By JANET McGREGOR
Contributing Writer

If there is one characteristic that comes through loud and clear when talking with Jan and Catrina Krakeel, it is strength — strength of character, of commitment, to their values and to their family.

From the small towns of Kierikzee and Krommenie in Holland to Fayette County, through all the various struggles they've encountered, their strengths have been the constant that kept them together and content with their lives.

Jan grew up in Kierikzee, in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. The town was small with fewer than 5,000 people and was on an island, the only accessibility by boat. “At that time, it was a big town,” he notes.

He had seven brothers and three sisters. Life was fairly unremarkable and predictable until the Germans invaded. In 1943, as a result of the occupation, the family had to leave its home.

“We left all behind, taking only our clothes,” he said. “Everything we had worked for, the house and all that was in it were left behind.”

The family moved to Krommenie, where they were unable to stay together, although they were close and spent a lot of time together. The Germans regularly swept through town to round up men from the ages of 17 or 18 to 45. As Jan was 18, soon to be 19, he had to hide to avoid being picked up and shipped to Germany to work in the salt mines, factories or concentration camps.

Jan recounts that usually the underground knew when the Germans were coming and warned the men in hiding. They would hide in closets, under walls, in the fields or where ever they could.

One of the places where he stayed when he first moved to Krommenie had a good hiding place. There were two closets near each other along a wall, and between the two closets there was a space with standing room for three.

“During the time, there was not a lot of food,” he says. “Everything was rationed. We went to farmers by bicycle and took stuff to trade for food.”

They traded new shoes, any gold they may have accumulated, anything of value for food. They would ride for hours by bicycle, stay overnight with the farmers and then return home the next day with whatever they had been able to garner.

Even in the country while sleeping in the farmers' barns, they were always on the alert for Germans. The underground couldn't warn them and they were in unfamiliar territory. “We had to have eyes in the back, front, side - everywhere,” he said.

During one particularly harrowing experience, the warning came around 4 a.m. that the Germans were making another sweep. He and eight others, including one of his brothers, jumped into a boat to cross over to a field to hide.

There was a sewage or concrete pit where they had hidden before and so they headed in that direction. Unfortunately, a German soldier was on a nearby bridge, saw them and started shooting at them. The men in the front jumped out, pushing the boat back toward the wrong shore.

They split up, some running into a house, Jan and another into a nearby newspaper warehouse. “It was a real small warehouse filled with rolls of newspapers,” he said.

They locked the doors and hid, hoping for the best. The soldiers came, tried the doors and moved on without checking. They were very fortunate that night as five men were picked up.

Jan spent the last months of the war in the country with a farmer who had befriended him earlier. He tells of the clotheslines that became the warning system. There was one that was never used unless Germans were in the area. They knew if clothes were on it that they needed to hide, going to the back of the fields or to the river.

Three months before the war ended, the Germans blew up the dike, flooding the entire town so that Allied paratroopers couldn't land. During this period Jan had another close encounter.

Early one morning, he and some others were trying to salvage furniture and other belongings from the houses that had been flooded. The flood waters had reached over six feet high, destroying much.

Crossing the bridge with a load of furniture, they were stopped by Germans and asked for their papers. They tried to convince the soldier that their papers had been lost in the water.

The farmer friend saw what was happening and came to their aid, managing to convince the German to let them go. They were told to report to the local courthouse at 10:00 a.m. with papers in hand. Needless to say, they did not appear.

During the earlier part of Jan's stay in Krommenie, he met Catrina. Her father thought he was a nice, quiet young man and so he invited him to play cards with his family. Soon Jan and Catrina were together on a regular basis. They rode bikes together to get food, played many card games at each of the family “homes.” Approximately five years later, in 1949, they married.

During the early part of the war, Catrina had worked in a home, helping with a family's small children. Her mother died, then her older sister married and moved away, so she moved home to help take care of her father and siblings.

To try and paint an accurate image of the war years is difficult. They did not have electricity, heat or running water. Food was scarce and many of the basics weren't available. Wood was even scarcer due to the prevalence of water and the terrain.

“It was almost unbelievable. We had a special little stove to cook on. Later we didn't have salt. We would go once a week or so to get a spoon full of soup. Everything in it was artificial. Don't ask me how it tasted,” she said with obvious disgust.

Curfew was at six. Lights had to be out. All the windows were covered with black material to keep the little bit of light from the oil lamps from shining through. Bedtime came early and nights were often filled with the sounds of the Germans routing through houses looking for men.

Planes often flew over, bombs were dropping and people were shot. The unlucky ones who didn't have gold or belongings to trade sometimes died on the road as they traveled.

One fear-filled night, Catrina woke to noise and peeked out her window only to see Germans all around. They were once again going from house to house looking to commandeer recruits. That particular night they rounded up around forty men, taking them to the church across from her house. She fearfully searched the faces of each man, hoping not to see Jan. He was lucky that night and escaped the roundup.

Finally, the end of the war came. Jan had been living in the country with a farmer, traveling into Krommenie with food and supplies when available. Luckily, he was in town when the news came that they were finally free.

Catrina said of the celebration, “You can not believe how big the feast was.” Jan says, “For the first time we could walk and go anywhere.”

Although the war was over, the difficult times were not. Families watched at the train station, hoping their loved ones would return. Many did, but many did not. Rebuilding was not easy.

