May 2, 1945

Adolf Hitler, the fürher of the German people is dead!!! Admiral Dönitz has been named his successor. He has declared he is forced to continue the fight to save Germany from the Russian danger.

Last battles being fought in Berlin. Tito + the Allied Forces together in Italy.

Because of the statements made by Dönitz the surrender offered by Himmler is not going through!!!

This morning the first aircraft came over with food. The packages were dropped over Schiphol. It was a glorious sight. Squadron after squadron low flying bombers buzzed over Purmerend. Everybody was waving with flags, handkerchiefs, linnen, etc.

These words are from a diary written by Ko Kolijn, who was a young man living in the Netherlands during the end of World War II. His grandson, a redditor who goes by LockStockNL, never knew him, but has decided to honor his memory by translating the Dutch writings and sharing one entry per day online. LockStockNL posted the site in Reddit’s History community.

Born in 1924 in Purmerend, a small city just north of Amsterdam, Kolijn first worked at the tax office as an inspector and later at a newspaper called the Nieuwe Noordhollandse Courant, where he eventually became editor in chief, according to the site.

During the war, Kolijn described his days in his diary, writing about his meals (“We had dried big beans for the first time. Delicious!!!”), the family’s supply of milk, and the anxious anticipation of a war coming to an end. LockStockNL writes that Kolijn’s family had a secret radio with which they could listen in on what was happening outside of the German-controlled area. There’s an air of excitement as he hears rumors via a stream of messages from Sweden that the Nazi Party is set to surrender.

“Mussolini has been executed in Milan,” the diary reads. “He has been hanged upside down from a fuel pump. Next to him hangs his most recent mistress.”

The redditor explained that his grandmother, uncle and mother have agreed that sharing these personal writings would not be against the wishes of his grandfather, who died at the age of 53.

He was planning to keep posting entries for a week, but it seems that the project has turned into something even bigger.

See the full discussion in the History community.