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1 TO HOLLAND (1920–1929) A large number of Germans opposed the parliamentary democracy of the Weimar Republic, holding it responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War I (the “stab-inthe -back legend”). This sense of illegitimacy, deep mistrust of Germany’s new Social Democratic rulers, and general resentments against the Treaty of Versailles created conditions in which right-wing nationalism found growing support among all social classes. The Treaty of Versailles dictated limits on the size of the military and required the payment of reparations for the destruction that German armies had caused in northern France and Belgium, and the treaty also sought the extradition of German war criminals, including Kaiser Wilhelm II who had fled to Holland in November 1918. Despite repeated demands, the Dutch refused to extradite him. In the first difficult years after the war, Dutch families provided vacation homes for thousands of impoverished and malnourished children from Germany, Austria, and Hungary. After Irmgard (generally known as Immo) returned from her stay in the Netherlands, she remained in contact with her host family in Utrecht. In 1921 August Brester traveled to Germany with college friends and took time to visit the Gebensleben family in Braunschweig. The next year, Immo journeyed to Holland for a second time. Irmgard Gebensleben to her parents Karl and Elisabeth Gebensleben, Utrecht, 13 June 1920 [. . .] The journey went quite well. At one stop, we each received a cup of milk. We were delayed for a long time in Arnhem. All the people at the train station looked at us with curiosity. Some even came into the train and talked to us, but we couldn’t understand much because the Dutch language is actually quite different from low German. As a test, I am sending you a page from a calendar to see if you can read it. In Utrecht, all the kids got off and a man read out our names and led us over to our foster parents. The Bresters are already pretty old, their sons are around twenty years old. We took the streetcar to Willem Barentzstraat. From the outside, the front of the house is pretty drab looking, but in the back there is a balcony, a porch, and a charming little flower garden. At home, we had a warm meal consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, and stewed fruit. Just imagine that in Holland To Holland (1920–1929) 2 the meals are completely different. In the morning at 8:30 you have coffee and bread, at noon coffee and bread 1 more time, and a warm meal at 5:30. In between, they drink tea nonstop. Frau Brester is always running around holding a “kopje” of tea. Instead of tea, I get milk. Herr Brester says that I have to drink 1 liter of milk a day, later on more. He calls me Irmi or Immi. The others call me Irmgard. Thank God they can speak a little bit of German. [. . .] Everybody rides bikes in Utrecht. There are only a few people who walk on the streets. There are also not so many motorcycles or cars. Even with all these new sights I am terribly homesick. I just can’t stand it sometimes. It is because everything is so strange, and I have to settle in. But my foster parents are awfully nice. Elisabeth Gebensleben to her daughter Irmgard Gebensleben, Braunschweig, 15 June 1920 [. . .] Hilde [Immo’s travel companion] is also homesick, and with that we have arrived at the sore spot of this beautiful trip. I want to confess something to you: I am a little homesick for you too. But we are both quite brave and don’t give in to such things for long. Irmgard Gebensleben to her parents Karl and Elisabeth Gebensleben, Utrecht, 21 June 1920 [. . .] First I will answer your questions. Herr Brester was a senior official at the post office but is now retired. The older son, Carel, is studying mathematics and physics and August is studying medicine. Both of them are awfully funny. During mealtimes, they are always making jokes so that I can barely stop laughing. [. . .] Irmgard Gebensleben to her parents Karl and Elisabeth Gebensleben, Utrecht, 3 July 1920 [. . .] I went to the city with Herr Brester today. There was a great deal of activity because of the cattle market. Wearing their traditional costumes and accompanied by their animals, farmers converged onto the marketplace from all over. Then we took a look at the cathedral and heard the chiming of...

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