Berend Johan Visschers

Geslacht: Man
Vader: Berend Visschers
Moeder: Johanna Geertruida Wilbrink
Geboren: 6 Feb 1883 Brummen
Overleden: 29 OKT 1943 Brummen
Religie: Ned. Hervormd
Aantekeningen: Visschers Johan (1883 - 1943 )
Personal Information
Last Name: Visschers
First Name: Johan
Berend
Date of Birth: 01/01/1883
Date of death: 29/10/1943
Rescuer's fate: camp inmate
murdered
Cause of Death: DISEASE
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Religion: CALVINIST
Gender: Male
Profession: FARMER
Organization/ Religious order: Westerweel Groep
Place during the war: Hall, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Hall, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11614)
Commemoration
Date of Recognition: 14/06/2009
Ceremony organized by Israeli diplomatic delegation in: The Hague, Netherlands
Related links to library
Engines pull wagons
Oorlog in een dorp aan de IJssel
Rescued Persons
Friedlaender, Heinz
Hoffman, Ludwig
Sagiv, Siegel, Shaul, Paul
Gelder van, Jacques
Tal, Italiaander, Herman
Rescue Story
Visschers, Johan Berend
Visschers-Greutink, Wilhelmina
In 1933, nine-year-old Paul Siegel (later, Shaul Sagiv) fled his native Koln in Germany with his parents and made it to the Netherlands. In 1940, after the German occupation of the country, Paul joined a group of Palestine pioneers in the area of Deventer, (prov. Overijssel), of mostly German-Jewish youngsters who had also fled. In the summer of 1942, all members of the group received orders to report for ‘work in the East’. Paul decided instead to look for a place to hide, along with some others from the group. After initially hiding in the woods and roaming around the area, Paul reached the hamlet of Hall in the neighboring Gelderland province, where he knocked on the door of Johan and Wilhelmina Visschers. The Visschers, in their late fifties, had a small piece of land they worked on the fringes of the forest. Their children were grown and no longer living at home. They were strict Calvinists, who were convinced that they needed to help the “People of the Book”. By the end of September 1942, the Visschers had already taken in seven Jews, among whom Jacques van Gelder, many of them of the pioneers’ Hachshara group.
The Visschers built a shack in back of their land for them to hide in. Having Paul join them in November was a matter of course and was done without hesitation. The Visschers tried to feed all with the fruit of their land. From time to time, the youngsters participated in the expenses, if they had any money. A few days after Paul’s arrival the shack was discovered by forest rangers and its existence was ‘duly’ reported to the authorities. A raid on the Visschers farm soon followed. Everyone, except for Jacques van Gelder, who managed to escape, was arrested, including Johan Visschers himself. The Jews were taken to the Westerbork transit camp, from where all, except for Paul who then managed to escape, were deported to camps in the East and perished. Paul made contact with the Westerweel* underground group and was successful in reaching Spain from where he was smuggled into the Land of Israel.
Johan Visschers was taken to the local police station and from there first to the Amersfoort concentration camp in central Holland, and then to the notorious Vught concentration camp (KZ Herzogenbusch) in the south of the Netherlands, where he was cruelly interrogated. He was let go in June 1943, physically broken, and soon died on October 29, 1943.
On June 14, 2009, Yad Vashem recognized Johan Berend Visschers and Wilhelmina Visschers-Greutink as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Wilhelmina Greutink geb. 4 Juni 1894 overl. 5 Feb 1960

Gezin 2

Huwelijkspartner: Harmina van der Velde geb. 13 Feb 1882 overl. 2 Juni 1926
Huwelijk: 26 Juni 1909 Brummen
Kinderen:
  Hendrik Gerrit Visschers Male geb. 30 MEI 1917
  Johanna Hendrika Visschers Male geb. 1 Jan 1911
  Harmina Visschers Male geb. 21 Apr 1912 overl. 22 Dec 1937
  Gerritje Visschers Male geb. 7 Nov 1913
  Berend Johan Visschers Male geb. 28 Apr 1915
  Hendrika Visschers Male geb. 1919 overl. 8 Aug 1919