In the 7 years since I started the website Holland’s Heroes this will be the first time I have chosen to use the name of the website as a title for a post. Why now? It’s because in light of recent events it has become clear to me that I am in a family that has had the benefit of the actions of some remarkable and righteous Dutch people. People who clearly are Holland’s Heroes.
Although time and the world’s natural order of things has caused the number of Holocaust survivors to steadily diminish, in many cases, even if the survivors are no longer here, there are still the families remaining of these survivors. Many of these families only exist today because of the righteous and heroic actions of people that endangered themselves and the lives of their families in order to save those they descended from. It’s been my experience that anyone who knows of a hero or family that did something to help save the life, offer support or preserve the memory of someone in their family feels tremendously blessed and grateful that these heroes were there for their ancestors in the worst of times. So imagine how blessed I feel to be able to tell you of 3 families that had such an impact on my family.
Ranking the actions of great people is something that would potentially diminish how special their actions were, so I’ve determined that the most fair order in which to mention these people is in the order in which I learned of them in my lifetime.
Lubertus & Geeske te Kiefte
Since the time I began telling the story of my parents’ survival of the Holocaust I’ve also been telling the story of the te Kieftes. That’s also because since the time I was old enough to know anything about my family I knew about the people we lovingly refer to as Oom Bertus and Tante Geesje. In Nazi-occupied Holland, going from contact to contact established through the resistance, my father would ultimately help my mother find the place she would spend the last 16 months of the war. Here she would be treated like a member of the family while more importantly she would be protected from the Nazis. Oom Bertus, a builder, would build her a special secret room under his workplace where she would sleep, hidden from Nazi soldiers in the event of a surprise raid. Other than one man, the entire town of Lemerlerveld would be on board with the te Kieftes in making sure this young, very Jewish looking woman would remain safe. The one man in question would have it made very clear by Bertus and other active members of the resistance what would happen to him should something happen to their Jewish guest. Post war the relationship between our families has been like family, and I can say without pause that even without the actions of Bertus and Geeske this family is as special a group of people as any I have ever known.
Jan Van den Berg
The best friend of my grandfather Marcel Rodrigues, Jan Van den Berg had more opportunities to prove this friendship than most would ever expect. The depth of his friendship went beyond his relationship with my grandfather, as he would be there for his friend’s daughter, my mother Sipora, any time it was needed. As my mother was preparing to escape Amsterdam with my father, an escape as dangerous as any one could ever imagine, their one and only welcomed stop was in the Van den Berg home. This was because this was the last true safe place they could rest and get some nourishment before their trip. As time would bare out, Oom Jan as we knew him, would not only never say no to his best friend’s daughter, he would go above and beyond in ways one should never forget. When the war ended and Sipora would return to Amsterdam, had it not been for the emotional and practical assistance of the Van den Berg’s, she might not have survived the post-war travails. Returning to Amsterdam pregnant where she would later give birth to her oldest son Marcel, Sipora would take ill only months into her young child’s life. Suspected of contracting Tuberculosis, later to be confirmed as Pleurisy, Sipora would be put into quarantine. Unable to care for her child, Oom Jan and Tante Toos would care for Marcel while Sipora was in quarantine. He would be cared for as one of their own. My brother Marcel and sister-in-law Bernice would name their oldest daughter Jennifer, the “J” being in honor of Oom Jan. On July 21st of this year I had the great pleasure and honor of meeting their great grandson Jelmer and his family on my trip to Holland.
Johnny de Haan
Besides being something incredibly special for my family, recent events are also a lesson for anyone whose family survived the Holocaust. Not everyone and not everything has been revealed or discovered. We tend to think that all the stories have been told and that there is very little new and important information we can share with the world. Besides being factually inaccurate, in today’s global climate it has become even more important to continue to share these important stories. Naturally I tell this story with personal bias, but I can also tell you that in sharing it with people of all ages and all walks of life, I have found that the one word most often used when responding to the story, is “Wow”.
With the Nazis occupying and controlling Amsterdam, in the summer of 1943 my grandfather Marcel Rodrigues and my uncle Bram Rodrigues chose to make an attempt to escape to Switzerland. Before they left Bram went to his close friend and band mate Johnny de Haan to ask him to look after his violin till he returned home. As was the case with 6 million European Jews, my Oom Bram never returned. However, Johnny de Haan safeguarded the violin till his death 7 years ago. When he passed away his son Wim, understanding the importance the violin always had to his father, continued what his father had started. Until a recent examination of his father’s diary and subsequently finding more information online because of the book Jew Face, Wim, who till now thought Bram left no living relatives, would find me. Upon making this discovery he contact me and we would set up the July 21st event in which he gave the violin to me and my siblings. The rest as they say, is history.
But is’t not JUST history. It’s present day as well. Wim gave value to the violin, a desire to return it to the family of his father’s friend, and a warmth and friendship that has drawn a connection to the friendship taken away from 2 young men 76 years ago. Wim’s mother, an unsung hero in this story, and someone I had the honor to meet, would dust off the violin on a regular basis. All of this is why I say this is more than the actions of one good man. It is a family that helped keep the memory alive and is directly responsible for creating the legacy for one of the 6 million murdered souls of the Holocaust. That soul belongs to my uncle, Bram Rodrigues.
We live in a day and age where negativity sells, so if the positive nature of this post doesn’t appeal to you that is you personal choice. But I urge you all to realize that in telling these stories we not only help keep the story alive, but maybe we bring more stories such as these to the surface. We must not only never forget, but we must always continue to remind the rest of the world.
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