The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 948 THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE PAGE FIVE Belgian Family Settled in Oshawa Tell Grim Story of German Rule By SOPHIE BROWNLEE The story of Mr. and Mrs. Marcel t, who arrived in Oshawa Brussels, Belgium, with their wee daughters, Elaine, Yvette and Yolande, and a son, Jean Pi. erre, reads like a tale from the pen of one of the war adventure wri- ters. They tell of the horrors of the German occupation and their own flight as well as that of oth- ers. The hunger and terror during the six years the enemy ocupied their beloved country and the at- trocities practised not only on the Jewish people but on any = who showed the slightest sign of sus- picion, or insubordination, or even innocent bystanders. 'When news that the Germans were advancing on Brussels reached the Ringoots, they quickly packed a small suitcase and left their home. Mrs, Ringoot's mother, who at the time was in bed suffering from jaundice, was lifted bodily by her son-in-law and rushed to the railway station where by great good luck they were able to catch the last train out of Brussels. Mr. Ringoot literally shoved his moth- er-in-law, wife and family into the train and called to them that he would join them in Rouen as soon as he could. Journey a Nightmare The journey to Mrs. Ringoot's sister's home in Rouen was a night- mare, never-to-be-forgotten. The German bombers were constantly overhead, dropping bombs unmer- cifully on the defenceless train and its occupants, and it was forced to stop every few miles. All along the way, cities, towns, and villages were ravaged by fire from the planes and the roads were strewn* with the bodies of the dead. Evacuees who had been unable to get transporta- tion were trudging along with the few pitiful belongings that they had been able to grab before they left their homes, in most instances for good. The train which had left just a few hours before the one which the Ringoots had managed to get, was bombed and everyone in it killed. Such were a few of the horrors of that journey fo the doubtful safety of Rouen, where every night, in fear of their lives, they went outside of the city to shelter from the bombs. y weeks went by but no word come from Mr. Ringoot, and his family were beginning to be- {lieve that he had been called into the army, or worse still, taken prisoner by the Germans. Despair was close to the surface when one day he came. He had riden all the way from Brussels to Rouen on his bicycle. After that the fam- ily packed up their few belongings again, through another nightmare of bombs and tracers, to Mont- pellier- in the south of France, whee they remained for three months. Turn to Salvation Army When they arrived at the station, they were completely bewildered, for here they had no friends and no place to go. Their first impulse was to turn to the Salvation Army which at once came to their aid. One of the officers took them to his own home as his, guests for two nights until he could locate other quarters. At the end of that time he gave them an address to which to go, and this proved to be a lovely apartment where they were happy for the three months of their stay. How the Salvation Army officer was able to get them such a place will always be a mystery to them, but they were only grateful and gave Ged their thanks. But such happiness did not last long. At the end of the three months, the German: had entered France and all Belgians were or- dered home. There they were un- der German domination for six years. Long, hard years--full of want and hunger, fear and horror. On the surface the German sol- diers appeared to be gentlemen, said the two older girls, Elaine and Yvette, but it was in the night that they came and literally spi. rited away the men of Brussels to work in German camps from which they never returned or returned in body and broken in spirit. German Retaliation ! 'The slightest insubordination by the underground, the killing of even one German guard, the small- est sabotage, was retaliated by the Germans with wholesale killings, or the carting off to concentration camps of men, women and children. One story told was of a family seated at supper when the German SS guards entered their home with- out preliminaries, ordering all to get into the truck which would take them to a concentration camp. One of the women managed to take the baby, a child of two, and hide him over the fence of a neighbor's property. Missing Whe e been raining, and he traced woman's footsteps, to wh had hidden the baby, and brught him back. He was never seen or heard of again. Amid all the fear and horror of seeing their neighbours killed or taken prisoner, and never knowing when it might be their turn, hun- ger was still