Most souvenir shops and cafés in the harbor were open to tourists. But not everywhere. “For example, in the hotel, that owner did not want Germans, he was very explicit in that,” says Schild. “But he also had people in hiding, so that is perhaps understandable”. Those people in hiding were usually there when a boat arrived that was looking for young men.
Rather Marken than the Eastern Front
There was a small group of Germans on the island who had to keep an eye on flight movements. But they also tried to keep the peace with the population.
“When a raid was coming, the pastor was warned and he passed it through so that boys who would be arrested for the ‘Arbeitseinsatz’ could go into hiding,” Schild said. The markers themselves did not commit great acts of resistance and so it remained relatively quiet on the island during the war.
“Those Germans did not benefit from any resistance, as their lives were also livable because they would rather sit here than having to go to the Eastern Front,” says Schild. “Life is sometimes more banner than you think,” he sighs.