'We didn't know what war was'

Jos Bouten tells his story for the documentary "We didn't know what war was. Photo: image from the film by cameraman Danny Vermeulen

Jos Bouten experiences exciting wartime in the Ooijpolder as a boy

As a boy of 10, 12, Jos Bouten experiences the last years of World War II in the Ooijpolder. His father and brother were arrested for acts of resistance. In September 1944, the family who stayed behind found themselves in the turmoil of Market Garden and had to evacuate. In February 1945, his sister Mieke was killed in a grenade attack. After the war, their farm turned out to be badly destroyed. Well into his 80s, just before his death, Jos Bouten told his story. It has been captured in a book and documentary.

"We didn't know what war was," is the title of the documentary made about Jos Bouten's war years. He was born in 1933 in Ooij-Persingen, in the last "group" of a family of twelve children. Father Antoon is a school principal in the Ooijpolder. Indeed, the family has never experienced war. Living near the German border, they did experience the rise of Hitler. They saw German Jews appearing at the border, fleeing from the Nazis. If they have money, they are welcome. If not, they are sent back. His father decides to help them and so ends up in the resistance, as does son Bart, one of the oldest in the family.

Jos is still too young to understand. When his father and brother are rounded up, mother Anna tries to run the family as best she can, with help from neighbors and fellow villagers. Jos saw how she toiled and worried; this will stay with him throughout his life.

When the Americans landed near Groesbeek in 1944, the Ooijpolder was in the middle of the line of fire between Allies and Germans. Jos later recalls, "We walked through the polder to see where the Americans had dug in and watched them fight the Germans. We had absolutely no idea that what we were doing was very dangerous."

The family had to evacuate in October 1944 by order of the Americans, towards Brabant. Then the Germans flooded the Ooijpolder, as a buffer against the Allies. In early 1945 mother Bouten and her children found shelter with relatives in Nijmegen. There fate struck on February 3, 1945. Their evacuation address on Hazenkampseweg was hit by a grenade. Daughter Mieke died instantly, sisters An and Beppie were badly injured.

On February 8, 1945, the day Mieke was buried, the Rhineland offensive had broken out in the Nijmegen area. Jos: "On Keizer Karelplein, Groesbeekseweg and St. Annastraat there were columns of Canadians. Tanks, carriers, cannons, soldiers in battle dress were ready to advance to the front."

"At the hospital, our family was waiting for the hearse to arrive. Because of the noise, the courier could not control the horses and we could not leave for the church." When the guns fell silent and the columns had left for Germany, the family could still go to the church on Groenestraat to bury Mieke.

At the end of April 1945, World War II was over in this region and the Bouten family could return to the Ooijpolder. Their home was looted and heavily destroyed. But for Jos and his friends, the surroundings offer plenty of adventure. Bullets, guns and cannons everywhere. Ammunition and gunpowder as toys. Until one time things go wrong and a peer gets seriously injured. Then the fun was over.

There was great joy when father Anthony and brother Bart returned from captivity, but both also felt intense sorrow when they heard of the death of Mieke and the severely wounded sisters.

Jos had mixed feelings about the return of his strict father: "We really noticed that dad was back, because the house rules had to be meticulously observed again. For almost two years we had enjoyed an unprecedented freedom and it was definitely not easy for us to now accept his authority again."

Not long after his war experiences were recorded, Jos Bouten died on July 29, 2022, aged 89.

Jos Bouten's story appeared in May 2023 in the book "War Violence in the Ooijpolder" by Cea van Dillen-Janssen and Ton van Dillen. This forms the basis of the documentary "We didn't know what war was" by director Margot Schotel and cameraman Wouter Crusio. Project leader was Martin Bosch, former history teacher.

The documentary 'We didn't know what war was' will be broadcast in two parts by Omroep Gelderland on Sept. 12 and 19. Meanwhile, a podcast and educational project are also attached.

Jos Bouten (far left) and his brother Ton after the grenade blast at their evaluation address on Hazenkampseweg in Nijmegen.
Photo: private collection

Series of books about war in the Ooijpolder

"War Violence in the Ooijpolder" by Cea van Dillen-Janssen and Ton van Dillen is part of a series of eight books published in recent years about events in the Ooijpolder during World War II.

This region was battleground during the military operations Market Garden in September 1944 and the Rhineland Offensive in the spring of 1945. Yet the books do not focus on the military battle and the armies, but on the experiences of ordinary people. They went through exciting, fearful times.

The series covers all the villages in the Ooijpolder: Beek, Ooij, Leuth, Kekerdom and Millingen.

The books are available at the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek, among other places.