Salo Muller - My History

Summary
Softcover, 344 pages, trilogy with two previously published books and a new story. Account of a Jewish boy in hiding. As an adult, he tackles the Dutch Railways.

Reflections on my life's journey
In old age, Salo Muller looks back over the past with a dominant place for the war past, as a Holocaust survivor. Both his parents and most of his family perished in Auschwitz.

The battle with the Dutch railways
The lonely struggle of a Holocaust survivor who began a personal crusade against the powerful Dutch Railways with which both his parents were deported. Train tickets paid for by the Jewish citizens from whom everything was taken away. With the credo: 'I do it for you, papa and mama!' The personal crusade became a claim for damages for all Dutch victims and totalled 50 million euros. (previously published 2020)

See you tonight and be nice! War memories
The last words Salo heard as a six-year-old child from his mother when she dropped him off at kindergarten; in the fateful war year of 1942. From that year, Salo went into hiding at nine addresses after being rescued from the kindergarten at the Hollandsche Schouwburg. (2005, 2014)

Salo Muller - His period in hiding, the years at Ajax and his fight against the NS

'Salo Muller's life story, as heartbreaking as it is hopeful, is wonderfully compelling to read.'
Claudia de Breij

Cruelly, six-year-old Salo Muller is separated from his parents in 1942 after a raid - they would be murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. A journey of survival takes him through nine hiding addresses.
It is admirable how Salo Muller manages to shape his life after the war. At the age of twenty-two, he starts his career as a physiotherapist at top club Ajax, where he starts working with luminaries such as Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijff. In his own physiotherapy practice, he treats a large number of top athletes and (inter)national celebrities. He is generally regarded as the pioneer in the field of sports physiotherapy.

In 2018, Salo Muller manages to enforce a compensation scheme for Jewish war victims with Dutch Railways. Following this unprecedented success, he goes on to fight the German government and railways for apologies and financial compensation. His relentless fight against injustice can be an inspiring example to many.

'Salo is a special person.'
Job Cohen

'The inspiring biography shows that Salo is a tactical warrior and a winner.'
Louis van Gaal

'Great respect because he delivered a solo fight.'
Roger van Boxtel, former NS chief executive officer

'Salo was a great physiotherapist and empathetic listener.'
Monique van de Ven, former patient

'On the massage bench, Salo was our confidant.'
Ruud Krol, former Ajax footballer

Salo Muller's battle with Dutch Railways; the lonely struggle of a Holocaust survivor

Introduction
On Friday 11 September 2020, the book launch of Salo Muller's The Fight with the Dutch Railways took place in private at the Johan Cruijff Arena. On this occasion, Femke Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, royally decorated Salo Muller with a degree in the Order of Orange Nassau. He received this award as a reward for his efforts to negotiate an individual allowance from the Dutch Railways as compensation for the NS's deportation of Jews during the Holocaust.

During the book launch, Salo Muller presented a copy of the book to Roger van Boxtel, chief executive officer of Dutch Railways, and Job Cohen, chairman of the Committee on Individual Compensation for Victims of WWII Transport NS.

Book
It started as a personal crusade and became a claim for damages for all Dutch victims of the Holocaust transported by the Dutch Railways to Westerbork and from Westerbork to the German border on their way to concentration and extermination camps in Germany and Poland.

Salo Muller is tenacious when it comes to the legacy of his parents killed in Auschwitz. As a little boy, he was in hiding at various addresses and survived the Nazi terror. He wrote about this in his war memories Until tonight and be nice! His parents were rounded up and deported and died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. More than a hundred thousand other Dutch Jewish victims met a similar fate in Auschwitz, Sobibor or another camp. The cost of the train ticket from the Dutch Railways - they only got a single ticket - they had to pay themselves or were paid from looted Jewish assets. Blood money?

When the French railways moved to award compensation, Salo Muller tied up with Dutch Railways. And although he initially had to fight the battle alone, he managed to bring the NS to its knees and negotiated individual compensation for all surviving Jewish victims of the Dutch Holocaust.

