The Turbulent Life of Janske Papenhuyzen

Janske (Johanna) Noordenbos – Papenhuyzen

Gorinchem November 1998

The life story of a remarkable woman as told to her nephew John (Johannes Cornelis) Papenhuyzen

Foreword.

On the eve of my aunt Johanna’s 88^th birthday, after reading through the manuscript she sent me in November 1998, I decided that I should write her life story in English for the sake of my family in Australia.

At my request she had written her life story and called it “Het Woelige Leven van Janske – Johanna” which in English translates to “The Turbulent Life of Janske – Johanna”.

I have slightly changed the title to include her maiden name Papenhuyzen.

Aunt Jo, as we called her, is the youngest sister to my father Jan and sibling to Celia, Janske and Henk.

She is a remarkable woman who has through sheer strength of character and determination achieved many of her goals in life, which were, in her younger days, unheard of aspirations for a woman. She loved the sea and sailing ships and I believe she was very proud of the fact that I went to sea and later again when my nephew Arnold began a new life on ships.

I dedicate this story to my grandchildren Mitchell, Abbey, Erik, Ryan, Dane and Sammy Papenhuyzen in the hope that they will think of Aunt Jo as a role model.

John Papenhuyzen

Sydney August 2005.

P.S. Sadly Aunt Jo passed away on the 16^th of March 2006 at the age of 88 after a rich and adventurous life.

The motto on her death notice read as follows:

The true possession of humanity

will be formed by its memories

Nothing else gives richness,

Without it one is poor.

Vale Aunt Jo.

Sydney March 2006.

Gorinchem, 26 November 1998.

Dearest Jan and Sheila,

Before 1998 comes to an end I will keep my promise to you and disclose my “turbulent life” to you!

Because of my busy life I have never had the opportunity to write my memoires, you never know, they could have been a best seller.

I was born on the 17^th of August 1917 at 7 o’clock in the morning. My mother nearly give birth to me on the beach in Scheveningen because that is where Father, Mother, your Dad Jan and Uncle Henk always went to early in the morning on week-ends to pitch our home-made tent. My mother used to come later on the first tram but this time she did not make it! I came into this world before she got on the tram.

According to my mother I was a sweet child (but then all little children are sweet, wait till they are 20 years old before you give an opinion – You’ve got something to look forward to!).

I only finished Primary School. I would have loved to become a nurse but for that sort of study we did not have the money, so I had to start work!

I worked as a maid for a Jewish family who later fled Holland in 1934 before the Germans invaded Holland. Then for three months I was to look after a sick woman who returned from the Dutch Indies with a blood disorder, as it turned out I stayed for 3 years till she was cured and moved to the Veluwe in the country.

After that I worked in a children’s home in Wassenaar called De Pauw (The Peacock). Again with Jewish children, who went to the USA to escape the Germans shortly there after which meant I lost my job again.

Through the lady director of the home I found work as an apprentice with Mia Hofer, a Viennese beauty specialist.

In 1936, after approximately 6 months work there, Mia and her husband decided to leave Holland. They too saw the threat of Hitler invading Europe and decided to start a beauty salon on the Portuguese island of Madeira. They wanted me to come with them, I was 17 years old and in those days words of a very popular song were “Sunny Madeira, land of love and sun” made up my mind and I was ready to go!

At home my parents were reluctant at first but they knew that if I really wanted something I would not give in. After my parents had met Mia and her husband Anton Maas they consented and I was allowed to go.

Mia came from Vienna and Anton came from the Indies to Holland to retire, they had no children of their own and they became my foster parents.

Madeira

Oh, what a beautiful island, unspoilt in those days, now an overpopulated tourist resort!

We departed in January 1936 from Amsterdam on a KNSM ship bound for the Caribbean that would call into Madeira on its way.

When we left IJmuiden a southwesterly, force 6, was blowing! A real sea baptism. All passengers were seasick but not me, the food was very good and I thought the rough weather was marvellous. My attraction for the sea has started!

After a week at sea Madeira, my destination, came on the horizon.

I had no idea what was in stock for me.

We moved into the “Golden Gate” Hotel near the harbour as our temporary accommodation until we found a house opposite the Casino, Rue Imperatrice. (Amazing that I can remember the name after 68 years).

There were many retired British people on the island who loved to gamble in the Casino and from a beauty shop point of view we were in the right spot.

I had to learn English and Portuguese and bought a Lingaphone course to teach myself. It worked out perfectly well with the customers because Frau Mia only spoke German and very little Dutch.

