Date sent:        Sun, 26 May 1996 18:52:33 -0700



Sunday, June 14, 1942

 This is our 1st full week in hiding from the Nazis.  My mother thought it might be a good
 idea to write a journal or diary, sort of to make time pass a little quicker.  So, today I
 started it.  First of all, my name is Hunter Helmsley, and I am hiding with my family of 4,
 and outside ofd us, World War II is going on.  My father was a train engineer, and he drove
 trains all over Europe.  Luckily, he was  on his long awaited  vacation when he found out
 the Nazis were gathering up Jewish people, and dragging them, to Concentration Camps to be
 put in manual labor.  My mother is named Anne, and she is basically just a housewife taking
 care of me and my brother because my father wasn’t home that often.  My older brother, who
 is 2 years older than me is a big nuisance, and which he will probably become a bigger one
 since we can’t leave this building till the war is over, but somehow, we will have to come
 through this.  And me, I am your average young man, I am 13 years old, and have  a done
 pretty good in school always trying my hardest and doing my best.  We also have a kitty cat
 named Wind.  We call him that because thats the way his fur is colored, making him feel one
 with the wind as we sometimes say.  I have a feeling more people who are trying to escape
 the Nazi takeover will be joining us in this small living quarters, my dad also mentioned
 something like that.  I have to go now, my mother says its past my bed time.  For now, good
 night.

Wednesday, June 17, 1942

 Its been a few days since I  last have written you, we have been busy talking with the
 owners of the Liquor Store below us, who have agreed to supply us with food until the whole
 ordeal ends.  Also, we now have a new person with us, as I predicted, who will be staying
 with us trying to escape and hide.  Her name is Lisa, and she is 27 years old and single. 
 Pretty girl, I wonder why she isn’t married? Maybe I’ll ask her sometime.  Haven’t gotten
 to talk with her too much lately.  She lived in the southern part of Germany and took a
 train up here, hoping to find somewhere to stay, there is not too much commotion around us,
 we are in a small town, I guess she lived in an urban area of some sort, but, I haven’t
 been to keen on my geography skills.  That’s my only problem in school.  I have to now and
 get some food, Bill, our friend below us brought a shipment in of food, and Lisa is now
 with us, so there won’t be too many leftovers.  See ya later.

Friday, June 26, 1942

 The past few days have been a great deal of fun for our family.  We found the card games we
 packed, and have really enjoyed playing them.  But, yesterday, and probably for a few more
 days, we are working on making the second floor of the place we live in, coincide with the
 Liquor Store below, so the Nazis might be a little fooled, and help conceal us more.  I
 feel we have been very fortunate to have Bill below us, doing everything he can to help us.
  It’s about 4:30 right now, it was 12:00 when I last had written that entry above, and I am
 helping my mother make  bread with some leftover ingredients we packed also.  Lisa and
 George, my brother, if I forgot to mention his name, continue to patch up the windows with
 Liquor signs of some sort that Bill had leftover.  The entrance to our little attic is  in
 a room full of wine racks that were currently not being used.  So my father and I filled up
 some of the racks with bottles filled with tap water to make it look like nothing is
 happening here.  Looks pretty convincing. Oh great!  Wind has just fallen asleep in our
 bread dough!  My mother and I left it to rise with the yeast in it, and left in on Winds
 favorite window sill, and he fell asleep on there.  Oh well, I’ll have to get him up and
 have him sleep in another spot.  Whelp, this concludes another day. Hopefully there won’t
 be too many more.

