Jan Makkreel recalls pain of post-WWII cleansing in the Netherlands

Most of World War II’s damage was collateral; the casualties, non-combatants; and their wounds, psychological. Jan Makkreel, who was a teenager then, cannot forget the circumstances that led to his internment in a prison camp. In his memoir “Under the Shadow of The Swastika” (ReadersMagnet; 2019), which is ghostwritten by Robert Graef, Makkreel opens up about the pain of political cleansing in post-WWII Netherlands.
 
After the war, the teenage Makkreel was arrested for suspected Nazi collaboration and, with his father, interned in Amersfoort Prison Camp for a year and a half. His mother was also arrested for the allegation of selling confiscated Jewish clothing in her shop. They, among many other innocents, were swept up in the passion for post-war political cleansing.
 
Makkreel had nothing to do with the Germans during their occupation of his country. Though he had helped save Jews and smuggle food and information for the resistance, he was labeled a traitor and a Nazi collaborator after the war. His only sin was to have an SS captain for an uncle and an older sister who defected to Germany.    
 
After his release, Makkreel moved to Canada and then to the United States where he became a musician and business-owner. But the ghosts of his past would always drag him into a spiral of memories that are better left forgotten. Yet, as he started telling his story to Graef, he found himself listening to his ghosts, who also got their own stories to tell.
 
Order “Under the Shadow of The Swastika” today through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
 
Watch out for the public display of this wartime memoir at the upcoming 2019 BookExpo New Title Showcase on May 29 to June 2, 2019.
 
Under the Shadow of The Swastika                                                                            
Author: Jan Makkreel (ghostwritten by Robert Graef)
Published date: January 29, 2019
Published by ReadersMagnet
Kindle price: $5.99
 
About the Author
Jan Makkreel was born on 1926 in Rotterdam, Holland and had a very happy childhood until war broke out. He and his brother had to scramble for food of any kind during the war to keep their family fed while their father worked. He also secretly helped the Jews in his neighborhood who were still hiding, which was very dangerous. After the end of the war, he and his father were interned for a year and a half at AMERSFOORT Prison Camp for alleged Nazi collaboration. They were released after being proven innocent but the neighbors were not convinced. Jan could not return to school nor gain employment. He decided to go to Canada where he and his brother began their own businesses. Over the years, he opened a string of piano stores and tuned and restored pianos.
 
 

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