In addition to my salary, the princely sum of 6 Dutch Guilders a week, (roughly 12 Shillings Sterling in those days) I used to get a tip of 1 Pound from the English ladies when they came up after hours for a “face lift” before they went to the Casino. Those tips added up nicely.

Next to us was a horse riding school and in my spare time I went there to curry comb the horses, a strange combination of multi-skilling for a trainee beautician. As a reward I received riding lessons and later I was allowed to ride for free in the off-season. In view of the hot summer season this free riding had to be done in the early hours of the day, which meant that I was in the saddle by 6 o’clock. But it was wonderful!

After riding the horses for a few hours back home, a quick shower and ready to polish the ladies again. I found that work unfulfilling, still do, but money compensates and I was satisfied.

Part of our large furnished house had been let to an American lady and her daughter, we also had two Danish engineers boarding.

My task was to go to the local market with our “Cookie” at 6 in the morning. Through him I learned to speak and understand Portuguese, I also had a Portuguese neighbour girl with whom I studied English.

An English neighbour used to take me coral fishing, using a snorkel and goggles I observed this wonderful underwater world, tremendous memories!

Such was my life on Madeira, hard work, learning to get on with people and accepting disappointment because some of the people did not show affection.

By then I had developed a great admiration for sailing ships.

Then came the news via the wireless that England had declared war on Germany and that British citizens were to return to their own country.

There went my neighbour, my best friend. He had to put his dog that I loved so much to sleep and that was the end of the story.

After that all other foreigners were told to leave the island. There was one last ship leaving the Caribbean for me to join on its way to Holland, the Maas family decided to go and stay with friends in Oporto in Portugal.

I joined this KNSM cargo passenger ship; there was only one other passenger on board, a little child from the West Indies returning to his family in Holland.

There was a blockade in the English Channel and because we had contraband on board according to the British warship that intercepted us we had to put into Southampton. The authorities put us on the chain and we were not allowed ashore; at night all lights were extinguished and we stayed there for 6 weeks.

We were not allowed to send or receive messages to Holland and my parents were panicking.

After being held for 6 weeks the captain told us that he would take the ship back to Amsterdam via IJmuiden and that I could come at my own risk. Of course I signed, what could I do in war-torn England?

The next night we departed from Southampton and arrived in Holland in one piece. That was in March 1940, my parents were very happy to have me back in a safe harbour!

Pitman School

I started to look for work after my return to Holland, there was an advertisement in the Haagse Courant asking for “young lady, to work as assistant to the directors, prepared to do housework. Pitman School”.

I borrowed a bicycle and went straight for it!

I got an interview in the office, I looked attractive, nice suntan and blond which all helped! Then the questioning started; what qualifications did I have?

I told them my story, straightforward, simple and short. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was a good cook! Apparently that worked in my favour and I got the job.

The Pitman School is a training method originated in Britain, which teaches people typing, stenography and business administration. The school was located at the Regentesse plein in The Hague; working hours were from 8 – 12, 2 – 4 during working days and between 7 – 10 o’clock at night during working days. My salary was Fl. 6 per week (approx 12 Shillings Sterling), quite a good salary in those days.

My duties were: Cleaning typewriters, issue paper, make coffee for the teachers and cook a meal for lunch.
In between my tasks I was taught stenography and typing. I then passed my exams to become a teacher myself which put me in front of a class and improved my earnings.

In the town of Leiden, at the Plantsoen 65 address, was another branch of the Pitman school. In the mean time war broke out in May 1940 and the Germans occupied Holland. The female director of the school, who was Jewish, was taken by the krauts and transported to a concentration camp and I was appointed as the person to take temporarily charge of the branch in Leiden. I was a good organiser (one of the good attributes of star sign Leo) so I took on the job in Leiden.

I had fallen in love, the first real love in my life, and I was not too keen on the separation the new job would cause.

Harry, who was hairdresser, shared my feelings and we both loved sailing. He owned a sailing boat, a Draak, on the Kaag. Leiden is not for from the Kaag Lake but I had my hands full trying to keep the school going and did not have much time to spend with him on the water.

I got involved with the resistance movement against the Germans by making false identification papers. Having the school facilities at my disposal was a real advantage and falsifying documents became easy.

I had precious little time to myself and sailing our boat on the Kaag Lake became a rarity. I bought myself a skiff, which I could moor on the canal in front of the office and started to row in the early hours of the morning before work started.

I will spare you the horrors of the war. I could write a book just on that subject.

