We didn't see our uncle Cees that often, he was a busy man and lived at the other side of the country. The last time he came to visit us, was perhaps a year before his death, just at the start of the war. Remember so well, that he corrected me, the way I addressed him. 'No Bernard, you don't say ome Cees, but oom Cees'. (Ome is a more common expression for 'uncle'}.
Always impeccable dressed, like my father he wore a waistcoat with a pocket watch and an impressive chain hanging from it. Mum ofcourse had informed us that this older brother of our father was a clever man, only later we dicovered 'what he did for a crust'.
Because of ill health, he resigned his position as Head of protocol in the Department of Foreign Affairs in The Hague as from August 1, 1941. He was a Knight of the Order of Oranje Nassau and honoured by the German, Norwegian, Spanish, Romanian and Austrian governments during his career.
He started his working life a journalist with 'De Nieuwe Courant' in The Hague and spent nearly 20 years with that newspaper.
After he took on a position with the civil service at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he became also an assistant secretary with Grotius Annuaire International and was a writer of many publications in Dutch and French.
Some of these: 'Een wereldvermaard Landlooper','Nederlandse consulaire wetgeving', Repertoire des traites et des engagements interntionaux' and a few more.
We didn't connect too well with his wife, aunt Jo, she was rather aloof.