Johannes Abbink

Geslacht: Man
Vader: Barend Abbink
Moeder: Berendina Morssink
Geboren: 1 OKT 1916 Neede
Overleden: 8 Nov 2013 Wageningen
Religie: G.K.
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Abbink
First Name: Johannes
Date of Birth: 01/10/1916
Rescuer's fate: imprisoned survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Male
Place during the war: Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands, Neuengamme, Camp, Germany, Sandbostel, Camp, Germany, Amersfoort, Camp, The Netherlands, Apeldoorn, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Apeldoorn, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Providing forged documents Arranging shelter Other
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9593)
Johannes Abbink, in his twenties, from Wageningen (prov. Gelderland), became involved in underground activities through a Jewish friend of his, David van der Reis, after the occupation. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews in July 1942, Johannes invested most of his energy in trying to find hiding addresses for David, his parents and a brother in the province of Gelderland, the geographical area he was most familiar with. David, however, who continued to be involved in underground activities, even when in hiding, was caught and deported to Sobibór where he was murdered. Soon, Abbink became the central contact person and main intermediate for locating addresses in the region for a large number of Jews, among them many from the nearby town of Apeldoorn. Abbink would then keep in touch with many of them, providing food stamps and other support. Among those for whom he found a hiding address, was also the baby daughter Amsterdam’s Chief Rabbi Aron Schuster, Lea (later, Krasniker). Initially he hid her with his parents, later with his wife’s parents, until he found a more permanent address for her with Jan and Martha Visser* in Apeldoorn. Besides caring for Jews, Abbink was actively involved in armed resistance. In 1943, he participated in an attack on a Dutch policeman, with Nazi sympathies, who among others had been responsible for the arrest of David van der Reis. That policeman also posed a serious threat to other Jews, hidden in the area. On October10, 1944, Johannes Abbink was arrested. He was deported via the concentration camp in Amersfoort to Neuengamme and then to the Sandbostel camp in Germany. He survived, but his health was severely damaged.
On February 10, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Johannes Abbink as Righteous Among the Nations.