Verdoner family playing in the garden

The Verdoner Family - Gerrit and Hilde Verdoner, their children Yoka (b.1934), Francisca (b.1937) and Otto (b.1939) - were Jewish. In May 1940, when the Germans overran the Netherlands, Nazi decrees aimed specifically at Jews forced Gerrit out of his business and Yoka out of her second grade class. When the Nazis commandeered their home, the Verdoners went to live with Gerrit's parents in Amsterdam. Shortly thereafter, Gerrit and Hilde decided to place the children in hiding. Their foresight enabled the children to survive and save these family films. Hilde entered Westerbork on December 18, 1942, while Gerrit had a job with the Jewish Council. On September 29, 1943, after the collapse of the Jewish Council and Gerrit's narrow escape from the Germans, Gerrit found refuge in a hideout on a farm. On January 8, 1944 Hilde was sent to Auschwitz. After the war, Gerrit managed to reunite with his children and other surviving family members. The Verdoners emigrated to the US in 1946. Francisca Verdoner and Yoka Verdoner, in the family yard with their mother Hilde Verdoner. They are eating and playing. VS, some overhead shots, taken from a window or a balcony in the house. Francisca beginning to crawl, being picked up off the grass by her grandfather. Francisca and Yoka playing with wooden blocks and toys. CUs, their father Gerrit Verdoner helps them to build a tower from the wooden blocks.