I was betrayed and jailed in prison. Someone told the Germans about a little Jewish girl that I had hidden after the parents were deported. I managed to find a safe house for the little girl with friends in Wassenaar, when the Germans picked me up they forced me to disclose the address of my friends, which I did not do! For 9 months they kept me in a prison cell I had to share with 20 others. Interrogation after interrogation but I never told them anything, after a while they treated me less harsh and was given a larger cell and better food. I kept silent.

Then one day I was released without any reason given, I have never been able to find out why I was let out. Yet I knew that I was kept under surveillance and had to abandon my Resistance activities.

Whilst I was looking after the Pitman School in Leiden Harry used to come on his bicycle from The Hague and visit me. Exciting times!

When Harry’s ex wife shot through and left him with two kids, a boy aged 12 and a girl of 14, to look after which he could not handle. I took on the responsibility but it caused me a lot of headaches. The girl stole money from me and worse still, went out with German soldiers.

We could not tolerate that behaviour and she had to return to her mother’s care, Harry and I struggled through the rest of the war and kept the boy and all his problems.

After the war finished Harry wanted to renovate his hairdressing saloon, he did not have the money to do it and therefore my savings were used. What’s more, me, silly love-sick wretch, handed in my resignation at the school and at Harry’s request start a new career with him in the hairdressing business, not as partners but as “friends”!

The Pitman School was sold and I received a bonus for my good services – end Pitman School!

My memories of the war years are dismal; many good friends lost their lives and caused me sorrow.

Hairdressing Saloon SAJO

I had to learn a new trade and I did it extremely well.

In the saloon we had a section for treatment of hair in poor condition and I looked after that. We had sunrays, massages etc. Business was very good and the money rolled in.

Harry bought himself a car and some land in the Veluwe where in wintertime we always went for the weekend with our dogs. In the summer time we sailed on the North Sea in a 7-metre yacht, everything went so well (I thought).

We had four female hairdressers working in the saloon and Harry fell in love with one of them and she fell for him. I became the fifth wheel on the wagon and all that was left for me was working hard in the business.

It was a holiday season and the two lovers took the dogs with them and went to the Veluwe, where Harry had a new holiday cottage built.

I was left with my sorrow; I could not stand it anymore and took action.

I was given the opportunity to take over an existing hair dressing saloon ALBERT in the Weimar straat, some 5 minutes away from SAJO. The business was doing well but the owner had suffered a heart attack and needed to sell quickly.

This was the opportunity I hade been waiting for! Friends lent me the money to buy, amongst them Andre Noordenbos who was going to sell his sports aircraft to put some of the money up. Your Dad and uncle Henk did the renovations to the shop and I was ready to go!

I left a letter for Harry to read on his return in which I told him of my decision. I am sure it would have been a bitter pill for him to swallow!

God punishes immediately!

Hairdressing Saloon ALBERT

The new saloon was called Albert after the previous owner. The clientele consisted of elderly ladies and the hair dressing methods were old fashioned. I made a lot of changes and introduced cold wave, cold wave started to become popular and cost then 25 guilders.

Two of the girls from SAJO resigned and came across to work for me. One of the girls had the necessary papers to run a business and for the time being I ran the shop on her papers. To legalise the operation I went back to study and got the necessary papers.

The new shop was situated opposite a tram stop and because the shop front had been modernised it started to attract attention. More and more new customers turned up and a great many of my old customers from SAJO came back to me once they knew of my move.

At the grand opening we received lots of flowers, good wishes and more importantly full support from the suppliers. In particular the Indola hair dressing accessories company was most helpful.

After 2 months of operating I was able to buy a new hair dryer machine for cash, which was a milestone for me. One of the girls’ mother gave me a second new hair dryer. I was happy the way things were going and in a short time I had 3 girls working for me. ALBERT grew to be a happy and busy business.

Andre Noordenbos had a thriving dental practice in Scheveningen and he had a large sailboat. When the weather was too rough for my little “bath tub” I was allowed to sail with them on the yacht from Scheveningen, it was great! My love for the sea grew and grew! I had a desire for a more seaworthy sailboat to spend longer at sea and ended up with a 7-metre yacht the “Maria – Lecina”.

One day I was forced by a strong North Westerly to spend to night at sea, Scheveningen was leeward and I had to turn to at 4 miles off the coast. I did not have radio on board but passed a message to a fishing cutter to relay to Scheveningen Radio that “all is well on board” and that I had to wait for the weather to improve before I could return to Scheveningen.

