Aviodrome shows story of two flight attendants in war with exhibition

Lelystad, July 21, 2020 - Two stewardesses, two choices, one war. At the Aviodrome this summer, the stories of Trix Terwindt and Hilda Bongertman take center stage. They were among the first batch of stewardesses who worked for KLM before World War II. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, the planes were grounded and the ladies each chose a different path. One of them joined the resistance, the other joined the NSB. Eighty years later, and 75 years after the liberation, the Aviodrome shows what their lives were like before, during and after the war.

The exhibition will be on display starting Saturday, July 25, in the departure hall of the 1928 Schiphol Building on the grounds of the Aviation Museum. This is an exact replica of Schiphol from the time Bongertman and Terwindt made their flights and where they could therefore be found every week. On display are, among other things, personal photographs and scans of letters and cards that resistance fighter Terwindt received after the war from Queen Wilhelmina and the German officers who guarded her during the war.

Dangerous profession

The collection of personal effects is interspersed with distinctive aviation artifacts of the era, such as a special travel basket in which babies were transported in the 1930s, dinnerware used on planes and objects of World War II pilots.

"We especially want to show what it was like as a flight attendant in the early years," says Lars Janssen, coordinator of events and exhibitions at the Aviodrome. "Because back then it was an enormously dangerous profession and certainly not for everyone. Planes still crashed regularly back then and stewardesses also lost their lives that way." With this exhibition, the museum also wants to show what choices these women faced.

Historical treasure

Trix Terwindt's personal items were received by the museum several years ago from an estate. Janssen: "It is a tremendous honor to have received this suitcase full of letters and photographs. It was truly a historical treasure offered to us."

He also finds it very special that this will be on display in the historic departure hall. "It looks there exactly like the hall Trix and Hilda walked through on their way to their first job interview and like the place where they later prepared for their flights. You can almost see them sitting there."