Customer Reviews

Things We Couldn't Say: A dramatic account of Christian resistance in Holland during WWII

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I had watched "Making Choices", a compelling documentary of Dutch resistance during WW II and was immensely touched by Diet Eman's story of selfless heroism. I knew I had to read more about her WW II experiences, and this book does that and more. It truly encapsulates how people of faith, the Dutch Christians who joined the Resistance put their own lives at great risk in order to save countless numbers of Jews fleeing the Nazis during WW II.

Diet's story is poignant and you get a sense of the immense faith and courage this lady possesses - she was only a young woman in her late teens when she undertook these heroic acts. Her fiance was also a young man of faith and courage - and I was saddened at his ultimate fate - but his words to Diet in a final letter written to her before he was transported to a German concentration camp is bittersweet - in it he affirms his love for Diet and also says he has no regrets. Diet carries that note with her till this day and uses in education classes about the war.

A must-read book for all those interested in the Dutch Resistance movement during WW II and also the Holocaust.

A powerful story about a wonderful person. The book is great and true. I had the chance to hear Diet speak last month and her story is as powerful now as it was when she lived through it. A true love story, a powerful testimony to the many that worked to help others in WW2. If you have the chance to read this book, do not pass it up. It will move you.

Diet Eman was in the Dutch resistance when the Nazi's occupied the Netherlands. As a 19 year old, she 'smuggled' Jews to safe houses under the noses of the Nazis. Later, she moved them on trains to the countryside, even more risky. A very important aspect of WWII history, inspiring.

Diet Eman with James Schaap have written a marvelous account of her life in Holland from 1938 to the liberation in 1945 and after as "picking up the pieces". You might say "how can living under occupation be marvelous" ? On the one hand, it was a horrible experience for both Christians and Jews but, on the other hand, it was marvelous. Diet Eman experienced the worse that man can offer and in spite of that reality in which she was immersed, she willingly and faithfully participated in a resistance movement - a movement unlike one would expect. This resistance movement, undertaken by Diet and her very dear Hein and others, is a willingness to face evil like lambs among wolves and turn to God for His wisdom, power and strength to do what He has called them to do for a time such as this - rescue the Jewish people of Holland - all He brought to her. In her own words: "But once we got fully involved in Underground activities, we often made mistakes when hiding Jews - especially in the early going. What did we know about it ? Who did we ever have as teachers ? We were really only a little older than the kids who had played at spying in our neighborhood in the Hague" - (pg 97).

As a Christ follower, I was encouraged by Diet's story and testimony because it is really the testimony of God that he writes in the lives of those who put their trust in Him when they have nothing else to lean on and are called to do His work. It is a reminder that we are never able to do what He has asked outside of trusting in Him and leaning not on our own understanding. Diet wanted to put this experience behind her and forget the pain. She was able to do so for a number of years until she heard Corrie ten Boon speak in her town in 1978 of her experiences and God's faithfulness. "After that my conscience started to gnaw, and it seemed that every time I opened the Bible something like 'Tell the great things I have done' stared me in the face. Then in the early nineties, many things happened that convinced me the book should be written" (pg. 327).

The book begins with Diet as a school girl, a tomboy who liked to ride her bike into the country outside of The Hague, - as her mother said: "just a girl who thought real adventure was running in the woods and jumping sloten and certainly not interested in boys" (pg 16). What a beginning and what a training for the task that was to come before her. Traveling all over Holland, by bike and more often by foot, with ration cards, ID Cards and news, for her fellow resistance workers and her dear Jews who she cared for as a mother hen until the end of the occupation. As Jesus promised, He would not lose any that the Father had sent to Him, neither did Diet. Every one sent to her and her group, survived. Yet, her deeply loved fiance, Hein died in a German Concentration Camp at Dachau sometime in January 1945. "When I had heard of all the suffering Hein had to go through, I wondered why. Lord, was that necessary ? Why didn't he just get an honest bullet and have it over with ? Why was that necessary?" She talked to God and shared her anger and pain with her whys. "I told Him I wished too I were dead, like Hein. I asked Him, over and over, why it was necessary for Hein to suffer much." God responded in love and mercy and grace. "Then I began to receive letters from people I'd never known - farmers, pastors, other men from the Underground. They said that they had met her fiance in this camp or that camp, and that in the deepest misery they faced, Hein had spoken of his faith in God's promises. He was the light in their darkness" (pg320-321).

In reading this book, this account of God's mercy, may you experience His light in whatever darkness you face. He always uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things in ways no one can anticipate or expect.

This book is about doing the right thing, no matter what the cost and not loosing sight of God.
It is a story of courage and great hardship. This should be a must read for anybody who has any desire for what history can teach us.

This is a good book. It's very interesting to read what the Christian Dutch Resistance did during World War II. It's quite a contrast to the life most of us have today in the U.S.

I had the privilege of sitting next to Diet on a NWA flight a few years ago. There is so much of her life and experiences that are not covered in this excellent book. It's a story of young love, the invasion which brought these young people into a movement that was bigger than themselves and only God could have brought them through the life-risking adventure. The fact that Diet was given a love note that was written by her beloved on a scrap of paper while on his train ride to the camp and tossed out the window is utterly amazing. She also shared she was able to observe Corrie Ten Boom and her sister reunite on the rail platform as they awaited their relocation prior to liberation. When Diet landed in America, she applied for citizenship. She spoke of answering the questions truthfully and because of that she had to be interviewed. I would have loved to have seen the face of the interviewer when Diet explained that she had in fact killed someone, while she produced her presidential accommodation for her contribution to saving a company of liberation soldiers.

Diet occasionally speaks to groups, so if you ever have the opportunity to meet this wonderful soldier of God and humanity, please take the time. Read her book, and if you're ever in the Grand Rapids, MI area, much of her collection from the Resistance is located at Calvin College. I will cherish my signed copy for years to come.

my mom wanted to get all of her godchildren this book for christmas, but isn't too savy at shopping online. so i ordered for her and had it shipped to her house. it was all great! thank you!