the predominating factor in their lives. There was no let-up from the gnawing tor- ture of it. ' It was ever present dur- ing the day, and invaded their dreams at night. Not once in the six brutal years did one of them arise from the table f~eling com- pletely satisfied. There was never a smidgen of butter or an egg on their rations, and the bread was black and so yy that it stuck to any surface P/which it was placed. Their sation of a few ounces of meat tach month, which they very often vere unable to obtain, was insuf. ficient and of such poor quality, that it gave scant satisfaction. dowever, by some good fortune, dr. Ringoot became acquainted vith a farmer, a patriot, who could mce in a while sell two or three 88s, a little bit of butter and some flour: But the way to the farm- house was long and torturous and through a dense wood, where lurk- ed not only frightening shadows and night noises, but danger more tangible, in the form of German guards. : Ambushed By Germans Mr. Ringoot travelled the long, weary miles on his bicycle, armed only with a long sturdy stick, for he refused to carry a gun. Several times he managed to reach the farm, get his "goodies"--things we regard as necessities--and arrive withotit incident. But twice his luck did not hold, and he was am- bushed and attacked by the Ger- ans. He was made to pay out- rageously in order to be released and to give up his precious food. At last the faimer was discovered and the Germans took away all that his farm would yield. Since they knew almost to an egg and a pint of milk, the amount to expect, he coyld not afford to risk punish- ment to his family by keeping any back. And so ended the small source of extra food that had made eating at least bearable for a time, for the Ringoots, Elaine, the eldest of the family, tells the story of a schoolfriend of hers, a Jewess, whose entire family was taken to a concentration camp. The girl told Elaine of being made to stand and watch while her moth- er and sister were consigned to a furnace and there burned alive. The girl herself escaped the fate of the rest of her family only be- cause the American and Cana. dian armies arrived at the camp. The German guards tried tb kill off as many as possible but some were ffilssed, as there wasn't time before their enemies arrived. 1 German Retreat The arrival of the Allies in Bel- gium was the occasion of almost hysterical joy. But for three days and nights, it was fatal to go into the streets, for the Germans in their retreat would shoot any Belgian they saw, even at a win- dow, for sheer spite. Yvette and Elaine tell of being so excited that at last they could no longer re- main indoors but were determined to go into the street and see just what was happening. They had been warned by their parents to stay home but like many another young person, they disobeyed and ran into the streets, keeping close to the walls of the buildings and sreeping along with all faculties alert. At last they managed to get in a very narrow alleyway which had a slight turning. Fortunate it was for them that there was a turn- ing, or this story would have a sadder ending. As thew stood, flat- tened against a well, trembling, be- cause they heard shots, they saw the bullets whiz by them. The Germans had seen and shot at them but because they alley was not quite straight they had miss- ed the girls. Elaine and Yvette managed to get home safely after that, and needless to say they were severely reprimanded for their folly, for their father had witnessed the incident from a window and was certain the girls were hit by the bullets. Hysterical Joy When at last the Allies did enter Brussels in triumph, in tanks, on foot and in trucks, the girls were a little taken aback for the sol- diers were covered with the dirt and grim of many days' fighting, and they were hardly the romantic sight that had keen expected. But they were good to see, and there was not enough that could be done for them. People rushed into the streets and clapped their hands and shovered them with kisses. But you have read it all before, or seen it In the newsreel. Those first few hilarious hours and days when the population went wild with relief and joy --to see at last the begin- ning of the end of their trials and hardships and tyranny, which had lasted for six dragging years. The Ringoots tell of their part in those first hysterical moments when, knowing that the Americans had plenty of food, they found a few apples and in order to show their unspeakable gratitude, they gave them to the soldiers as they LADY... paint the town your clothes Lipstick can be lovely on a lady's lips but not on clothes. So, lady, , be careful--but perchance lipstick does leave its mark elsewhere, if the garment can be cleaned we can remove the stain. CLEANIT SERVICE standing, Yolande and Johnny. who came to Oshawa from Brussels, Belgium, in June to make their home here. They are from left to right, seated, Elaine, the eldest, Yvette, and Elaine who is an excellent stenographer, SE THE FAMILY OF MR. and MRS. MARCEL RINGOOT Three Girls and a Boy Who Have Known Hunger and Fear would like to obtain a job in Oshawa, and Yvette will be entering her pre- nurse's training course this month. Yolande ana Jonny are attending Centre Street Public School. 