When the Krakeels married, in the back of Jan's mind was the idea that he wanted to move away. New Zealand was his first choice. He says, “The decision to leave your home is not an easy one, but if you go through a war like we did - and I don't mention every aspect - you wonder when it is going to happen again.”

At that time the memory of the war was still recent. Russia was still a strong player. Also, the unemployment rate in Europe was high and even higher in Holland.

Jan's brother had immigrated to the United States and convinced him that he should bring join him. After much thought and discussion, the Krakeels made the choice to move to the U.S. With five children in tow, ages ranging from two to ten, the family traveled the ocean to their new home, arriving at then-Idelwood Airport on Thanksgiving Day in 1960.

Oldest son Jack has a vivid memory of his father being interviewed by a newspaper reporter at the airport. “I don't know why they were talking with him,” he said. “But I distinctly remember seeing him paging back and forth through a Dutch- English dictionary to try and communicate with them.”

They had $100, did not speak the language and Jan soon found he did not have a job as expected. He was a master plumber in Holland, but it was the middle of the winter and work was scarce. The family stayed with Jan's brother for a few months before moving across town into their own place.

Times were difficult. Jan found a variety of jobs, finally going to work in maintenance at a local hospital. The family learned a new language and Jan moved up to the position of assistant engineer. Later he began working for an insurance company as a boiler and machinery inspector.

Jan has always been impressed with the opportunities available in this county. “In the United States if you have knowledge and want to work hard you can make it or go broke,” he said. “Free enterprise is a beautiful thing for those who want to work. If you want to work two jobs you can.

“In Holland, you must have a degree to set up your own business. For example, to set up a heating and plumbing business, you must have a three-year plumbing degree, then two years for the heating and then get a bookkeeping certificate. You must be able to operate for one year without financial help. They are very strict. If you want to work overtime your boss must have permission from the local authorities.”

With a multi-state territory, Jan traveled a great deal with his job. But according to Jack, “He was always home on Sunday and most Saturdays too. My parents believed very strongly in the core family unit.

“We had tough times as many families do,” he contined. “I knew we weren't rich, but we had a very tight-knit family and material things didn't seem to matter.”

Catrina sewed all of the family's clothes. “I don't like to sew, I hate it,” she said.

“But sewing saved me a lot of money over the years. Now I don't have to do that anymore.”

She enjoys embroidery, knitting, and crochet. Through the years she has knitted socks, gloves and “anything and everything” for the family.

In discussing their life, Jan stated, “If I look back, and I look at my kids, how they have turned out, my immigration was a success.”

Catrina added, “Of course there have to be ups when there are downs. We have a close-knit family, we laughed together many times. We were a very happy family and still are. We are so very lucky. It is great to have a family like we do. We are still very much together.”

Jan and Catrina Krakeel recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, renewing their wedding vows at St. Gabriel Catholic Church. Jan quipped, “50 long, hard years.... no, they were very happy years. I have to make a joke sometimes!”

They are proud of their six sons and their accomplishments. Pride in their family and the strength of their family were consistent themes throughout the recounting of their lives.

Jack has been in the local newspapers frequently during the past few weeks. The Fayette County fire chief was recently named the Fire Chief of the Year by the Fire Chief Magazine, being nominated by the International Fire Chiefs Association.

Second-born son John is the superintendent for a large construction company. He is married to Margaret and has two children.

Gary, next in line, is an underwriter for an insurance company. He has two girls and is married to Kathy.

Rudy works with General Motors and has recently moved to Charlotte with wife Terry. They have one daughter who is currently attending college.

Son Peter is married to Cheryl. He works for the Clayton County Maintenance Department and lives in Fayetteville. They have two children.

The youngest son, Alan, is the only child born in the United States. He works for the Fayette County Water Department. He is married to Karen and has two children currently in elementary school.

Jan says, “I'm still waiting to be a great-grandfather.”

The Krakeels are active members of St. Gabriel Catholic Church. Jan belongs to the Knights of Columbus.

There were numerous family stops prior to the Krakeels' move to Fayetteville after retirement. Their first U.S. stop was in Greenville, S.C. They then moved to Charlotte, N.C., to Raleigh, then six months later to Atlanta.

They lived in Conyers, then in Jonesboro. They weren't here permanently, though, moving to Mobile, then back to Jonesboro, then to Mobile, then back to Jonesboro.

When Jack bought a house in Fayetteville, he told his parents he would remodel the downstairs for them when they retired. They retired, Jack remodeled and now the Krakeels are happily ensconced in Fayetteville.

Jan enjoys woodworking, hunting and fishing. Catrina is an avid Braves and baseball fan. She often has a game going on the TV while she listens to the game on the radio.

Opera is another favorite of hers. For the couple's 50th wedding anniversary one of their children gave them tickets of choice to see an opera. She is watching the newspapers for just the right one.

Catrina is also an avid reader. She particularly likes Danielle Steel and Dana Andrews, although she says of the newspapers, “I couldn't live without them.”

When Jan retired at 63, he didn't really retire. He took up a hobby which soon turned into a thriving business. After ten years of successful woodworking, going to craft shows and ultimately working “more hours than I did with the company I retired from,” he said “this is enough.” Now he makes things for his children and grandchildren “for enjoyment.”

The Krakeels visit Holland every other year. They are undecided as to whether they will make the trek again next year. Jan said, “I'm 75 now. I'm still healthy,

but you don't know the future. I don't make plans as much for the future now, it's more month by month."

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