Is She A Witch?
On October 5, 2017, I visited the village of Oudewater in the Netherlands. I was going to meet a friend for a girls day and explore somewhere I had not visited in prior trips. It was a cool, windy, and rainy day but we didn’t mind. Oudewater has plenty of little cafes, restaurants, and places to visit. We had a lovely coffee and some apple cake and then set off to find a flower shop to get some items for the wedding. As we wandered, we found the Museum De Heksenwaag, which I had forgotten was there!
The Museum De Heksenwaag is an historic place where men and women went starting in 1482, to be weighed to determine if they were a witch!
The museum is very small and consists of two floors. The main floor hosts a gift shop and the famous scales. Upstairs there are exhibits that show artifacts from the time which include books, certificates documenting witches and non-witches, maps, and drawings. There is a children’s library and theater area and a video you can watch to learn more about the history of Oudewater and witch hunts through time in the Netherlands.
The upstairs had an energy to it that is difficult to explain. There were moments I felt like I had stepped back in time. There were moments the energy and air around me felt heavy and it was hard to breathe. And (thankfully!) only brief moments where I felt like leaving my body and never returning. How many lifetimes was I persecuted and killed for things people did not understand, just as many of the people listed in the historic books were killed? We’ve been everything and done everything. I’ve cleared and healed many things from past lives related to persecution, though we are never quite done. If you are very sensitive to energy and the energy of items and places, be aware before you visit.
Returning downstairs
, we met the man who weighs those who hope to be declared too heavy to be a witch. He provides those who wish to be weighed, a brief history of what they are doing and why. Incredibly, everyone who steps on the scales is determined NOT to be a witch. And for this, they receive a certificate to prove this, in case they must travel outside of the area are are accused. I did ask if they had a certificate for those who were too light and the answer was no.
I received my certificate and was sure to carry it throughout my travels, especially when visiting castles. You never know when you will be in need of it!
Walking through Oudewater you will see old buildings, sometimes tilted one way or another with doors and windows that are not quite straight anymore. They have so much character. There are canals as in many Dutch towns and plenty of bikes. Many of the buildings have art painted on them or in frames which hang on the buildings. Seeing these things and the art above doorways, which in the past indicated the profession of those who lived and worked there, are some of my favorite things about these small villages.
Oudewater is a sweet village with a lot of interesting history. I feel as if some things from past lives were released on this day, which is always a good thing. It is a beautiful place to spend half a day as you wander through the Netherlands and want a bit of history and charm.
Have you been there? Did you step on the Witches Scales?
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
The World War II Research and Writing Center is now booking programs through 2019, including our newest talk, Walking in their Footsteps: Traveling Planning for your WWII Trip to Europe.
Finding Your Soldier’s History
The story of the assassination is more dramatic than fiction. The Czechs who killed Heydrich are memorialized at the place of their last stand against the Germans. Seven brave men held out against the Germans where they had been hiding, at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Today, you can visit the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror in the crypt of this church.
The Germans reacted immediately with reprisals. Then, Heydrich died from his wounds. The Germans offered a hefty sum for any information on the young men. After three weeks, a fellow resistance member betrayed them. But Gabcik and Kubis were moved to the Saints Cyril and Methodius Church and hid in the crypt there with others who assisted in the assassination. The woman who had hidden the parachutists was killed and her son tortured until he gave away the location of the church hiding place.
The crypt today shows clear signs of the battle. Bullet holes pepper the walls. When you stand in the crypt, you feel how small and claustrophobic it is, just a small basement in a neighborhood church. But the bravery that took place here was beyond measure.
Thank you notes lay scattered about, tributes to these young men who gave themselves in hopes of saving others. Groups of school children and tourists come here to learn about this story of Czech resistance to evil.
I will be presenting, Stories of the Lost, Saturday, November 11, 1:30 p.m. – Note: This program is not suitable for children.
A few months ago I read an article in a Holocaust Educator’s group about dark tourism. I had never heard of this until I read the article and then realized, I do dark tourism when I travel in Europe.
There are also places I’ve been which are likely classified as dark tourist sites due to the number of dead that sleep there, like Normandy Cemetery. The dark tourism site lists some (but not all French WWII sites and adds war cemeteries in their list). So many dead on and after D-day that were temporarily and then permanently buried there. This was the first ABMC cemetery I visited after several years of research into the cemeteries and war dead. It is one thing to research and another thing to walk where you have researched.
On a rainy Sunday morning at 10:00 at the Powder Tower (just down the street from our hotel,) we met Hannah, our tour guide. There was a small group of less than 10 people which was perfect for asking questions. Our tour started at the Powder Tower and Hannah showed us a map of Czechoslovakia and the surrounding countries from 1938. She began telling us stories of how the annexation occurred and what happened to the Czech people, especially those in Prague.
After a serious history lesson about Czechoslovakia and its importance to Hitler’s war plans, we began walking to the Old Town Square where the Nazis rolled through Prague and began taking over. As we walked, Hannah stopped and pointed out different war memorials on the buildings, especially those for the resistance. Those in the resistance greeted each other with a specific hand signal, as seen in the memorials. Most of the signs we saw, with or without the hand on them, contained names of those who died in Prague fighting for freedom, many on the last days of the war as the Germans were killing everyone they could in an attempt to save themselves.
Our tour included a visit to the underground where the resistance met and many families whose houses had been destroyed, fled during the occupation. The underground took us two layers below the current Prague street level. The first level was the Gothic cellar. The second, the Roman cellar, beneath the Old Town Hall. Prague has a series of connected cellars which made it difficult for the Germans to know how many resistance members there were at one time. We had eaten the night before in Roman cellars and I had no idea then of their significance.
Prior to the end of our tour, we walked through the Jewish Quarter and learned more about the fate of the Jews in Prague. We learned how they worked with the resistance to stall production and fight the Nazis. We saw several monument stones on buildings for Jews who died, and the 
I recently posted on Facebook about a 101st Airborne paratrooper’s letters I was reading and writing about. I commented that people should save their letters and envelopes that go with each letter as they contain valuable information about not only the service history of a soldier, but his family and life. I went on to say that should a family not want their soldier’s military papers and artifacts any long to please not throw it away. There are many individuals, archives, museums, and other repositories that would be happy to take the original materials. Them someone asked for a list of those repositories. While I do not have a list of every possible place in America to donate materials, I can give you some things to consider before you donate.
Many places will be happy to accept your original materials (not photo copies) but it is important to ensure the materials will be properly processed, stored, and made available to the public for research. A couple of years ago a friend and I were attending the 104th Infantry Division WWII reunion in New Orleans. We spoke to an archivist at the National WWII Museum about a collection my friend was considering donating somewhere. At that time (