Hanna "Hanneke" Groenteman was born in the Rivierenbuurt quarter, on the south side of Amsterdam. Her parents' home was next to an ice cream parlor. Michiel Groenteman, her father, worked at the Amsterdam stock exchange. Her mother, born Rachel Smit, worked as a stenographer. When she was ten months old the country was invaded. Her early years were in many ways defined by the German occupation. The family was identified as Jewish, and after the order was received to report for deportation they went into hiding. To reduce the risk of discovery, children were separated from their Jewish parents under these circumstances, and Hanneke was accommodated in a succession of secret locations, organised by the ("Utrechts Kindercomité"). Her longest wartime placement was also the last: for eighteen months between 1943 and 1945 she lived with the Van Starkenburgs, a loving family of committed Christians, in the village of Rijnsburg, close to the coastal resort of Katwijk. She bonded closely with her "aunt", Cor van Starkenburg, and has remained close to the von Starkenburg family subsequently. After the war she returned to her birth-parents' Amsterdam home, now in the house of an uncle who had died in the war. The mood was troubled. The family had survived, but plenty of relatives and family friends had not. Her father's mother had been murdered at Sobibór. Her mother's parents, however, were now living with the family. The child pined for "Aunt Cor and Uncle Kees" while finding her relationship with her birth-parents difficult ("moeizaam").