Arbre généalogique Snoeij-van den Donker-Elich-Sundermeijer-Martens » Clazina Sophia Adriana "Clazien" van den Donker (1905-2000)

Données personnelles Clazina Sophia Adriana "Clazien" van den Donker 

• Le surnom est Clazien.
• Elle est née le 17 décembre 1905 dans Rotterdam.
• Elle est décédée le 27 février 2000 dans Port Arlington (Au), elle avait 94 ans.
• Un enfant de Cornelis van den Donker et Reintje de Gunst
• Cette information a été mise à jour pour la dernière fois le 10 août 2012.

Famille de Clazina Sophia Adriana "Clazien" van den Donker

Elle est mariée avec Pieter den Houting.

L'autorisation pour le mariage a été obtenu le 4 avril 1931 à Rotterdam.Source 1

PIET AND CLAZIEN

Pieter den Houting and Clazina Sophia Adriana van den Donker, were married on the 15th of April 1931, in het Stadhuis at Rotterdam, and their marriage was "ingezegend" in the St Laurens Kerk in Rotterdam.  Pieter was the eldest son of Jacobus Johannes den Houting (carpenter) of Rotterdam, and Elizabeth Ubas.
He was born on 19 May 1906. The other children were Dirk, Jacobus Johannes (Koos), Laurens Gerrit, and Elizabeth.

Clazien was the daughter of Cornelis van den Donker, shoemaker, of Rotterdam, and Reintje de Gunst.

Their children were Grietje (Beekman), Jacob (married Jeanne Scholten) Martjen (Venema), Cornelis (married Francien Rokers) Gerrit (Died at age 9 months) Gerrit (Died aged 3 years) Clazina (den Houting), Anna Jannetta (never married) and Gerrit Willem.

At the time of their marriage, Piet was working with the Provinciale Waterstaat in the province of Zuid Holland and Clazien was working as a secretary with van der Graaf and Co, a firm of debt collectors. When they married, Clazien resigned from that job.

They went to live in 1-red Madoera straat, Dordrecht, (Red was upstairs, and black was downstairs at that number) and their first child was born there on 27 January 1932. They called him Jacobus Johannes (Koos).

They moved to 3 Groene Kruisstraat, 'sGravendeel, early in 1933.
Their next four children were born there:

Reina on 3 June 1933.
Elizabeth (Bep) on 19 March 1935.
Cornelis (Kees) on 31 July 1937
Pieter on 25 November 1938.

Piet's brother Koos had moved to South Africa, and his brother Gerrit was working for the Shell company in Curacao. Piet himself was thinking that the future in 1937 Netherland was not promising, and he and Clazien were considering moving abroad, to South Africa also. Their plans had progressed some way, when Clazien became pregnant with Kees, and that delayed the move, and then the second world war broke out and put an end to the possibility.

In 1939 the Provinciale Waterstaten were amalgamated into the Rijkswaterstaat and Piet was therefore moved. In 1939 the family moved to Looierslaan 19, Voorburg. They were living there when the Netherlands were over-run by the German Army after a week-long war which started on 10 May 1940, and ended after the city of Rotterdam was destroyed by bombing. Koos can remember standing in the backyard of their home in Voorburg, and seeing a great cloud of smoke rising from the burning city. He can also remember standing on the corner of the Hoofdstraat and the Looierslaan and seeing the German tanks, trucks and infantry moving to occupy 'sGravenhage (den Haag). Fortunately, none of the numerous family members living in Rotterdam were hurt, as the damage had been mainly in the central business district, and not in the surrounding residential areas.

Under instructions from the German authorities, the Rijkswaterstaat speeded up the construction of an Autobahn, weg 12, (Nicknamed "het Hazenpad") which was to run from den Haag to Berlin. Piet was transferred to the province of Gelderland to work on the section of the new road between Ede and Dieren, including a major bridge across the river IJsel.

This meant that the family moved again, in 1941, from Voorburg to Velp, where they lived at 6 van Pallandt straat.

Because of his work Pieter was exempt from the regulation which required many Dutch men to go and work in Germany in factories producing war materials. As the war progressed, many of the necessities of life, food, clothing etc, became scarcer, and were rationed.

Piet's sister Bep used to come to Velp regularly to sew clothing for the children, usually using materials from previously used clothes.

