Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and A Forever Promise Forged in World War II

Emilie Michiels van Kessenich is one of main figures in Remember Us. The wife of Maastricht’s mayor, Willem, Emilie evolves from a reserved housewife into a moral anchor for her community and a postwar leader in the Dutch grave adoption program. Amid the Nazi occupation, Emilie raises her 10 children under conditions of fear, scarcity, and surveillance. She endures five miscarriages, suffers from exhaustion and malnutrition, and must stand by as her husband goes into hiding. Throughout, she remains emotionally and spiritually resilient, resisting Nazi mandates and preserving hope through symbolic acts like keeping a “Memory Book” and listening to forbidden radio broadcasts.

After liberation, Emilie assumes a public role, supporting the American soldiers despite local criticism. Her work brings her into contact with Civil Affairs officers like Major Leo “Papa” Senecal, with whom she builds a trusting relationship. Emilie later helps formalize the Margraten grave adoption program, eventually traveling to the US to comfort grieving families. Her arc—from homemaker to humanitarian—embodies the book’s central theme of Remembrance as Resistance.

Frieda van Schaik is a Dutch teenager whose coming-of-age story unfolds against the backdrop of war. The daughter of botanist and cave expert Dave van Schaik, Frieda grows up in a family connected to the