2009 AnnuAl RepoRt - Jewish Community Relations Council ...

afteR 63 YeaRs JCRC Reunites HoloCaust suRvivoR and
HeR ResCueR in Minnesota
In September of 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota
and the Dakotas had the privilege of hosting the reunion between a Holocaust
survivor and a member of the family that saved her 63 years ago. Traveling
from Israel, Holocaust survivor Mia Lakmaker, was reunited with her rescuer,
Wilma Stienstra (maiden name Woudstra), who currently resides in Lake
Crystal, Minnesota. Many groups witnessed this reunion including students,
teachers, and the community at large.
In 1945, 13–year–old Wilma Woudstra’s heart broke when she lost her 5–year–
old “sister.” Sixty three years later, Wilma and Mia held each other tightly at
the international arrivals gate of the Minneapolis–St. Paul international airport.
The two women are not biological sisters but the bond they created when they
met in 1942 cannot be described any other way.
Mia’s mother had dropped off her 2–year–old daughter under the cover of
darkness at the doorstep of the Woudstra’s home in IJlst, a small town in the
northern Netherlands. Wilma recalls a lot of commotion the night Mia arrived
and in the morning she had a new sister, who was happy to be amongst other
children. The relationship was fulfilling for both of them since Wilma had lost
a younger sister one year prior. “Why [did] I feel so attached to Mia? … She
was my girl, my baby,” recalled Wilma on WCCO-TV (September 11, 2008).
Wilma, 11 at the time, took care of Mia, playing with her and fulfilling all the
necessary motherly duties.
Wilma’s father was a factory owner and the family lived comfortably before
World War II. When Nazi forces invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Mr.
Woudstra joined an underground network that helped Jewish people by hiding
them from the Nazis. “We were a Christian family … [and] my father thought
it was horrible that the Germans rounded up Jews. Just to kill people you
don’t like…”, said Wilma (Pioneer Press, September 7, 2008). Risking their
personal safety, the Woudstras first took in a Jewish couple and then Mia. The
townspeople knew she was not biologically related to them but managed to
keep the secret from the Nazis for years. Mia recalls hiding in a cupboard and
having to be completely silent during a Nazi patrol.
Wilma and Mia sharing their story
with students in Neil Anderson’s
social studies class at South High
School in Minneapolis.
Wilma Stienstra (left)
and Mia Lakmaker
(right) speaking at
St. Paul Academy and
Summit School.
After the war ended, an aunt of Mia took her from Wilma’s family, hoping
to reunite her with her parents. Unfortunately, Mia’s parents, both in their
20s, were killed in the Nazi death camp in Sobibor, Poland. Shortly after
this, Mia contracted tuberculosis and was abandoned by her aunt. Upon her
recovery, some peace finally entered Mia’s life: she became a foster child to a
Jewish family and eventually moved to Israel where she married and had three
children.
Mia, 68, currently resides in Tel-Aviv and is a grandmother of seven. Looking
at old pictures, she ran across a photo of herself and a large family, which
was labeled with the Woudstra name and town. Mia began her search for
the family that saved her in order to thank them. She contacted a Dutch
TV station that ended up doing a story on her search. The story was seen by
Wilma’s brothers, who put the two in touch by phone. “I was very happy to
talk with her and to say to her how much I feel for her, and say thank you for
all the things you did for me,” Lakmaker said.
Their reunion was organized by the JCRC with support from Mindy and Dan
Ribnick and in partnership with Northwest Airlines, which donated Mia’s
airfare, and WCCO-TV, which originally broke the story. The pair visited
St. Paul Academy and Summit School, the Minneapolis Jewish Day School,
South High School in Minneapolis, and Bet Shalom Congregation to share
their story. The reunion was covered by WCCO-TV (Search “Mia Lakmaker”
on www.WCCO.com) and the Pioneer Press (archived).
JCRC Annual Report 2009
10