Work on the new road gradually slowed, and finally ceased altogether, but Piet obtained the job of keeping an eye on what had been completed, and so managed to remain exempt from having to go to Germany to work. This job also gave him access to quite a bit of ground on the edges of the new road, where he was able to grow vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and even have a couple of goats for milk. He also grew tobacco, and learned to dry, ferment, and flavour it. Although not a smoker himself, the finished product could be exchanged for foodstuffs from various farmers whom he had got to know through his work.

On the 27th of May 1944, Margaretha was born.

On the 10th of September 1944, Arnhem, just 10 Km from Velp, was taken by allied airborne troops, in an attempt to secure the bridge across the Rhine river, at the same time as other bridgeheads were established including one at Nijmegen. Unfortunately, while the bridge across the Waal at Nijmegen was secured by Eisenhowers army, winter and floods and a German armoured column which just happened to be in Gelderland refitting and recuperating, stopped the army from joining up with the airborne troops at Arnhem, and the position had to be abandoned, leaving the bridge across the Rhine in German hands.

The German authorities decided to evacuate all of Arnhem, but residents of Velp were able to remain in their homes. However, the prohibited area was less that 3 Km from Piet and Clazien's house, and in fact the half completed road which was Piet's responsibility, was the border of that area. By this time, services in Velp were in chaos, food was officially unobtainable except for minimal amounts of bread, cheese and powdered egg. Piet set himself to collect food for the family. On his bicycle and taking Koos on Clazien's bicycle, they went into the prohibited zone to dig up potatoes, and pick up grain, which had been abandoned by the farmers who were driven out of the area. His identity papers from the Rijkswaterstaat enabled him to bluff his way through on a couple of occasions, but there were times when they could hear bullets whistling overhead as they dug potatoes, and once or twice they had to talk fast to convince German sentries that they had legitimate reason to be where no civilians should be.

Finally, Piet's luck ran out. On this occasion Piet, with his father (Opa Koos den Houting had come to stay in Velp because Rotterdam was in worse chaos) and Koos had taken their bicycles to collect food across the river IJsel, when the Germans decided to stop all traffic across the river. Opa and Koos managed to catch the last ferry across and make it back home, but Piet was held up by a flat tyre, and was finally arrested and put in a make shift jail in the state school in Dieren. With colossal cheek he walked out of the building, looking as if he belonged, and made his way home across the river by row boat. However, he was too careful to actually go home, because the Germans had his name and address, and he knew they would be looking for him, so he went to a friends home, and sent them to fetch Clazien. There they decided he would have to stay away from home, and she would have to manage at home alone. Opa went to stay with tante Bep in Ede at first, and then went back to Rotterdam.

On several occasions, German soldiers called into the house and searched, and once Clazien was arrested and taken to German police HQ, but fortunately a German officer who heard that her six children (including Margaret who was 6 months old at the time) had been left alone at home, released her.

Gradually, the furore died down, and Piet was able to come home, but he was always ready to dive into the cellar in case the Germans conducted another search. The cellar was actually an air raid shelter which Piet had dug underneath the cellar proper, and its entrance could be hidden under a bin full of potatoes.

Thus the family survived, until in March 1945, after the flooded areas dried, the Allied army was able to move to Arnhem, and after raking the area with artillery fire for a fortnight, they crossed the Rhine on a pontoon bridge, because the proper bridge had been blown up by the German army. By this time, German resistance in Holland had collapsed, and the allies moved through with little trouble.

The house at 6 van Pallandt straat had been hit eight times by shells during the artillery barrage, and was a proper mess. The family had spent a fortnight living in the cellar, with only occasional breaks to get some air. However, they were all very relieved to have survived at all, and very happy when it was all over.

Eventually the house was repaired, work on "Weg 12" resumed, Piet went back to work, children went back to school, tante Bep (who had moved to Ede) resumed regular visits to sew and baby-sit.