Expose

Available since 30-04-2020
Salo Muller made a familiar appearance during Ajax's Golden Years as the successful team's regular physiotherapist. Footballers like Cruijff, Keizer, Swart and Neeskens all ended up on his massage table. His practice on Amsterdam's De Lairessestraat, one of the most frequented in the Netherlands, was not only home to footballers, by the way. Actors, artists, escort girls and men with guns, they all let themselves be treated by Salo.

"The profession of physiotherapy really doesn't just consist of massaging and giving exercises. There is much more to it. Listening is perhaps 60% of therapy."

In this book, Muller describes the personality and the sometimes aberrant behaviour of his patients with a great deal of understanding, tolerance and compassion. He possesses the ability to see in his patients not only a problem, but has an open eye for the whole person. The stories in Exposed hold up a mirror to us.

Since his retirement, Salo has been travelling the country giving lectures to young and old alike, with stories of how he shaped his life after going into hiding and losing his family during the Holocaust.

Nunes Vaz

'Do you want me to get circumcised?' Rose no longer knew it all. What a state of affairs. She had known Henk for over a year now and apart from the first three months, it was all misery. Fortunately, her mother had come round a bit, but her father still wanted nothing to do with her and Henk. So begins the largely post-war family chronicle about the Jewish Nunes Vaz family.

Salo Muller describes at a fast pace the ups and downs of this family - until they all die! Tragedy, prosperity, happiness, adultery, passion, sex, bad luck, humour, illness and sad destinies - these are all ingredients of this dazzling second novel by Salo Muller. Salo (Amsterdam, 29 February 1936) went into hiding in World War II as a Jewish child from 1941 after being rescued from the crèche of the Hollandse Schouwburg. He was in hiding at eight addresses, including in Friesland, where he was called Japje. Both his parents perished in Auschwitz. The hiding parents who took young Salo under their wing for a year and a half, Klaas Vellinga and Pietje Heddema-Bos, were honoured with a Yad Vashem medal of honour in 2008. About his experiences during the war years, he wrote the book Till tonight and be nice! These were the last words his mother spoke to him when she dropped him off at kindergarten. That day she was rounded up by the Germans. Salo Muller became known as Ajax's physiotherapist during the heyday of the 1970s. About his experiences during Ajax's golden years, he wrote the book Mijn Ajax (reprint 2017: Mijn Ajaxjaren) in 2006. After Ajax, he focused on building up his physiotherapy practice. He was also editor-in-chief of the physiotherapy magazine Fysioscoop for 30 years and wrote two books on injuries. In 2007, he published Blootgeven, a book about his work as a physiotherapist. In it, Muller describes many of his special patients. In 2013, he made his debut as a novelist with De foto.

See you tonight and be nice!

Salo Muller (Amsterdam, 29 February 1936) became known as Ajax's physiotherapist at the time of its heyday in the 1970s. He sat next to Rinus Michels on the bench and treated the injuries of Johan Cruijff and Piet Keizer. Salo went into hiding in World War II as a Jewish child from 1941 after being rescued from the Hollandsche Schouwburg crèche. He was in hiding at eight addresses, including in Friesland, where he was called Japje. Both his parents perished in Auschwitz. The hiding parents who took young Salo under their wing for a year and a half, Klaas Vellinga and Pietje Heddema-Bos, were honoured with a Yad Vashem medal of honour in 2008. About his experiences during the war years, he wrote this book. These were the last words his mother spoke to him when she dropped him off at kindergarten. That day, she was rounded up by the Germans. About his experiences during the golden years of Ajax, he wrote the book Mijn Ajax in 2006. After Ajax, he focused on building up his physiotherapy practice. He was also editor-in-chief of the physiotherapy magazine Fysioscoop for 30 years and wrote two books on injuries. In 2007, he published Blootgeven, a book about his work as a physiotherapist. In it, Muller describes many of his special patients. In 2013, Salo Muller made his debut with his novel De foto. The theme of this book is again the Holocaust. The why of this tragedy never leaves him. 'Not a day goes by without me crying.'