1 --Times Gazette Staff Phoio passed by. They rushed home after Mthis and taking the last good sheet they had, they dyed it the red, white and blue of the allied flags, and hung it out of the window. Then they got great sheets of paper and printed as big as they could, "Welcome to the American Army, Welcome to the Canadian Army, Welcome to the British Army." Indescribable Relief It is an impossibility for one who has not experienced such indes- cribable relief--mental and phys- ical--to write with conviction for readers who are equally inexper- ienced. But if you could have seen, as we did, the light in the eyes of those girls as they tried to tell us in English, which is very good, but in their excitement reverting to their mother French, you would have felt the thrill we did as we caught the fire from them, and we saw in immagination the relax- ing of terror on the faces of the people and the good-natured grins of the soldiers as they marched through the city, embrassed by all the worship and adulation but, man.like, loving it all,secretly. The story has a more personal happy ending for the Ringoots. Elaine had worked as interpreter and typist for the American Army for a year after they had ousted the Germans. There she improved her English, of which she had learned a bit at High School. From this came the desire to go to America. This she did about two years ago, entering the Atlantic College, in Lancaster, Massachus- ets. There she studied English and took a business course. There, too, she met a young man who is stu- camedying to be a minister. They became interested in one another, and already he has been to Oshawa on a visit. As Elaine talks, One hears the faint tingle of wedding Promise Me." Enter Oshawa Schools Yvette, next to Elaine, will en- ter the Oshawa Missionary College this month, where she will take her pre-nursing course and then next fall enter the New England Sani- torium to train for three years. She spent one yeangin England after the war, at Nev.dold Mission- bells, and the soft strains of, "Oh | ary College, near London, where she furthered her English educa. tion, begun in school in Belgium. Yolande and Jean Pierre will go into Grades' VIII and VII respec- tively at Centre Street school. Yo- lande is rapidly learning English, and although two months ago she didn't speak one word, she can | very well make herself understood, and is more willing to be helped. She appears to soak up knowledge as a sponge and it is a delight to be with her and be infected by her eagerness, which, incidentally, is a trait of the whole family. Our first introduction, to Jean Pierre who is ten, and who prefers to be called Johnny, was when he came up to us, only guessing who we werethrust out his hand and said, "Allo". At the time, this was almost the sum total of Johnny's English vocabulary. However, Mr. Ringoot informed us that he had added one more phrase since his visit to a neighborhood swimming pool, and this was "Shut up!" This was squashed almost before it had birth, ahd so far as we know, Johnny's English is still confined to "Allo", which is alright, because it is friendly siidiwhén Johnny says is, it means "Welcome to my home, and my heart." Mr. and Mrs. Ringoot came to Canada with their family to further the work done by Mr. Ringoot in Belgium. There he was a publisher of books about the Belgian Rail- road and facts pertaining to it. It occurred to him that the French speaking population of Canada would be interested in these books, and so his company sent him here. Most of his work is done in Que- bec, and takes him frequently to Montreal. Unable to rent a house when they first came to Oshawa, Mr. and Mrs. Ringoot, have pur- chased a lovely one on Quebec Street, near Simcoe Street, where they will make their permanent home. This then is their "happy ending" and we can only hope that Osh- awa will make them glad they chose to live here, and that they will never look back with regret to the country they left, where de- spite hardship, they knew the warmth and kindness of friends, ARE YOU AGE CONSCIOUS? | KING ST. EAST 92 WOLFE ST, PHONE 758 Phone 28 BEAUTY PLUS For you : ; : the woman over 30:33 this dynamic new cream--a thrilling, truly effective beauty treatment! A cream endowed with