The “Maria – Lecina” was bought as a casco (plain hull only), rebuilt and fitted with an engine after the war. I sold her and had a 12-metre yacht built and designed by Henk Tingen.

I had friends, the Schippers family, who with their own built 14 metre cutter “Wijde Blik” sailed charters in the Mediterranean from Cannes to Corsica. They offered me to join them on the yacht as cook for the duration of my holidays, which I did and I was hooked.

Blue ocean and freedom! The urge for freedom comes from the Papenhuyzen family, you too Jan, you went to sea!

With my 12 metre yacht, the “Saskia” I sailed on the North Sea in my spare time. We also ran races between Henk Tingen’s 12-metre “Orka”, a ketch rigged vessel and “Saskia”, with a yawl rig. Both yachts were 4 Class designed by Henk Tingen and built by de Kok in Vinkeveen.

We sailed against another to find out which type of rigging was the fastest. In reality it did not make any difference, both ships were equally fast.

Two Americans showed a keen interest and for a handsome price bought both yachts. It meant I was without a ship.

Andre’s wife had passed away and he did not want to live on the “Elisabeth” anymore. He sold the ship to an Italian oil magnate, a Dr. Dolsetti. The new owner agreed that the ship would be sailed to the Mediterranean with a Dutch crew and under Dutch flag, with the owner and his daughter as passengers provided that there was another woman on board.

Andre thought that I was the right person for that job and we sailed with a Dutch captain from Holland for 6 long weeks, destination Tunisia.

We had to stay in Tunisia because Italy had a war conflict with Yugoslavia.

At sea it was hard work for the Dutch crew because the owner, his daughter and the Italian captain were often sea sick, unable to do anything. In the Bay of Biscay we had a bad storm, a south Westerly, heave to and that does not agree with a lot of stomachs!

The second storm came when we crossed from Gibraltar to Morocco.

Some of my qualities are Never Afraid and Never Sea Sick! I’ll spare you the gory details of the voyage; all I can say is lots of spaghetti to feed the fish!

But for me it was clear what my desire was – Long sea voyages on a good ship.

On arrival back in Holland I rang Andre at his practice. He had started his flying hobby again when the ships sailed to Italy and he had gone to “Zestienhove”, then the small aircraft airport near Rotterdam. I took a taxi and went to meet him. He had just landed and we all had coffee and I told them my story.

Ship Building

One of Andre’s friends was a flying instructor and (according to Andre) since I did not have a ship anymore I had to get up in the air! As a “thank you” for my work during the delivery of the “Elisabeth” I was given a flying course. The name of the instructor was Mr. Klusman, I got my flying ticket and did go up in the air but my heart was with the ships and the ocean.

I missed the sailing and after a lot of deliberation we decided to have a HenkTingen design built on a 50/50 partnership. The name chosen was “Anna – Jantina” and I was allowed to do the pre-design of the interior and select the timbers for the job. Lovely work!

My good helper in the ALBERT saloon had taken charge of running the business, which gave me more free time to concentrate on work for the yacht.

The ship was being built in Zaandam, some particulars:

Central heating (provided by a diesel combustion stove in the engine room, gimbals supported).

Two Penta diesel engines,

Teak deck,

Large wheelhouse,

Two freezers/ refrigerators,

Washing machine (unheard of in those days).

Centre board (draft with centre board 3 m., with board up 1.7 m. which means that we could enter shallow ports).

After completion we sold the ship for a good price and built a sister ship that also sold for a profit after completion. We needed the money because Andre had 4 young children to look after.

In Spain we bought a ship, a 20-m. teak hull ketch rigged vessel. One of Andre’s sons, with the help of a mechanic, overhauled the engine on the ship in the port of Seville. After 18 months the ship was ready and we sailed it via Gibraltar, Morocco and the Spanish isles to Cannes where she was sold as the “Kasiopea”.

Also rebuilt a motor yacht of de Vries – Lentch, she had sunk in Cyprus where we bought it from an English owner. She was taken to Amsterdam for a refit and there sold to a new Swiss owner as “Cape Palmas”.

I sold my business for a very good price and Andre sold his practice. We were going to concentrate on SHIPS operating out of Cannes, the main business being buying and selling of 2^nd hand ships.

We always worked through brokers who found us reliable and made a profit from our business.

All this brought us together and we became “comrades for life”! Our mutual hobby had tied us for life; Andre and I got married in Belgium.

We could not achieve what we wanted in Holland and had ourselves taken off the Dutch business register for fiscal reasons.

