‘Else Hanöver, Oorlogsjaren in Maastricht ’ [War years in Maastricht] is the story of Else Hanöver, a young woman born in Aachen, Germany, who was a secretary to Maastricht’s mayor before and during WWII. The book is based on her biography. Else was involved at the start of the adoption of the graves by people in the region during her war years in Maastricht.
It is a rendition of part of her life’s story, written at the request of her children in 2000. It is based on her precisely documented diaries during the wartime years of German occupation in Maastricht, and liberation by the US Army that followed in mid-September 1944. In those day, Else was the mayor’s secretary. The story shows that country borders and family ties do not always coincide, as is evident from the story about her German grandmother, who was forced to move in with them after her home was destroyed during the bombing of Aachen (11 April 1944). Else emigrated to the United States in 1947 and lived in Florida (†2013). The oral history project team Akkers van Margraten [Fields of Margraten] came into contact with Else when they were looking for eyewitnesses of the construction of the American cemetery in Margraten. In 1944/1945, Else answered hundreds of letters from relatives of soldiers from the US during the period when the system of adoption of graves was set up. Her friendship with the first American liberator, whom she met on 13 September 1944, is good for a surprising ending to the book.
New Verson: April 2025
Preface by the mayor of Maastricht, Wim Hillenaar.
Author: Mieke Kirkels ISBN/EAN: 9789086801480