an active hormone substance. This vital ingredient is actually absorbed by your skin with gratifying results. Use BEAUTY PLUS faithfully exactly as directed. The "PLUS" in BEAUTY PLUS is what belps achieve that younger look. 2 oz. jar--$3.50. TUSSY JURY & LOVELL COSMETIC DEPARTMENT . SIMCOE ST. 8. Phone 68 CERTAIN to be going places come winter is a dinner or informal dance dress of black velvet. It has an off-shoulder neckline, very short sleeves, a row of tiny brilliant but- tons closing the bodice, and a skirt that is slightly shorter in front than the ankle length in back.' * NEW IDEAS abound in costume jewelry collections, A new earring idea is in silver and rhinestones, a pendant type, which permits the pendant to be detached when de- sired, leaving a dainty spray or but- ton earring. * + ® MATCHING hats and stoles mark the new afternoon fashions. A dia- Director of French Cooking School Says Canada Has Distinctive Dishes By GLADYS LENNON Canadian Press Staff Writer Montreal -- (CP) -- Canada has its distinctive dishes to . tickle a gourmet's palate, but look for them in the homes, not in hotels or res- taurants. Such is the dictum of Miss Es- telle LeBlanc, director of L'Ecole Menagere Provinciale (Provincial School of Home Economics), a pri- vate school which annually enrolls some 1,900 French-speaking adults in courses in cooking, sewing and other household arts. Miss LeBlanc in an interview commented on a statement made by a delegate to the Canadian Home Economics Association convention in Calgary, quoted in a Canadian Press item Aug. 27, that "outside of Quebec's pea soup," Canada has no national dish, Said Miss LeBlanc: "We have Canadian dishes--dozens of them." What are they? Well, to start with ' the distinctively . Canadian maple products, there are eggs poached in maple syrup; there are "les grandperes," dumplings cooked in maple syrup; there is "tarte a la ferlouche," a pie made with maple syrup or molasses thickened with flour, sometimes with raisins added. Miss LeBlanc said that molasses, brought in hy schooner from the Barbados, was cheap and 'plentiful in Canada's early days and was, much used in Canadian cooking. The still. popular "la tire,"--pull taffy--originated here with -Mar- guerite de Bourgeoys. Then, to come to more substane tial fare, there is the dish known variously as "Six Paille"--pronoun- ced like sea ple--"six pates." Made of a combination of partridge, duck, wild rabbit and salt pork, it is "cooked slowly for six to eight hours in a covered dish sealed around the rim with pastry to keep in all the flavor. "If you can find that anywhere else but in Canada, I wish you would tell me," said Miss LeBlanc. Another particularly delicious dish is "La Tourtlere," a meat pie made with chopped pork or half pork and half chicken, seasoned and cooked long and slowly. Finally, let us not forget "crepes" --pancakes to you, but pancakes with a difference. These are big-- "as big as the frying pan"--and paper-thin. Stacked inches-high and cut pie-fashion, they are served With butter and maple syrup. "Deli- cious." dem, calot of black Chantilly type lace criss-crossed with black velvet and trimmed with an algrette type feather fancy, is: teamed with a matching stole of lace with shirred black velvet in striped effect. Pb CITED for town, travel or coun- try wear is a handsome suit of im- ported tweed in a shadowy check design, a rust, plum and brown muted mixture. The narrow Box jacket has three buttons on either side and oblong pocket flaps with welted seams. Collar and wide notched lapers are of nutria. Skirt is slim. +* + * THE RUSTLE of crisp fabrics is tthe dominant sound in 'the fashion symphony. Black silk taffeta makes a handsome afternoon suit, the skirt cut on long, moderately full lines with a long end and big bow sash in back. Under the snug jack- et is a short sleeved top of black wool jersey covered all over with tiny taffeta balls that are pearl centered. * SLATED for cosy evenings this year is the robe of quilted cotton, a nice alternative to the heavier robe and just as cosy. Quilted seersuck- er in a bright paisley print of red roses, red and yellow paisley motif with green accents is used. for a cosy robe cut with collar and tailor- ed revers, which--like the cuffs, the big pocket, and sash--are all piped in red. . Do You Suffer From Sinus? H. E. W. BROWNLEE DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC For Appointment PHONE 869 15 SIMCOE ST. N. Refined elegance in a POSLUNS suit with the slender skirt. The jacket is exquisitely detailed with o fabric edging highlighting the collar and pockets in fine gobardine by Featured by better shops Sold Exclusively in Oshawa by... Fox's Ladies Wear 7 SIMCOE ST. SOUTH Montrose at $69.95 throughout. Canado PHONE 540