We had made a name for ourselves in the market and received offers to carry “fast lift” work on yachts and ships, a method that has fewer financial risks.

A last order in Holland for a new ship from a Danish owner was the “Piet Hein”

We found that the restoration or rebuild work was rewarding, also it cost less to invest. Seeing that we always worked our own capital we had to be very careful.

The cost of building new ships had risen considerable and we did not have to travel to and from Holland anymore to look after the ships that had been built.

During the hot summer months we stayed in Spijk a/d Linge, where we had an old cottage restored as our summer resort. In the garden we had a ship’s wheel and we called the property “Het Wielhuys”.

On the other side of the dyke, opposite “Het Wielhuys”, stood a derelict cottage within a large parcel of land. Andre was not keen on real estate but I got the itch and felt that this cottage would be a nice summer residence for Andre’s children; result was that we bought it and restored it.

Now my daughter Elies and her husband Piet Hein live there, they have planted trees and built a pond and this year they have expanded again and made it look beautiful. Now it is like a paradise in the over populated province of Zuid Holland.

Whilst living in Spijk during the summer months I discovered a lot more old cottages that smiled at me and begged to be renovated. I really got the taste for restoring old cottages now and enjoyed it immensely. We found a good builder who did the work for us when we returned to Cannes in October.

Upon return in Cannes our ship brokerage business had to be attended to and we had to look for new “floating” projects instead of “brick and mortar” projects.

And that was not difficult; there were so many ships for sale. Their owners because of financial difficulties abandoned most of these; we could buy them at a reasonable price, make them seaworthy again and sell with profit.

We got a real kick out of that work and did it for a number of years. It was a joy to be sailing again. Most of the ships we found were sailboats, looking at the masts you could tell they were for sale. (Badly maintained masts are a sign on the wall!).

Our last ship was a teak hulled yawl, built in Italy. The deck planking was in bad condition. In Holland we bought second hand deck planking of a decommissioned navy minesweeper, had it cut to size and sent to Cannes where we managed to get a berth. Two Italians, father and son, laid the new deck and built the new superstructure. The hull and masts were in good condition and after a year’s work we proudly looked at the finished product, the “Santa – Lucia”.

Santa – Lucia

Oh, you beautiful ship! We both were in love with the ship and decided not to sell her but to do charter sails instead.

It was difficult work. Most of our passengers were people who had never been to sea and who got sick sea when the weather turned.

We had a Frenchman on board as helper, our faithful Albert! He became our best friend, now aged 84 he still is.

In the charter sail business you got to know your people, not always their good side either! Andre found it difficult and started to have problems, not only with others but also within himself. At the time I did not understand that his mind was changing.

We managed to do a wonderful journey with the “Grey – Kelpie”, a yacht that we had rebuilt for a Dutch family. From a port in France we sailed to Corsica, Elba and all those beautiful bays along the Italian coast to Capri. What a beautiful place our earth is!

Things got worse with Andre. One day he wandered and could not find his way back to the “Santa – Lucia”. Very sad. Our friend the Harbour Master in Cannes advised me not to take the ship out to sea anymore because of Andre’s deteriorating condition.

It was the start of a very sad period. The ships had to go, Andre had started to dismantle things in the engine room, real scary stuff.

Caused by all this stress I got ill and we had to sell the ship. We rented a flat near the harbour and sold the “Santa – Lucia” to a Dutch river barge skipper.

That’s when the real trouble started; Andre believed that strangers got on board his ship and he wanted to throw them off. Fortunately the new owners understood the situation and no charges were laid.

My heart could not handle this entire trauma and I ended up in hospital. Andre had to be returned to Holland under escort and I got fitted with a pacemaker.

In Holland Andre was admitted to a nursing home where he lingered for a few more years. I sold the “Wielhuys”, our little paradise on the River Linge, because I did not want to live there without Andre; there were too many good memories.

I moved to Gorinchem, Andre lived in a nursing home called “Zonnendaal” near Apeldoorn. It meant clocking many kilometres in the car to visit him.

During the last stages of his illness he believed that I was his mother and it made him feel happy. Andre went quietly but I had to carry on.

As a volunteer I helped others at the swimming pool in Gorinchem and enjoyed that work. I went dancing, which I loved, and made many good friends.

I can’t go sailing anymore, I read and write a lot in the “Rozenobel” where I live now.

I am happy to live here and content to wait, white hair et al, until the Grim Reaper takes me away. I have lived a good life!

.-.-.