Customer Reviews

Evader

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I first encountered this book in the Readers Digest. I spent alot of time trying to find out how to get the book itself as the excerpt in the Digest was wonderful. I finally tracked down the publisher, told them how badly I wanted this book, paid over the phone & received the book. Autographed by the author himself!!! ( I was thrilled!) This book is written in a very frank manner. Harry does not build himself up to be any kind of hero, just tells it the way it happened. But, the telling is done so well that it's a hard book to put down. I have since read it at least three times. I admire the part he and others played in the Resistance. All Americans can be proud of the part Harry played in the war. I highly reccomend this book for collectors of WWII history books.

This book was brought to my attention by my great aunt, whose family - my family, helped the downed pilot Harry. My great grandmother's bother and relatives, the Vissers, helped to hide the American pilot from the Nazi's throughout war-torn Holland. As I read page after page, it was amazing to see my family, worlds and time apart from me, help the Americans win the war with small acts of kindness while risking their own lives in the process. My great grandmother, a Visser, had married a Niekerk and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s but helped the war effort and her fellow Dutchman from her new home in Middlebury, CT. My great aunt and my grandfather remember helping their mother send packages of cloths, medical supplies and other items back to family, friends and even people she didn't even know in Holland. Even though I never met Harry or my great relatives, I still feel a deep family connection and a sense of pride as an American whose past helped shape two countries. This story does not require a linked history to enjoy; it is an action-packed story of war, kindness, history, love and one man whose journey touched many lives - including mine. This book has helped me to learn more about my family and our past. Thank you Harry.

I thoroghly enjoyed reading this incredible book. I highly recomend it to anybody.

I first read this in abridged form in Reader's Digest,1995 and finally found it on this site and have now read the original. What a treat! I could not put it down. Part of the attraction was the fact that I was a 31/2 going on 4yrs old in Ternaerd, Friesland, the very place where the author was hidden by one of my Dad's best friends (though no one knew of it then), in the middle of the village less than 1/2 city block away, facing the same village green, and churchyard, and with the Hotel Pel between us (next to our house) where the Germans had their local Headquarters. I can recall the sentries walking up and down in front. My Dad was the local barber and had a small tobacco and confections shop though most things were in short supply by that winter (1944-45).We also had an evader (Dutch) posing as a barber's apprentice and several evacuees from Arnhem and Amsterdam. The story was most vivid and suspenseful. The more, as my Dad's memoirs also deal with this period. It was interesting to see the country and people through American eyes, which were most observant. I'm sorry I never had the chance to meet Mr. Dolph, for I would have loved to speak with him. But I am glad he wrote of his experiences. I would say this is a must read for anyone interested in WWI and the occupation of the Netherlands.