Jolanda Jansen (35) from Alkmaar is researching the stories of resistance heroes from her city. She records their stories on her website Historische Stories. What once started as a hobby has now ‘got quite out of hand’, she tells NH Nieuws. “I sometimes find it difficult to choose, because don’t they all deserve the same amount of attention?”
“It started when I wrote an article for a local weekly magazine a few years ago and gave interviews about Theo van Hilten. He was a pediatrician and lived in Alkmaar during the Second World War. Van Hilten played a very important role during the resistance and I only thought but: how special that I have never heard of him.”
His son Bob van Hilten and Nel Lind also risk their lives to get stranded British pilots back to the United Kingdom. It story stuck in Jolanda’s head: “The more research I did, the more interesting I found it.”
“I want to know everything about someone: not only the positive sides, but also the sometimes negative aspects”
She has since investigated many other resistance fighters. “Sometimes I come across a story myself and sometimes it is handed to me, then someone tells me that his or her great-grandfather or uncle was active in the resistance. I also sometimes receive diaries or letters on loan to do research.”
No numbers, but personal stories
Jolanda prefers to tell the stories behind the person. “I like to tell the story in an accessible way,” says the writer. “Not too many facts and dates, but from a personal perspective. Concepts and figures are good for substantiation, but stories just stick better.”
A good example of such a personal story is that of Martinus Niele, says Jolanda. “I spoke to three of his fourteen children about the way he contributed to the resistance. I then wrote it down from the perspective of one of them. But how I saw him as a person have describedis something that comes back to all three.”
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Jolanda herself also has to ‘cross a threshold’ when she dives into a story: “Certainly in conversation with family members. I want to know everything. Not only the positive sides, but also the sometimes negative aspects. That is necessary to tell the whole story. to make.” Still, relatives often don’t make such a fuss about it: “They often say of themselves that it was not all ‘cook and egg’.”
Jolanda enjoys her hobby that has gotten out of hand so much that she will start studying history at the University of Amsterdam in September. “That seems like a lot of fun, and maybe because of that I can go further in writing my stories.”
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