Willem Frederik van Eekeres

Geslacht:	Man
Vader:	Eduard Leonardus van Eekeres
Moeder:	Cornelia Bakker
Geboren:	24 Juli 1906	Amsterdam
Overleden:	30 Jan 1959	Groningen
Beroep:		kantoorbediende effecten, sociale werker
Aantekeningen:	Last Name: Eekeres van First Name: Willem Frederik Date of Birth: 24/07/1906 Date of death: 01/01/1959 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Arranging shelter Hiding Providing forged documents File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/10615) Willem van Eekeres joined a resistance group in Amsterdam soon after the German invasion in May 1940. He became a member of the illegal Paroolgroup, and initially worked at distributing their underground newspaper. He lived in Amsterdam with his wife, Frida (née Boeken), and two small children and was personally witness to the effects of the anti-Jewish Nazi policy. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews to the death camps in the summer of 1942, Betty Salomon (later, Cohen), b.1920, from Amsterdam, turned for help to her childhood friend, Frida, who had married Willem in the thirties. After consultation with her husband, it was agreed to help the Salomon family. Father Alexander Salomon had already been caught and sent to the Westerbork transit camp. Willem traveled there and tried to convince him to flee and go into hiding. Alexander was working outside the camp, building the train rails that were to enter the camp so that the Jews could be deported directly from there to Poland. Willem did not succeed in convincing him, since Alexander was afraid that his family might be taken in reprisal. Willem subsequently located hiding places for the rest of the Salomon family, his wife, Elisabeth, and their two daughters, Betty and Rachel (later, Kaarsgaren). He also located hiding addresses for the Kops family, parents Sam and Jeanette, as well as their sons, Bob and Paul. Others included Mrs. D. de Jong-Pekel and J. J. Wagenaar. Through his continuing connections with the resistance, he managed to obtain food stamps and money for his wards. Occasionally, he took Jews temporarily into his own home until he could locate more secure hiding addresses. In all these actions, he worked closely with Adèle Teeboom*, also from Amsterdam. On June 26, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Willem van Eekeres as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner:	Sonja Diamant	geb. 12 Juni 1907 overl. 29 Juli 1942
Huwelijk:	28 Nov 1929	Amsterdam
Scheiding:	7 Apr 1934

Gezin 2

Huwelijkspartner:	Frederika Boeken	geb. 27 Jan 1908 overl. 13 Jan 2000
Huwelijk:	27 Sept 1934	Amsterdam