Gerardus Michael Josephus Cox
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Jacobus Cox | |
| Moeder: | Cornelia Soetekouw | |
| Geboren: | 24 Apr 1893 | Oss |
| Overleden: | 13 Apr 1978 | Oss |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Cox First Name: Gerardus Michael Josephus Date of Birth: 1893 Date of death: 13/04/1978 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC Gender: Male Profession: PRIEST Place during the war: Maren, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands, Haren, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Maren, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands, Haren, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/12395) Samuel and Sara Mok lived in Amsterdam with their daughter Jetty (later, Vas Dias), born in 1939, when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. With the ever increasing anti-Jewish measures that culminated in the start of the deportations of the Jews to the camps in the summer of 1942, the Moks decided to look for hiding addresses. They had heard about a priest who was willing to help find hiding places for Jews in order to escape deportation. They located Gerardus Cox in the village of Maren in the southern province of North-Brabant, who indeed was willing to take in the little girl, then three years old. Care for Jetty was mostly in the hands of the housekeeper, Arnolda Croonen, who lived in the home of the priest. Jetty called her Aunt (Tante) Daatje. She was supposedly a sickly distant relative of Arnolda, one of 12 children in that family, who needed extra care and food. Others in the priests household were in on the secret and helped whenever needed. Jetty kept busy within the home, playing in the backyard. She became a natural part of the household during close to three years, until the liberation of the area in 1944 Father Cox also located a hiding address for Jettys parents. When, after a number of months, this address was no longer safe, they were taken into the priests own household as well, until he could find another place for them to stay for a longer time. In addition, Father Cox had men, who were dodging forced labor in Germany, hide in his church. German forces searched the church a number of times, but they were not detected. Nor was Jetty in the priests home itself, who would hide in a pre-arranged hiding area on the premises. Both Jetty as well as her parents survived the war and were reunited immediately after the liberation. She stayed in touch with Father Cox and her Tante Daatje and when she was engaged to be married she presented her fiancé to her rescuers as if introducing him to her real family. On May 6, 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Gerardus Michael Josephus Cox as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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