Monday, July 6, 1942

 Today, my brother got on my nerves just a little too much.  For some reason, he thinks he
 is better than me, and took some on the food I was eating as a little joke.  Then I was
 really upset.  But I didn’t do anything.  Then, I was playing with Wind, and he found some
 of its favorite food, and came over and started feeding it when I was playing with him. 
 That got me even more mad, and I started yelling at him and hitting him.  Quickly my
 parents came over to break it up, because too much noise and commotion could lead to us
 being discovered.  There is really nothing my parents could do to him to teach him a
 lesson, but I hope he doesn’t do it again for a long while.  I get upset  easily, and he
 realizes it, and presses on that until I pop. Well, after we got through that phase, like
 an hour later, we heard some people talking to Bill downstairs asking him questions if he
 knows where any Jews are.  He told them, he hasn’t seen any in a while, and now he very
 rarely gets customers in his business.  Then, after that our phone rang, my father quickly,
 and quietly went downstairs to let him know so he can answer it, but they Nazi Officers
 might be still close in the area, so we had to be quiet still.  It turned out to be the
 wrong number looking for some business that sells rugs.  So, today was a pretty scary day,
 are closest time at being caught, and it was scary.  I thought someone would just crack,
 and they would find us.  But luckily, everyone kept their cool.

Saturday, July 11, 1942

 Today is my birthday, and I have to write something in.  I have finally turned 13!  I am a
 teenager!  I wish I could be out partying with my friends, but what can you do.  I got a
 special birthday meal from Bill downstairs,  it consisted of eggs with bacon and orange
 juice. My favorite breakfast meal.  That started out the day on a good note, and my parents
 got me a book called Tales and Legends of the Netherlands by Joseph Cohen.  I started
 reading it at once, and got through the first few chapters, and I can see that it will be a
 thriller to finish up!  I also received some chocolates, that taste great!  Sometimes you
 just want your birthday to be everyday!  I got some money also from my brother and Lisa,
 and I am going to put it with my other money, and save up for something special!  I don’t
 know what’s out there, but when this is over with and the Allies win, I will surely find
 something that I can cherish forever!

Monday, July 20, 1942

 Well, I am going to be writing you not everyday,  this diary for some reason, didn’t come
 with a great deal of space.  But, I will continue to write about things that have happened.
  But 4 days ago, my brother  got me so aggravated again like before, and I got mad at him
 again, and once again, my parents had to come in.  I don’t even want to get into it.
 whenever I think about it, I can throw him through the window.  But on to other topics, 
 Bill has been still supplying us with some food to eat, to at least stay somewhat healthy. 
 He takes some of us, to the back room of his store, where he has a working shower.  He
 takes 1 of us at a time ever 2 weeks to clean and take a shower.  It might not be the best
 hygiene, but if we live, it will be worth it.  

Saturday, July 26, 1942

 Today, I am pretty sick.  I have a headache, and have a high temperature.  I hate being
 sick.  Its the pits.  My mother has been taking care of me all day, and she has told
 everyone in the hideout shelter, to be extra quiet, so I can sleep most of the day.  Also,
 I have gotten my brother sick!  It may not sound good, but I am loving it, he will probably
 be the worst tomorrow, he is starting to sneeze and cough, sort of like what I was doing
 yesterday and Thursday.  So this means, when I am better, he won’t be on my nerves too much
 until he is better.  Which sounds good to me!  Like my mother wanted me to do, I slept all
 day, and have caught up on some of my sleep.  The past week, I have stayed up sort of late,
 maybe that’s why I am sick now. Who knows.  Yesterday, we heard some guards outside again. 
 Unluckily, we I guess have been informed, that we are staying in the area with the most
 hideaways, and the Nazis will always have guards on duty patrolling the streets and
 listening for people.  That doesn’t keep my hopes up for a safe survival, and next door, on
 Wednesday, they took away some Jews they found in the basement according to Bill.  So they
 are on the lookout.  I will keep writing to keep you informed. See ya later.

Friday, August 3, 1942

 Well, I am better now, pretty much back to normal, but my brother is very sick now.  I am
 starting to feel sorry for him, but not too much.  He has a headache like I did, and a
 runny and stuffy nose with cramps in his neck.  My parents are doing everything they can,
 to get him better as soon as possible, his cough are like those dog coughs, and very loud,
 and the guards outside might come in to question Bill, which might make them a little more
 suspicious, and we don’t want that, but everything else is pretty normal. My father and I
 played for maybe 2 hours today in a game of Poker.  We both have become pretty good in that
 game.  When my dad became a bit too tired to play anymore, Lisa came over, and we played a
 few hands.  She has been observing my father and I, and wanted to give it a try.  I
 destroyed her, she is very lucky we aren’t playing for money! Oh well.  She in one hand,
 had the upper hand, but Wind started Meowing for some water, so I quickly got up to take
 care of it, and sort of, dropped my hand of cards.  Pretty fun day I guess you could say. 
 Bye for now!