The Photo

I managed to retrieve one more picture. One snapshot showing forty people. My father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, aunts and uncles and, of course, my nieces and nephews. Not one came back. They were all killed. And now I'm saying it nicely. They were gassed or perhaps beaten to death by those bastards of Germans. Who will say?' Salo Muller (Amsterdam, 29 February 1936) became known as Ajax's physiotherapist at the time of its heyday in the 1970s. Salo went into hiding in World War II as a Jewish child from 1941 after being rescued from the crèche at the Hollandsche Schouwburg. He was in hiding at eight addresses, including in Friesland, where he was called Japje. Both his parents perished in Auschwitz. The hiding parents who took young Salo under their wing for a year and a half, Klaas Vellinga and Pietje Heddema-Bos, were honoured with a Yad Vashem medal of honour in 2008. About his experiences during the war years, he wrote the book Till tonight and sweet hear. These were the last words his mother spoke to him when she dropped him off at kindergarten. That day she was rounded up by the Germans. About his experiences during the golden years of Ajax, he wrote the book Mijn Ajax (My Ajax) in 2006. After Ajax, he focused on building up his physiotherapy practice. He was also editor-in-chief of the physiotherapy magazine Fysioscoop for 30 years and wrote two books on injuries. In 2007, he published Blootgeven, a book about his work as a physiotherapist. In it, Muller describes many of his special patients.

All about sports injuries

On sprained ankles, knees, broken bones, cramps, back pain, tennis elbow, doping, accupuncture, prevention and post-treatment. With drawings by Dik Bruynesteyn

All about sports injuries

In All about sports injuries, renowned physiotherapist Salo Muller answers all questions about injuries. Salo Muller has gained a wealth of experience as a sports physiotherapist and masseur at Ajax, as a coach of professional ice hockey and rugby players, and of skaters and gymnasts. All About Sports Injuries is aimed at the sports enthusiast. It is packed with information on injuries and how to prevent them.

My Ajax years

This book takes you back to the golden years of football club Ajax. From 1959 to 1972, the young physiotherapist Salo Muller was a carer at Ajax. These were years of rapid professionalisation of the club. Years in which Ajax grew from an amateur club (with the threat of relegation in 1963) into the world-famous goal-scoring machine with three European Cups. They were the Golden Years of Ajax with footballers like Cruijff, Suurbier, Swart, Keizer, Rep, Neeskens and many others. All under the inspiring leadership of Rinus Michels. Salo Muller was on top of it all those years, day in, day out. He followed the pre-match meetings, knew the game schedules, heard the dressing room conversations, dealt with injuries, shared the players' joys and sorrows, knew who slept in whose room, went along to training camps and also witnessed all the matches. In his book, Muller brings back to life the great personalities of the legendary Ajax: Cruijff's bouncer roast beef, the ox sausage that cost Ajax a European Cup, Velibor Vasovic's fear of flying, Neeskens' 35-year-old raincoat, the little prince in the European Cup and gift hunter Stefan Kovacs. The refreshing approach of coach Rinus Michels and the sometimes shadowy methods of flamboyant board chairman (and record boss) Jaap van Praag are also covered. Without Salo Muller's good memory and fluent pen, wonderful anecdotes would have been lost. My Ajax Years is thus a wonderful book about fourteen eventful football years. With a foreword by Hugo Borst and Simon Kuper Physiotherapist Salo Muller (Amsterdam, 1936) had his own practice for many years where he treated many celebrities. He published several books including the moving Till tonight and lief zijn hoor about his Jewish war experiences.

See you tonight and promise to be a good Boy!

Salo Muller, a Jewish child, spent his time during the Second World war in hiding. 'See You Tonight...' were the last words his mother told him. He stayed in eight different locations in the Netherlands. Both of his parents were killed in Auschwitz. The couple who took Salo in for 18 months where honoured with the Yad Vashem medal.

12

Books

400+

Lectures

13+

year as Physiotherapist at Ajax

95+

Schools

2019 - 2025 © Copyright - Salo Muller
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