Hans Alfred Meyers Miers 1922 - 1941

Born 1.12.1922 in Berlin
Died 23.9.1941 in Mauthausen

Biography

Annie Cohen was 15 years old when she met Hans Miers at a Christmas ball in 1939, four months before the Germans occupied the Netherlands. A Jewish girl meeting a Jewish boy at Christmas. What could be more romantic? Or more assimilated?

Annie was a true native of Amsterdam; Hans the son of German refugees. He was born on 1 December 1922 in Berlin. At the time of meeting Annie he was a tailor’s apprentice. Thanks to the brief notes in Annie’s diary, we can to some extent piece together the development of their relationship.

The name Hans first appears on 6 January 1940, two weeks after their first meeting. The following is a selection from her notes:

‘Saturday 6 January. Got winter coat with real petit gris collar. Spoke to Hans.

Sunday 28 January. Ice skating with Tonny and Hans M.

Tuesday 20 February. Masked ball at James M’s, dressed as gypsy girl. It was madly wonderful, danced incessantly. Took a photo, Hans is also on it.

Tuesday 27 February. Had a great dance lesson. Have date with Hans M. on Saturday at the ice rink.

Thursday 7 March. Was at Poseidon[1] club evening with Hans. Walked the whole way arm in arm, he’s incredibly nice.

Tuesday 19 March. Was at dance lesson. Hans picked me up. Went for a little walk, and how!!

Saturday 13 April. Was madly wonderful at James M’s ball, came home at ½ 3. Lia and Carla weren’t there, but Hans, my friend, was.

Saturday 27 April. School party, took Hans with me. Was a fiasco, but the end (taken home in taxi) was still nice.

Friday 10 May. Germans attacked our country at 3am. Our country is therefore at war with Germany. Air raid siren. British and French troops in our country.

Wednesday 15 May. Our troops have lost. I turned 16. People still came. All troops are prisoners of war. German time introduced. Got armchair and egg cups.

Thursday 16 May. German troops marched into our city and our country. Called Hans.’

Hans and Annie separated some time in the winter of 1940. Unfortunately it is not possible for us further to follow this process – and the first months of the occupation – from Annie’s perspective, because there are no more notes in her diary for seven months after Saturday 18 May. It is only in 1941 that the entries continue. The relationship with Hans Miers remains broken off, but she has several other boyfriends.

On Sunday 23 March 1941 Annie meets Hans Miers again.

‘Sunday 23 March. Was at thé dansant [tea dance] at Oostervink[2]. My “old flame” was also there. I danced with him several times! That is, with Hans M.

Monday 31 March. Hans M. was waiting for me in front of school. He’s nice, after all.

Saturday 12 April. Went to Amsterdam to go to the Celebrities[3] with Hans. We’re a steady couple again! But much more in love now than last time. The difference is that now we both want to go out with each other.

Sunday 4 May. Lovely walk with Hans. We’re now seen as a proper couple!

Tuesday 6 May. Got letter from Hans, now’s the first time I’m really aware of how happy I am that we’re back together.

Sunday 18 May. Hans called in on me again. He stayed for a meal. Got perfume and a kiss from him. Went for a bike ride together and drank tea. He’s a darling.

Saturday 7 June. Hans picked me up again. He’s just so serious with us!! God, how I love him. Even though I’m only 17, I know I love Hans like you only love someone once.’

On 11 June 1941 more than 250 Jews were arrested in Amsterdam in retribution for an attack in which Germans were wounded. The prisoners were taken via the Schoorl camp to Mauthausen in Austria. Hans Miers was among those who suffered this terrible fate. In Annie’s diary we then read the following:

‘Wednesday 11 June. At 6am attacks against Jews in Amsterdam start again. Reason: explosion in Schubertstraat in which Germans were wounded.

Thursday 12 June. Heard today that Hans and others were among those arrested. My boyfriend: Hans! I’m distraught. Why all of this? Why? He’s only 18 years old!

Friday 13 June. Went to Hans’s parents. They’re as distraught as I am. Still heard nothing from Hans in Schoorl.

