Herman was born in Holland
August 10th, 1931
The sixth child to his mother
The fourteenth to his father after World War I
His father owned a coffee and cigar store
Downtown in the Hague schoolstraat number 34
Despite the depression which made the money tight
His Mom and Dad worked hard
To keep those 16 bellies full before the long cold night
Herman would stay up reading
Head under the sheets while his siblings were all sleeping
And in the winter time when the canals would freeze over
He'd watch the ice skaters from atop his father's shoulders
On May 10th, 1940
Herman woke up to sound of his father's voice shouting
Wake up, wake up, look out the window
Cover your ears and keep your heads low
And Herman and his brothers were scared of what they saw
A thousand green soldiers with swastikas on their arms
All marching towards the dutch parliament
Breaking down the doors and forcing Holland to surrender
Under the orders of the German government
Herman, tell me of the war
And how your brothers had to hide
How you went on without eating
Grandpa tell me of the day
The Canadians arrived
And the Nazis were retreating