all sorts of flotsam and jetsam in the harbor would come and go with the tide.

Under the two “bedsteden” (cupboard-beds) in the front room of the house was a storage cellar for potatoes. The room in the back had an upper and lower "bedstede." Hinne slept with two other kids in the lower cupboard, which had doors that would open into the room. If something caused them to wake up at night, they'd all sit up and invariably hit their heads on the bed just above them. Talk about "benauwd" or “beklemd” (scary), eh?

Behind the small room was the kitchen, which you could enter from the outside. A stairs from the kitchen ended up in the attic. Later, they slept there as well, in another "bedstede." The stable, located behind the kitchen, had enough room for eight cows and two horses. The calves and some pigs occupied the lower stable, a few steps down from the larger one. A threshing floor separated the haystack from the stables. Leaving by the backdoor one would arrive at the seaweed shed and the area where manure was piled up next to some farm wagons. Two huge barn doors gave access from the outside to the threshing floor. A fully loaded hay wagon would be able to enter with ease. Then there was a henhouse in one corner of the threshing floor, with an opening in the wall to the outside.

Behind the farm was another sandy road, which started in the village and ended up at the "Dellewal," an area of high dunes and a sandy beach lying just east of West Terschelling. If you'd turn left, towards the village, you'd see the farms of Piet Vis, Toppe Buil and Douwe Roos as well as a few houses. Turning right, you'd see the homes of "Griet van Aartje" and Willem Bloem, then a few farms, and then the homes of Willem de Slek, the Widow Grol, etc. Located on the harbor side of the road were the buoys storage yard and slipway belonging to the Brothers Krul.

Just beyond this storage yard one would enter an area of enormous dunes, which actually formed a ring around nearly the entire village. Several foot paths and two wagon roads provided access to the dunes. One of the wagon roads is now called the "Longway" (known today to thousands upon thousands of tourists) that connected to the Torenstraat. From this sandy road, one would also arrive at the so-called "Bokkenplek" (location of the present old age home and town hall) and begin to see the forests planted by the "Staatsbosbeheer" (state management of forests in the Netherlands). The de Jong boys brought the two horses from the farm there. Tied to a rope, the horses could graze here and enjoy the outside. This spot was easily reached along the "Dellewal" and then along a 500-meter sandy road. In the early days, one would also find there the "Nollekes" (the local dump).

Hinne wrote: "During the year 1895, my parents with (then) five children had to flee the farm when the village of West Terschelling became inundated because of very high seas. It was a disastrous year, also because the animals had to be moved and the precious hay in the barn became useless due to the salt water.”

He continued: “Notwithstanding this difficult year, I (Hinne) was born on March 16, 1896. I was baptized in the ‘Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk’ (Reformed Church of the Netherlands) in West Terschelling. My Mom and my sister Trijntje (who was then already 14 years of age) probably had a tough time with me in my early years, because I was a troublesome little boy, they told me later."

Brother Tjebbe was born in 1898, and sister Neeltje arrived in 1901. Hinne attended kindergarten, located on the Schoolstraat (it's still there, but is now used as a warehouse). At age six, he went to the Public School (there was no Christian School yet at that time).

In Grade Four, Hinne was taught by Mr. Kaptein, a bachelor. Hinne wrote: "This man later married a daughter of baker Rinze Kreger. That girl was one of my classmates. I guess he already then had an eye on her."

In Grade Six he got to know Mr. Menage who never got mad. Occasionally, he had an epileptic fit. Hinne recalls: "I still see Mr. Thym (another teacher) run away like crazy after we told him that Mr. Menage was lying on the ground by the farm of the Widow Schroo, close to the school. We'd all see how he was foaming at the mouth. But he always recovered rather quickly and he could go on."

The kids would often play games outside the school in the sand. One day, during a game of marbles, Hinne got so mad at his sister Griet that he threw one of his “klompen” (wooden shoes) at her. It sailed right by her, however, and went smack through the window of Willem Bloem, who sat by the table to eat his lunch. Glass flew all over the table. Wrote Hinne: “ I didn't stay there, I got lost. My parents probably spanked me good and hard later. You know, I really don't remember."

He did remember Gerrit de Boer's wife. Hinne wrote about her: "When it was sunny weather, she would often sit on the steps of her house and breast feed the baby. We, as kids, would stand around her. She had large, pendulous breasts that had more than enough milk for one baby. Her young children would look enviously at the baby who was being fed. And she'd say: 'Och, ljeave, wolle jimme ek eefkes zoegje?' (Oh, sweetheart, do you want to suckle for a minute, too?) And, much to our delight, she would sometimes breastfeed two, one on each side."

What he remembered best about Grade Six is how four other grades would join Grade Seven and form a choir under the direction of Mr. Redeker. He wrote: "And did we ever sing! Mr. Redeker had a wooden leg and when it really went well, he'd take his leg off and directed us with it."

Hinne mentioned that he never made it to Grade Seven. He had to help out on the farm. However, at this point he interrupted his life story. During the year 1908 , in a violent storm, a great ship sank off the coast of Terschelling. A number of crew members as well as Terschellingers lost their lives. The drama that took place deeply affected Hinne and the people on the island and it is the subject of the next chapter.