Tuesday 17 June. Was at Hans’s mother’s house. Took a photo of us both. Still not heard anything!!

Friday 20 June. Continued marvellous weather, a heatwave is coming. Wrote Hans a letter saying, among other things, that I’m still waiting for him.

Saturday 21 June. Now I’m already longing for Hans. How will this turn out, if he stays away for long?

Monday 23 June. Hans and others transported out of Schoorl. Now where will they go? Will I ever see my boyfriend again?

Tuesday 1 July. Spoke to Mas. He was also in Schoorl, but was released. Told me that Hans is strong and that he got my letter.

Tuesday 3 July. Heard that Hans is in Maut Hausen [sic] near Linz. We’ve still not heard anything from him. I miss him so much!

Monday 7 July. Reports that 11 boys died on the way to Linz, including Marcel Cossmans from the dance lessons.

Monday 21 July. Message from Hans from the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz. He wrote the address himself, otherwise it was a pre-printed card with a request to send money. But in any case a sign of life. Thank God!

Saturday 16 August. A four-page letter from Hans in Mauthausen arrived, he’s healthy, he’s all right. I hope it stays that way. He says my name three times in the letter, so he isn’t forgetting me!

Friday 29 August. Heard, but am not certain, that the boys in Mauthausen are working in a stone quarry. God, find a way out!

Sunday 7 September. Janny’s parents told us that another 37 boys from Mauthausen are dead, including Max v. M. and Benno S. I’m terribly anxious, who’s next? When will things ever be good again?

Thursday 11 September. Got a 2nd letter from Hans in Mauthausen. He’s healthy, but I’m still afraid. I don’t know why, but I’m afraid.

Wednesday 1 October. Today is the great Day of Atonement and so much sorrow has come upon us. How might Hans look, and is he healthy? We can’t do anything for him, that’s the worst thing. I long for him so much. Will we ever see each other again? I fear...

Thursday 2 October. Heard today, after it was kept secret from me for three days, that another 55 boys are dead, including Guus M. (Sonja’s brother).

Wednesday 15 October. Today heard the dreadful news that Hans is on the list of the dead, and died on 23 September. I’m completely finished. Went to his parents. They’re in such a bad way that I wasn’t even allowed to see them. God, why all of this? I’d give my hand if it could rescue Hans. 70 names were on the list, there are now around 150 left of the 700. What did my boy die of, how and where is he buried, is he even dead? It’s driving me crazy...

Sunday 19 October. I still can’t believe it’s true. How can God allow it? Does God even exist?

Monday 3 November. Ate at Hans’s parents’. Even they are beginning to despair. I notice that they like me just as much as I like them.

Wednesday 5 November. The last list of the dead has arrived. According to it they’re now all dead. Now I don’t believe it at all any more. Are they supposed to be on the eastern front?

Monday 1 December. Hans 19 years old today. Would he have celebrated it himself or not? I was at his parents’ of course.

1 January 1942. God grant that 1942 brings us the peace that we want for ourselves, and that all the uncertainty finally comes to an end with us finding out what happened in Mauthausen.

Hans, I don’t know if you’re still alive, but if you are still alive, then I wish you a 1942 that brings us back together. God grant that you are healthy!

Oh my.’

In July 1942 Annie, her parents and grandma went into hiding. Annie spent three years locked in a room. She was grieving for her boyfriend Hans the whole time. She made a drawing in which she schematically depicted the history of their love: from Christmas 1939 to 11 June 1941. He, Hans, was born on 1 December 1923; she, Annie, on 15 May 1924.

Hans Miers’ parents survived, like Annie, because they were able to go into hiding for the duration of the war. Immediately after the liberation they sent Annie a letter.

‘Dear Anneke!

I’m overjoyed finally to hear from you. We’ve thought of you so often. I still hope to see our beloved boy again. As do you too, no doubt? We are trying everything to find something out.

In the hope of seeing you soon, I embrace you, dear child.

Your Else Miers.’

Annie always stayed in contact with Hans’s parents. Including, in 1948, when she married Heinz Kalmann, with whom she went on to have four children, among them the writer of these lines.

Arjeh Kalmann

 

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