Pocket watch taken in WWII returned to Rotterdam family nearly 80 years later

A pocket watch taken in the Second World War was returned to its maker's family nearly 80 years later. Belgian farmer Gustave Janssens found the pocket watch in his cornfield in Molenstede, Flanders, in 1944. His grandson now returned it to the family of the Jewish watchmaker from Rotterdam, Rijnmond reports.

"German soldiers often went to relieve themselves in the cornfield. They did not enter the farm. My grandfather found the watch in that field. He immediately concluded that it was not the property of the German soldier. My grandfather did not have a good bond with the Nazis. So he kept the watch with him. Maybe he could give it back to his rightful owner one day," Pieter Janssens said to the broadcaster. 

After Pieter Janssens' grandfather and father passed away, the family sold the farm. That's when he rediscovered the watch and decided to track down the rightful owners. An inscription showed that the pocket watch was made by A.A. Overstrijd in 1910 for someone who was turning 18.

Janssens contacted historian Rob Snijders of the Jewish Heritage Rotterdam website, who launched a search based on the information Janssens provided. They identified the maker as Alfred Overstrijd from Rotterdam and found his grandson Richard van Ameijden on Facebook. Snijders has his suspicions about how the pocket watch ended up in Belgium. "In 1942 and 1943, there were mass deportations. I can only imagine that a Nazi soldier got hold of it during a raid or took it from the owner."

Janssens returned the watch to Richard van Ameijden and his two older sisters, Joyce and Monique. The family does not have many tangible memories of their grandfather, who died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. They, therefore, found the watch "very special,' Richard said to the broadcaster. "So beautiful, I'm so grateful," Joyce added.  

Hoe het horloge van opa Alfred na bijna 80 jaar weer terugkwam naar #Rotterdam; een verhaal dat begint met een wildpoepende Duitse soldaat in een Vlaams korenveld. luister 🔊 hieronder of lees het verhaal van @CelinevdBurg_ https://t.co/DaVwmslhcD @RTV_Rijnmond @joodsamsterdam pic.twitter.com/MAALnNReIt

— Jacco van Giessen (@jaccovangiessen) April 10, 2022