Winning Three Times

On May 9, 1940, Adrie de Kievit is a carefree ten-year-old boy who lives with his parents, Arie and Ko, and his thirteen-year-old sister Willie in Yselmonde in the Netherlands. The family’s life is about to change drastically. As planes soar low overhead with cannons firing at them, a neighbor with access to a radio confirmed that the Dutch are now at war with the German Army. This memoir offers a firsthand narrative of what it was like growing up under the backdrop of World War II. While accented with many historical details, Winning Three Times is a personal story of how the war and the German occupation affected Adrie, his family, their neighbors, their city, and the country. From food hoarding to rationing and shortages, Winning Three Times recounts with great detail surviving the war in a small down under the shadow of Rotterdam. He tells of how his family coped with the hardships such as no gas, no electricity, no telephone, and little outside communication. This personal history communicates a story of both challenge and triumph.