Our neighbor died at an old age. Her parents called her Frédérique, but registered her as Freddy. When her classmate Margot Frank went into hiding in the Secret Annex, Freddy fled by train and bicycle to a nunnery in Belgium.
Later that year, the Germans found a postcard from Freddy during the deportation of her aunt and uncle in Brussels. The Germans visited the monastery in search of that boy. The nuns showed that only girls were staying there: there must have been a misunderstanding. That’s how her name saved her life.
Readers are the authors of this column. An Ije is a personal experience or anecdote in a maximum of 120 words. Submit via [email protected]
