THE annals of World War II are filled with remarkable heroism bought on by extraordinary events.
As that catastrophic war swept across Europe and across the world, countless stories can be told of ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things to win their freedom.
This is the story of Gerry and Anna Remm, two bakers from the town of Leidschendam in Southern Holland.
Their tale of heroism began on 4am on May 10, 1940, when Germany invaded Holland. The Dutch surrendered just six days later.
It was expected the Dutch would defend their homeland for longer given the ideal nature of the country for defence.
It was criss-crossed with canals and the built-up cities that provided barriers to defend behind.
However, the Dutch used technology pre-dating World War I - such as bolt-action rifles and bi-planes - and were fighting an enemy using the latest military technology and strategies.
Despite the David and Goliath appearance, the Dutch actually brought the German army to a standstill outside the city of Rotterdam on May 14.
This fierce Dutch resistance was a major worry to the Germans who desperately needed to focus their attention on France.
In order to bring a quick resolution, the Germans threatened to heavily bomb Rotterdam.
Negotiations became protracted, and given no decisive surrender from the Dutch, the Germans went ahead with their threat, flattening Rotterdam’s central business district and killing 900 people.
Faced with a similar ultimatum over Utrecht, the Dutch Commander-in-Chief decided that surrender was the best option in order to save civilian lives and stave off an inevitable defeat.
The invasion of Holland still rankles the two countries to this day.
Over the course of the war from invasion to liberation 205,900 Dutch men and women died, giving Holland the highest per capita death rate of all Nazi-occupied countries in Western Europe.
Because of the speed of the battle, limited critical infrastructure was lost, allowing life to return to normality fairly quickly under the new German rule.
And from those early days it looked as though the German victory would be swift. Their highly organised and disciplined troops were taking all before them, and in a matter of months they had marched through Holland, Belgium and France, and were soon to embark on a successful push into Russia.
Yet, for a small group of Dutch partisans, life simply could not follow its normal routine.
While initially disorganised, an effective Dutch resistance quickly established itself.
This initially centred around disrupting German supply lines, counterfeit work and hiding young Dutch workers from the Germans, who increasingly forced them to work in German factories.
A third aim, hiding Jews from the Gestapo or from Dutch collaborators was added later.
The town of Leidschendam for the most part was untouched by the German invasion. And it is in this small town that the story of Mr and Mrs Remm unfolds.
Mr Remm was sixth in a family of 11 children. As was the fashion of the time, his parents nominated his chosen profession.
While his brothers were told to work in the family business on the canals, or to study, when it came to the young Mr Remm’s to choose a career path the word from his mother was “baker”.
Baking is not something he would have chosen himself - a life as a gardener was more likely.
However, dropping him into the world of business was a God-send.
He had a natural affinity for entrepreneurship, and success came quickly.
At the age of 23 he married his sweetheart of eight years, Anna.
They quickly began a family, and in a matter of three years had a girl and a boy Marea and Martin.
These two were soon followed by Gerry, Wilhelmina and Margaret. Rosalie, their last child, was born in Australia.
For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Wednesday, November 19