Johanna Berendina Miedendorp
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Jan Roelof Miedendorp | |
| Moeder: | Aafiena Adriana Buissink | |
| Geboren: | 17 Sept 1910 | Groningen |
| Overleden: | 9 MRT 2011 | Breda |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Coolsma First Name: Johanna Berendina Maiden Name: Miedendorp Date of Birth: 17/09/1910 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: PROTESTANT Gender: Female Place during the war: Princenhage, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Princenhage, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/10996) Herman and Johanna Coolsma and their three young children aged two to six, lived in the village of Princenhage (prov. North-Brabant) close to Breda. The Coolsmas were Protestant in a preponderantly Roman Catholic environment. As the local pastor, Herman declared from the start of the German occupation, that National Socialism was not in the spirit of Christianity. Later on, with the start of the deportations of the Jews in the summer of 1942, acting upon his principles, he and Johanna agreed to take Jews into hiding in their home. Thus, the Mendes family arrived: Abraham (Ab) Mendes (born 1905), his wife Saartje (Suze) Mendes-van Gelderen (born, 1905) and their son Ronald, born in 1936. A double wall was installed in the closet in their room to be able to hide there whenever danger came too close. As the school opposite the Coolsma house was turned into a German barracks, danger was close-by at all times and the Mendesses indeed had to spend time there on a number of occasions. Suze, a seamstress, kept busy with sewing and mending. Ab kept himself busy by playing chess, a game he had been outstanding in. Also they were able to visit with Maly and Lou Agsteribbe who were in hiding with the Coolsmas next door neighbors, the Oostlander* family. They would go there through a covered passage between the two adjacent back gardens. Otherwise, the Mendes couple had to stay inside and out of sight at all times. There son Ronald played with Ineke, the oldest Coolsma daughter, who was the same age as him, but he too had to stay inside the house. In order not to arouse any suspicion from the neighbors in their small village, Johanna Coolsma went to different stores to buy the necessary foodstuffs. In the course of 1944, the situation for the Coolsmas became precarious when the Germans billeted a room in their home for sick soldiers in transit. Even so, the Coolsmas let the Mendes family stay, as they hoped that the Germans would not roam around in the house. Under these circumstances, however, they could not keep Ronald. Johanna, therefore, took him to her brother-in-law in Sittard (prov. Limburg). Later that year, when Pastor Herman Coolsma, who had been active in a local resistance group, also had to go into hiding, Suze and Ab were moved to a different address. Both families stayed in close contact after the war until their passing. On January 21, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Herman Coolsma and Johanna Berendina Coolsma-Miedendorp as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Herman Coolsma | geb. 8 OKT 1908 overl. 8 Juli 1996 |
| Huwelijk: | 3 Juni 1935 | Groningen |