Theodorus Bijlsma

Geslacht: Man
Vader: Tjibbe Bijlsma
Moeder: Willemina van Westen
Geboren: 8 Sept 1911 Den Helder
Overleden: 20 Sept 1993
Religie: G.K.
Aantekeningen: Bijlsma Theodorus (1911 - 1993 )
Personal Information
Last Name: Bijlsma
First Name: Theodorus
Alias: THEO
Date of Birth: 08/09/1911
Date of death: 20/09/1993
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Male
Profession: BOOKEEPER
Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/5868)
Commemoration
Date of Recognition: 03/11/1993
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
Frijda, Rose, Marie
Rescue Story
Bijlsma, Theodorus & Vrouwtje (Smit)
Theodorus Bijlsma became friendly with Maurits Frijda and his father, Joseph, through his work as an accountant for a printing firm in Amsterdam. When attacks on the Jews intensified in 1942, Theo suggested to Maurits that the family go into hiding. Maurits refused. In October 1942, Maurits and his wife, Lea Querido, gave birth to a daughter, Rose Marie. Theo and Vrouwtje Bijlsma again urged the Jewish family to go into hiding or at least to allow them to take care of the new baby. Maurits and Lea agreed. The Bijlsmas represented the infant to the local authorities as a foundling, the child of an unmarried mother, and renamed her Marianne. They brought her up as a twin to their daughter, Hettie, born in August 1942, and gave her the love and security needed by a baby. During the time Rose Marie stayed with the Bijlsma family, Theo kept a diary to record her progress. He had hoped to give it to her parents following the war, but Maurits and Lea Frijda did not manage to find a safe hiding place and were caught by the Nazis, taken to Westerbork, and later transported to Sobibor, where they died on July 23, 1943. Rose Marie stayed with the Bijlsmas until the summer of 1946, when she went to live with her grandmother’s sister, her only surviving relative. Rose Marie lost contact with the Bijlsma family after the war because her new parents thought it best that she forget her early life. Many years after the liberation, however, Rose Marie tracked down the family and they have been in touch ever since.
On November 3, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Theodorus Bijlsma and his wife, Vrouwtje Bijlsma-Smit, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Vrouwtje Smit geb. 7 Sept 1917 overl. 13 Feb 1973
Huwelijk: 1940 Den Helder