Zylstra Lived Under Nazi Occupation Before Serving In Korea
Our readers may not be familiar with Haye Zylstra. He moved to the area a few years ago when he married Louisa De Boer of Leota. Both Haye and Louisa lost their first spouses and met in Mesa, Arizona, where they spend their winters.
Haye (pronounced Hi) is a Dutch immigrant. He came to the United States in 1952. Prior to that, Haye and his family lived in a rural area of the state of Friesland in the Netherlands. In 1940, when Haye was 11 years old, the Nazi’s invaded Holland. Adolf Hitler was marching all over Europe and all the world was involved in World War II.
Haye recalls that his parents, Harmon and Wiepkie Zylstra, rented a small farm. They had seven children – five sons and two daughters. Haye was their fifth child. One of the larger towns nearby was called Heerenveen, which was where Haye would attend high school.
On May 10, 1940, Haye’s family awoke to the sound of blaring planes flying overhead. The sky was almost black with the onslaught of German war planes.
“They came marching in with troops,” Haye recalls. “Holland is very small, so it did not take long for them to overrun the whole country.”
On May 14, the Nazis bombed Rotterdam heavily, leaving it completely devastated. They threatened to bomb other cities if the Dutch did not surrender. By May 17, all of Holland was occupied and the Dutch army had surrendered.
The Zylstra farm had a dozen cows, a few pigs, sheep, and goats. They raised hay for their animals, but the soil was not great, so their crop was of a poorer quality – which meant that even the Nazi’s didn’t want to steal it from them.
Throughout Holland, Jews were arrested and sent to camps – just as they were in every other country across Europe. Haye’s family did what they could to help. His family was very religious and did not support what was happening to the Jewish people. They lived in a remote area, so they were asked by a resistance organization to house people at various times. Haye especially remembers two couples that stayed with them. One was an older couple and the other was a young couple whose children had been hidden elsewhere.
During those times, Haye’s family was very careful. They always made sure an adult was home in case the Nazi police would come around. They had a 8 foot by 8 foot box built into their haymow. The hay was all over it so you couldn’t see it and to get into the box, one had to go through the chicken coop. When people were inside the box, they could not talk or they would be heard because the buildings were all attached to one another.
Twice during the occupation they had Nazis on their yard, but the Jews were never discovered. One time the Nazis said they were looking for food and Haye’s mother firmly stated that they had none. The Nazis left them alone.
They did have food to eat. They had a garden and meat from their own animals, and had their own milk and butter. There was rationing going on, though. Sugar, coffee, baking goods – those were harder to come by.
At one point towards the end of the war, an English airplane made a crash landing not too far away from the Zylstra farm. The pilot was able to hide in the woods and Haye’s father was able to recover some important papers left in the plane.
Some German officers came down their road and wanted to know if they knew anything about the people in the plane. It was a scary moment, but the officers were satisfied when the Zylstras claimed ignorance. The Dutch Underground was able to get the pilot to safety in England about 10 days later.
For five years, the Zylstras lived under Nazi occupation. Radios were outlawed, but they had a battery operated radio that they kept hidden to learn news of the war. In 1945, Allied forces liberated the country.
Haye finished high school and then went to Drachten College for two years. Haye was drafted into the Dutch Army and received basic training. It was around this time that the family decided to immigrate to the United States.
Haye decided to quit college so he could make money to travel to America. He worked for different farmers helping with chores.
Haye and his family immigrated to the United States in 1952. Haye was 23 years old. They came to Sheldon Iowa in 1952. From there, Haye and his older siblings went to Racine, Minnesota, where his oldest sister and her husband settled. His brother-in-laws family sponsored them. They were also farmers. His parents and youngest sister stayed in Sheldon.
While he lived in Racine, Haye worked for a German farmer for one year. And then Uncle Sam decided that it was time for Haye to serve for America. The Korean Conflict was pretty much over, but troops were still needed. He was drafted and sent to Camp Chaffee in Arkansas. He and his girlfriend Judy Sundry, corresponded via letter for the next couple of years.
In the fall of 1953, Haye left for South Korea. They took a ship across the Pacific and came to port in Incheon, which is north of Seoul.
From there they took a train to Seoul and after that he and other soldiers rode in a military truck to a position out in the hills. Haye was a gunman with the infantry, helping to operate a howitzer. But he never experienced any fighting because they were simply there to keep the peace.
