Nazi prisoner’s last letter given to family 72 years later

Joop Will was 10 years old when his father, Peter, was seized by the Nazis for being a member of the Dutch resistance.

Will never saw his father again after the December 1943 arrest, but thanks to a series of fortunate coincidences and a newly online Holocaust-era archive, the 82-year-old has finally received his father’s last letter, written to his wife and six sons as he prepared to be deported to a concentration camp in Germany.

“I’ve now been away from you at home for the 42nd Sunday,” the father wrote, counting time by the days of worship missed with his family.