At this stage, Piet and Clazien started thinking again about emigrating. Koos wanted to be a minister, Kees wanted to be a farmer, Piet wanted to be a doctor, none of these looked to be very possible in Holland. Many other Dutch people were moving to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. South Africa was no longer popular as a destination because of it rather pro-German stance during WW2. Finally Piet and Clazien decided that Australia was the most attractive, and it was decided that Piet would fly over and see how things were. In June 1950, he boarded the plane at Schiphol, and five days later he arrived in Melbourne. He made enquiries about work, but his qualifications as an engineer were not recognised in Australia at that time. He found temporary work with the Country Roads Board as a carpenter, working on Bell Street. He was very lonely, and homesick, living in the YMCA; but he found some good friends through the Presbyterian Church, the Melville family in Toorak, and the Rev Roy Metters at Ascot Vale. Eventually, someone brought the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority to his attention, so he went to Sydney and obtained an interview. He found that because of their urgent need for qualified staff, his Dutch qualifications would be accepted, and he was employed to work on the scheme as an engineer, located at Cooma, and working at Jindabyne, Tumut, Adaminaby etc. He was able to obtain a two bedroom house in Orana Avenue, Cooma, and sent for the family to join him. Clazien and the younger five children travelled on the SS Grote Beer and arrived in Sydney in late March 1951.

Because Koos was in his final year at the Gymnasium, and was only a few months away from his final exams, it was decided that he would stay and finish school, and travel by himself on a later boat, which turned out to be the "Waterman", and he duly arrived in Melbourne in Dec. 1951.

Finally the whole family was re-united in Australia, although they never lived all together again on a permanent basis.

The family were living in 5 Orana Avenue, Cooma, except for Koos, who moved into Ormond College in March 1952. The children went to their various schools, Piet worked with the Snowy, and Clazien worked at home caring for the family.

After 18 months in Orana Avenue, they moved to a three bedroom home at 10 Kiewa place.

Although Piet's job was interesting and he met a number of interesting people, a long postponed ambition came back to him, as he learned more about what was possible in the Presbyterian Church in Victoria, and in 1955 he was admitted as a candidate for the ministry in that church. He was required to do three years theological studies, and was allowed to skip the pre-requisite University course because of his previous studies and experience, and also in view of his age.

During the first two years of his course, he was appointed as home missionary to the parish of Loch, and during the third year he studied full time, while Clazien obtained a job as secretary-typist with Bruck clothing factories, in the City of Melbourne.

At this time, Reina had begun her nursing training and was living in Nurses' homes in Melbourne, Bep had started her training to be a Deaconess in the Presbyterian Church and was living in Rolland House, Kees and Piet went to the High school at Korumburra, and Margaret to Primary school at Loch. When Clazien went to work in the city and Piet to full time study, they moved to Bayles Street in Parkville, a residence owned by the Presbyterian Church, and Peter and Margaret lived with them

At the end of 1958, Piet finished his training, and was licensed and ordained on 9 Dec 1958.

He was appointed to Timboon as his exit station, and worked there from 1959 - 1962. In 1962 he was called to Coria-Lara parish, and remained there till 1965. Margaret had finished her High school at Timboon, and entered Teacher training college in Geelong at the same time.

In 1965 Piet was called to Hopetoun, in the Mallee. At this time Koos was at Mildura, and so was Margaret. They lived at Hopetoun until 1968, when Piet saw an advertisement calling for interested people to apply for the position of chaplain at Pentridge prison, which also included supervising part time chaplains in other prisons throughout Victoria. He was appointed to the position, but had to relinquish it in 1971 when he turned 65 years old.

He did not feel ready to retire, so made himself available and received a call to go to Casterton, which he accepted. There he worked for the next five years, until in 1976, he and Clazien retired to the house they had been building in Port Arlington on the corner of Smythe and Sproat Street. There he created a garden that was the talk of Portarlington, and both he and Clazien were active members of the Uniting Church Congregation, and of the choir.

Piet died at the age of 85, on 7 November 1991, from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Clazien lived on in the house in Smythe Street for a year, but found it too much, so the house was sold in 1993, and she moved into a unit at 3/44 Stevens Street, Portarlington.

Late in 1995, it was discovered that she had an aneurism in her aorta, and the doctor suggested that she should not live alone any longer. It was fortunate that just at this time, a new hostel for the aged was being built in Port Arlington, and Clazien's name was put on the waiting list. In February 1996, she became one of the original residents of the newly opened Ann Nicoll House.

In February 2000, the aneurism started to worsen, and on the 27th of February she died.

bron: http://www.denhouting.com/den0004.htm

Enfant(s):

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5. (Ne pas publique)
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