Righteous unto the nations

At the same time the Jews were already being
herded together in Hilversum and sent to
Amsterdam. David arrived on our doorstep,
very afraid and upset. The Germans had
taken his parents and his brother and he had
escaped by hiding under a bed. He asked me
to go with him to Hilversum, where he had
non-Jewish friends who would hide us for
the time being. I thought that we would be
in hiding for a few days, and would then be
able to return home. I just packed up a few
overnight things and we left, without any real
farewells. Little did I know that I would not
see any of my family again until the war was
over. David and I removed the yellow stars
from our coats, and walked from Loosdrecht
to Hilversum. We stayed the night with two
ladies, but in the morning they became afraid
of the danger they would face if they were
found to be hiding Jews and they became
hysterical and said - “You must leave - it is
not safe for us or for you”. David and I were
then separated and the Dutch underground
took me to friends of my parents in Hilversum
and I was hidden there for a few weeks.
Unfortunately, the baker from Loosdrecht was
delivering bread to the house one day and he
caught sight of me. Our friends then decided
that it was unsafe for me to remain there and
I had to move on. It was all very confusing
and frightening for me. I had lived at home
all my life and was now alone and literally ‘on
the run’.
From the time I first went into hiding, I was
given a new name and false papers. I was
now known as Henny van der Linden. Henny
was a real person who lived on the west coast
of Holland and was required to move inland
as part of the invasion strategy. This was
the pretence for why Henny was in the part
of Holland that I was hiding in. I never had
reason to use the papers as I was in hiding
most of the time. I understand that the Dutch
Underground obtained the papers for me.
The town of Hilversum is almost in the middle
of Holland. From there the underground
forces took me to a town called Lemele, which
was to the east, and close to the German
border. My escort was a blonde and fair in
appearance and therefore much safer to get
around by car. In those days a blond person
equated to being an Arian and therefore not
Jewish. Jewish people were easily recognised
and identified by their dark features. My
escort was a Jewish man, Hans Sittig, and
he took me by car to the house of a Minister
of Religion, Cornelis Keers. Here I remained
for a few days until a place was found for me
on a farm. The minister and his wife were
wonderful loving people. Before Maria Keers-
Bokhorst death on 1 January 2009, I wrote to
her many times.
Hans Sittig 1912-2008
After a short stay in Lemele, the Minister
Cornelis Keers, took me to a farm in the
district of Overijssel and I remained there for
almost a year. (Overijssel is a province of the
Netherlands; Lemele, Lemelerveld, Ommen
PAGE 22
©2013 Edited and compiled by Martin Moen, Perth, Western Australia.