Pierre Rieu Proud of His Grandmother

Pierre Rieu Proud of His Grandmother

War museum in the making as a lesson for the future

Maastricht citizen Pierre Rieu is one of the main characters in the book 'Portraits of freedom', commissioned by the Eijsden-Margraten municipality, and edited by Chapeau.

Pierre Rieu's contribution to the book  "Portraits of Freedom"

At the front of the biggest shed is a part of the stage attributes of his world famous father André. But behind a large wall in the same shed, is where the domain of Pierre Rieu begins, indeed, "the son of". There you enter a very different world, that of the Second World War. Impressive tanks, jeeps, army trucks, amphibian vessels, motorcycles, reconnaissance vehicles and a lot of utensils from the period 1940-1945, such as radios, a printing press for pamphlets and lamps.

No, it's not just a hobby. It is not primarily about tinkering, having rare vehicles with which you can take a nice ride, like in an old-timer. There is a definite story behind it all.

"My maternal grandmother was married to a German Jew. My grandmother was in the resistance. They never talked much about it. I can still remember  that they did have many books about the war.  As a child, I often poked around. That is how my interest arose. And that's how at the age of sixteen  I landed a job as a volunteer guide at the Fort Eben-Emael. I learned a lot there. About the war and the liberation, but also about how to deal with groups of people. "

Pierre is 18 when he buys his first car. It is an American Army Jeep from the war.  At least, it is being sold to him as that. Afterwards it seem that it dates from after the war. But that does not matter, his interest in everything  war grows and grows.  "I have been to Israel several times and have met people there whose grandmother in Maastricht was saved y my grandmother. At a certain moment I also met a small, elderly Amsterdam person. He grabbed my face. First I thought he was a fan of Dad's. But no: he was thankful when he saw me, because he told me my grandmother had saved his live when he was 5 years old and living in Maastricht. Even more interesting was that he was married to a lady who had been pulled from a train filled with locked up Jews by American soldiers who  had liberated Maagdenburg. One of them, Frank Towers, later took me there. He told me that some 2500 Jews were lock up in that train for five days. The Germans still wanted to take them to a concentration camp, but had to flee because of the allies. Some of the people in the train started to suffocate, and several did not survive."

Through the course of several years he built a friendship with Towers and several other veterans.  With them he visited the areas where they fought and the military cemeteries such as Margraten and Henry-Chapelle.  With them he also visits commemorations in Israel. "I even have a cousin living there. She does not dare to settle in Europe, for fear that the Jewish persecution would take place again. Because she reads that anti-Semitism is on the rise again in Europe. That because of the basis of your origin you are being murdered is unthinkable." Pierre shakes his head. He is not totally convinced that history will not repeat itself.

For Frank Towers, who since has passed away, it became a life's work to visit as many people as possible who were then on that train. It was a war injury for him. By spending time with him and other veterans I also absorbed those emotions. Can you imagine, that one hundred thousand young men came to Europe to liberate us. Even though they did not know Europe at all, they still did it. Every soldier who fought along has seen one or more comrades die.  Would we still go and free an entire nation at another continent? To leave your family to fight for life and death far away from home? Very difficult!"

That Pierre has taken over half his Dad's warehouse, indicates that Dad supports him. "No, otherwise I would not have been able to do this. He is very enthusiastic about this and we have often received veterans at our home. My mother does not talk much about this. Understandable, with her and her family that goes quite deep."

Every Wednesday evening a group of 25 volunteers come to the warehouse and work on the robust vehicles, which are mostly know as dilapidated vehicles. "No, they no longer come from an old farm, that time has passed. Especially after a movie such as "Band of Brothers." These old vehicles are now worth a lot of money, even if they look like a pile of junk. I am not a dealer, so I don't need to earn anything from them. I am also not going to sell them, but have another purpose: to establish a private museum, hopefully within a few years.  We are just not going to place some old tanks and jeeps in a row, that does not appeal to the younger crowd. It has to become an experience museum where, by use of  dioramas, complete stories are being told, in chronological order. With all kinds of techniques, such as video, sound and light techniques  we are going to portray various scenes. From D-Day to, for instance, the liberation of Kerkrade.  We are going to show how people secretly listened to an old radio to see how far the Allies advanced. We will show you an open fireplace which can slide open.  Behind that you will see a Jewish family. Another scene is where that family is being betrayed by Dutch collaborators who would receive 5 guilders as a bounty from the Germans. Can you imagine,  5 Guilders per person? And that really did  happen.  We will show how the "underground resistance" worked. But also that some were reported and then also taken away by the Germans, facing death. We are not going to show atrocities, no blood. However, we do make it clear to the visitors how great the destruction has been. In that manner I hope that the youth will learn a valuable lesson and make them realize how important freedom is."

The American and English military vehicles, although not refurbished, often come from private individuals. In that world you build a network . Yes, and then it is quite an advantage that you have such a surname, one that sometimes opens doors. Often they are people who know that we have a specific goal in mind, and then it is just a matter of bestowing."

Lots has still to happen before the museum will be a reality. Many of the volunteers still have busy jobs.  Such as auto mechanics, notaries or doctors. Among them is a 15 year old boy who is very interested. "They all don't  need to be able to tinker, some do research for additional information. it is all about group unity, which is enormously strong. We regularly go to historic places like in Normandy, or England, just to name a few.  And then yes, sometimes we drive with a few men through Limburg in those old trucks. That is just fun. In any case, we do participate in a number of commemorative meetings every year. Will that decrease after the 75 year commemoration? Definitely not,  the commemorations will continue every year, we should never forget them. And with the museum which will come here, we will contribute to that."

Thanks to John for the translation and Ineke and Han for the article