James Vanderpol

And the Money Went over the Railing: How a Dutch Survivor from Ww II Found a Future in the U.s. James Vanderpol

In the autobiography And the Money Went Over the Railing, James Vanderpol chronicles his life experiences from his happy childhood growing up in a middle-class family in the Netherlands to the day the Nazi occupation began in Amsterdam-ultimately propelling fifteen-year-old Vanderpol into a world of terror and brutality that would last five years.

James Vanderpol shares a fascinating glimpse into a traumatic time in history when Hitler's rampage forever changed the lives of innocent people around the world. From the cleaning maids who were hired by Germany to spy on the Dutch, to the children's books that were rewritten to substitute Hitler for the book's original hero, Vanderpol details how he and his other family members were considered undesirable Jews and slowly came to anticipate and recognize the threat of death, eventually building hiding places within the apartment and elsewhere in preparation of Gestapo raids. Despite several close calls, Vanderpol and his brother survived the war and emigrated to the United States in 1946 where Vanderpol would later enjoy a rewarding career as an accountant.

And the Money Went Over the Railing is a remarkable story about one young man's bravery and inner strength during a horrifying era in history.