Righteous unto the nations

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Lemelerveld Farm with Hendrik and Mina Grootemarsink in front (right) of Lemelerveld Farm circa 1940 Lemelerveld Farm 2012 House named “Genista”. I stayed at the farm for a few more days under enormous pressure and anxiety and was then moved to another hiding address. The brother-in-law of the Minister who had placed me on the first farm was also a Minister (Piet Visser) and a member of the Resistance. Under cover of darkness, I was taken to his home in Apeldoorn and another hiding place was found for me. This time I was hidden with Piet and Stien Visser- Keers at Loolaan 18, in the town of Apeldoorn - in another tiny attic. The house was next door to the church and on three occasions, when house searches took place, I had to be hidden in the vaults below the church. Each time I had to remain there for more than a day and it was a horrible experience. The vaults were only about a half-meter high and I had to crouch or lie, while the rats crawled around, and sometimes over me. The air was close and it was damp and difficult to breathe. Lemelerveld Farm after the War I remained with this family for some months, until the searches became more frequent. In fact, soon after I left, the Nazis came to search the house and they searched the vaults where I had been hidden, looking for valuables, which they believed may have been stored there. A brother of the Minister (Jan Keers) from Lemele lived in a small town nearby, called Sibculo. He was also a lay preacher and a rescuer of Jewish people. To travel from Apeldoorn to Sibculo, I was dressed as a nurse and then hidden in the home of the minister, who had four little boys. Again I was hidden in an attic and I helped to look after the children. The children did not know that I was Jewish and I remained with this family until the liberation, in May 1945. PAGE 24 ©2013 Edited and compiled by Martin Moen, Perth, Western Australia.
My first thoughts then were for my family, for I did not know what had happened to any of them. My home in Loosdrecht was to the southwest of Sibculo and on the other side of the river Ijssel. We were not allowed to travel, for the authorities were afraid of an outbreak of disease in the country - the Germans had tried to starve the Dutch people into submission and people were weak and undernourished. Although it was forbidden, I was determined to go, and I decided that if I had to swim across the river some 200 meters wide, I would do so. I was intercepted by a Canadian soldier, who tried to stop me and who also took me into the woods and wanted to harm me. I begged him to let me go and he then took me over the river in a truck and released me unharmed to the home of Jan van Zutphen in Hilversum. When I returned from there to Loosdrecht, I found that someone else had taken over and was living in our home De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant. As the first person in the family to return, I had to go to the Town Council and ask for somewhere to live, I was penniless. Jan van Zutphen again assisted us by arranging for the family to resettle at the De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant. Ijssel River Photo taken 2012 Then I discovered what had happened to my family. My father had refused to hide at first, but both he and my mother were hidden separately and survived the war. They were so well known, loved and respected, that people wanted to look after them. My eldest sister, Sonja, was hidden and helped rescue American airmen. She was picked up with the Americans, who were shot in front of her by the Nazi’s. On discovering her Jewishness, she was taken to Westerbork and survived - but that is another story. My older brother and the sister both perished at the hands of the Nazis. My younger sister was hidden between the rafters of a house with twelve other people. My younger brother was also hidden and survived, but he was deeply traumatized by his experiences. His escape is also another story that he has declined to discuss. De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant where Erica and her family lived prior to the war and re-occupied after the war. Erica’s son, Martin Moen, was born here in 1949 De Nieuwe Brug Restaurant renamed Bar-bistro ‘t Bruggetje Photo taken 2012 PAGE 25 ©2013 Edited and compiled by Martin Moen, Perth, Western Australia.
Page 1 and 2: Righteous unto the Nations Yad Vash
Page 3 and 4: “Whosoever saves a single life: s
Page 5 and 6: Message from Martin Moen In 1940 th
Page 7 and 8: Yad Vashem and “Righteous Among t
Page 9 and 10: OUR “Righteous Among the Nations
Page 11 and 12: Minister Piet Visser and Stien Viss
Page 13 and 14: How does the keers family feel abou
Page 15 and 16: The Grootemarsink Family Hendrik an
Page 17 and 18: The following was provided as furth
Page 19 and 20: Jan Van Zutphen’s family and frie
Page 21 and 22: Erica Moen-Deen’s Story Extract o
Page 23: are places in this province. The ho
Page 27 and 28: Remembering Harold and Rebecca Deen
Page 29 and 30: Limestone War Memorial PAGE 29 ©20
Page 31 and 32: ©2013 Edited and compiled by Marti
Page 33 and 34: ©2013 Edited and compiled by Marti
Page 35: Last, but not least, I acknowledge

Righteous unto the nations

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