Johannes Petrus Arens
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Leendert Hermanus Arens | |
| Moeder: | Catharina Cornelia Ruiter | |
| Geboren: | 16 Jan 1913 | Amsterdam |
| Beroep: | melkslijter, magazijn bediende | |
| Aantekeningen: | Personal Information Last Name: Arens First Name: Johannes Petrus Date of Birth: 15/01/1913 Date of death: 06/01/1992 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Profession: MILKMAN Rescue Place during the war: Diemen, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Diemen, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/5293) Commemoration Date of Recognition: 01/07/1992 Righteous Commemorated with Tree/Wall of Honor: Wall of Honor Ceremony organized by Israeli diplomatic delegation in: The Hague, Netherlands Ceremony held in Yad Vashem: Yes Honorary Citizenship of the State of Israel: Yes Rescued Persons Kijl, Joseph Wijnschenk, First name unknown Lampies, First name unknown Wijnschenk, First name unknown Wijnschenk, Femmy Arens, Johannes Petrus & Anna Katharina (Tak) When the war broke out, the Arenses were in their late twenties, and had two young children. Johannes was a milkman and his route included the Jewish neighborhood in Amsterdam. When he came into close contact with the Jews, and recognized the severity of their plight, he compassionately took it upon himself to offer assistance. In 1942, when Joseph Kijl was 17, his parents and seven brothers and sisters were deported. None of them returned and Joseph only managed to survive because he hid. Initially, using some connections, Joseph found employment in tomato hothouses in Venlo, Limburg. However, in 1943, it became too dangerous to work so openly. Consequently, he lost hope and returned to Amsterdam, where he would be left to lead the life of a vagrant, taking upon himself all the associated risks. As his former fortitude waned, he remembered the milkman from his neighborhood in Amsterdam. He recalled that this man had been well disposed towards the Jews, and so Joseph turned to Johannes for help. By this time, Johannes had already rented a house on Czar Peter Street, Amsterdam, where he was sheltering two Jewish couples, the Lampies and the Wijnschenks. Joseph was also given shelter there. After only a short while, the German police stormed the house, where only the Wijnschenks were present at the time. They managed to escape to the roof of the building and save their lives. After this incident the Arenses took the Wijnschenks together with Joseph and hid them in their own home in Diemen, just outside Amsterdam, until the end of the war. In June 1944, Anna Arens gave birth to a baby girl. Only three months later, in September, Femmy Wijnschenk also gave birth to a daughter in the underground shelter where she was being hidden. Anna made sure that a new doctor attended to her because she was well aware that her regular family physician was a Dutch Nazi. The winter of 1944--1945 was especially harsh. Holland was struck by famine. Food shortages were especially severe in the cities and on several occasions Joseph and Johannes had to make the long trek to the province of Drenthe with pushcarts in order to secure enough food for everyone. The journeys were made even more perilous because Joseph was moving around with a false identity card. During the period when the Arenses were hiding people, their house was searched three times for Jews. Fortunately, each search was fruitless, and the Arenses could continue their virtuous work. On July 1, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Johannes Petrus Arens and his wife, Anna Katharina Arens-Tak, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
|
Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Anna Katharina Tak | geb. 11 Feb 1914 |
| Huwelijk: | 7 MRT 1940 | Amsterdam |