Then something dramatic happened that turned life in Brummen upside down. On September 17th 1944, Allied paratroopers landed at Oosterbeek and the disastrous battle of Arnhem started. During and after this battle, the Germans decided that 100,000 citizens had to evacuate Arnhem and region. 5,000 of them were housed in Brummen, where already various groups of evacuees from other regions had been taken in. The situation was quite chaotic and many people ended up in farms, barns and other rather primitive lodgings. As they hadn't taken much with them and were closely packed together, hygiene left much to be desired and quite a few suffered from scabies. For these patients a treatment center was organised in the abandoned synagogue in the center of the village.

The treatment consisted of baths, for which a wood stove was put to use, plus a generous lathering of anti-mite balm. The stove was used also to make sugerbeet syrup. The helpers of this clinic were me and a friend of mine. I have forgotten his name and place of origin. Let's call him Heslinga. On the front of the building they had nailed a wooden board with "Ansteckende Krankheiten" (contagious patients) written on it between two red crosses. Germans did not dare come close to the place. This cover plus the appropriate false "Ausweisz" (identity card) allowed me to accompany Doctor Korteweg on his visits.

In mid-September, the "Organisation Todt" (organisation to recruit workers for the german army and industry) was established in Brummen. All men over 16 (later 14) - on paper there were 1,300 - were forced to dig and cut along the shores of the Ijssel river. The idea was the strengthening of the Ijsselline with trenches, tank traps and the creation of an open shooting field, initially for an enemy expected from the West and later from the East.

The work didn't go very fast, because the 800 men were masters in delaying and foot-dragging, tolerated by a much too small contingent of ill-motivated Wehrmacht supervisors. Now and then they were threatened by allied fighter-bombers, who sunk the only ferry "Bronckhorster" on October 6th.

Meanwhile the battle of Arnham was a disastrous failure and many evacuees together with allied prisoners of war were transported towards the north. On September 23rd, a 3 ton truck, open at the back, came through Brummen full of prisoners who made the Victory sign. We greeted them enthusiastically to the frustration of their heavily armed German guards. At a bend in the street, close by the Post Office, the truck had to brake strongly and the excited prisoners tried a break-out that was quelled with machine-gun fire. Chaos broke out with bleeding paratroopers, screaming German guards and Dutch bystanders seething with indignation and anger.

Luckily Doctor Korteweg was on medical visits in the neighbourhood and ran to help. He pushed and shoved through the crowd with his "heroic stature" (2.05 high and strongly built) followed by me his fearful helper, screaming "Ruhe, Ruhe ich bin Arzt" (Quiet, Quiet, I'm a doctor). He managed to calm the Germans so he could offer medical assistance, but also, most importantly, listen to the prisoners whispered names and observe some exterior signs from particular wounds. This information was most useful later, because the presence among the killed of the famous war correspondant J.A. Cotterell, brought about an investigation on this incident, after the war, to determine if the shooting was a war crime. The fearless doctor Korteweg received later the "King's medal for courage in the cause of freedom". Inspired by his dedication to his work, I later decided to study medicine.