Sunday, August 11, 1942

 Today is my parents 17th wedding anniversary.  It has been a somewhat festive day, but of
 course, we have to be quiet.  My brother and I served them breakfast in bed.  And, so that
 doesn’t sound weird, my brother is pretty much cured of his sickness he had for the past
 few weeks or so.  We served my parents bacon, with some hot cakes that Bill brought home
 for us because we requested them for their anniversary.  They are pretty happy.  I just
 hope this war ends soon!

Friday, August 16, 1942

 Today was a very scary day.  The guards that patrol our neighborhood for Jews, came
 searching the liquor store below.  Bill did an outstanding job keeping them away from the
 backdoor, or storage area where the wine racks are that lead to our living quarters.  The
 people to the right of us, complained to the guards that they heard people talking last
 weekend, which was my parents anniversary, so today, they finally came and checked up on it
 according to Bill.  It was a close call, and we are still alive.  Unfortunately, Bill told
 our family, that he was listening to his radio, and if the war keeps up like it is going
 now, it could be a long while till it is over.  That is pretty bad news.  Its been 2 months
 since we started hiding, and it seems like eternity.  I just got this gut feeling that we
 won’t make, but I don’t dare tell that to anyone else, because we all agreed to keep
 positive feelings toward this whole event.

Wednesday, August 21, 1942

 Today the guards returned to the Liquor Store below, questioning Bill about the people
 talking that was reported last Sunday, and 2 days ago, the same guards searched the whole
 house next door to us, and found 8 people living on the 2nd floor.  I just have a horrible
 feeling that this might be our last week.  My parents have told everyone to be as quiet as
 quiet can be, our lives are depending on it.  We all expect the worst since Bill told us
 that they will be back sometime within the next week to search the whole place.  Top to
 bottom, so we have decided to try and make a run for another place to stay.  Bill has a
 car, and is going to try to take us to a different country if they don’t come back till
 Monday, he said he would take us to a town far out in the country sort of you can say.  We
 might have a better chance of survival there. So we will all keep our hopes up that they
 won’t be back until the next week starts.

Saturday, August 24, 1942

 We actually might have a chance of surviving now!  The guards did not return, and we have
 all of the most important belongings that we will need to survive for at least a few days
 until we can find another person willing to give us some food.  So, we are in the southern
 part of Germany, and he said he would take us over the southwestern corner, where he heard
 it is not heavily patrolled by Nazis.  It will probably take us 10 hours to get there, and
 maybe a day to find a place to stay.  I will write you back when we get there, and we hope
 we can get there safely.

Sunday, August 25, 1942

 We have found the place where we want, it took a little longer than we expected, and it was
 not a pleasant day to be traveling, especially with 6 people and 1 cat in a car, with their
 most important belongings.  And to add to it, it has been raining since we left our home,
 and very muggy out.  Bill said we are about 1 hour from where he said we will go.  I’ll
 keep you updated. Well, things just took a hard hit in the jaw.  We have been captured
 trying to escape the Nazi guards, who were staying outside the town where he said shouldn’t
 have that much commotion.  They have taken us on a train to who knows where, and Bill, they
 killed him right on the spot for trying to hide a Jewish family.  I can not believe it. 
 This day is horrible.  Bill was trying to help us, when he could have been safe and just
 ignore us.  Well, all we have now is to hope for the best, that we might survive, but if we
 do, I am sure we will be in horrible condition.  I hope someone finds this, and see what
 horrible things the Nazis have done to almost every family in Germany and most of Europe. 
 Bye for ever.


