Albertha Colijn

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Jacobus Colijn
Moeder: Cornelia Dorst
Geboren: 11 Nov 1926 onbekend
Overleden: 13 Apr 2012 Wijk en Aalburg
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Vos Egmond van
First Name: Albertha
Maiden Name: Colijn
Date of Birth: 11/11/1926
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Religion: PROTESTANT
Gender: Female
Profession: MAID
Place during the war: Rijnsburg, Zuidholland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Rijnsburg, Zuidholland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Illegal transfer
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9188)
Pieter van Egmond, a flower merchant, was an important figure in the local underground in and around Rijnsburg (province South-Holland). He was heavily involved in locating hiding addresses for persecuted Jews. In August 1943, Helene Visser* approached him for help in finding hiding places for a number of Jewish children. Van Egmond managed to find a place for all, except for three year-old Sara Philipson from Leiden. Sara had a dark complexion, which made it difficult for her to blend in with the local environment. Pieter and Jannetje van Egmond then took her in themselves. The van Egmonds already had a four year-old daughter Jannie. Sara was added and called Maartje Colijn, as if a niece of the van Egmonds’ domestic help, 17 year-old Albertha Colijn. On January 17, 1944, as a result of betrayal, two Dutch policemen, one of them the notorious ‘Jew-hunter’ Willem de Groot, entered the van Egmond’s home. Neither Pieter nor Jannetje were home at the time, and little Sara was with the domestic help. Some of Pieter’s colleagues in the resistance were at the house, awaiting Pieter’s return. As the police entered the house, one of them directly asked for the Jewish girl, who was at the time sitting on Albertha’s lap in the living room. Within seconds, one of the resistance men shot one of the policemen, mortally wounding him. Albertha used that moment to flee the house via the backdoor carrying Sara in her arms. She ran through the fields to her mother’s home, some 15 minutes away, where she hid with Sara in the attic until nightfall. She then brought the girl to Lijsbertus and Henrica de Mooij*, brother and sister-in-law of Jannetje van Egmond. Albertha herself fled to an aunt in Bussum (province North-Holland), but was traced down and arrested. Since she was under age, she was released. Pieter went into hiding after the incident. However, in June 1944 he was betrayed and arrested. He was released after “Dolle Dinsdag”, (Crazy Tuesday) in September 1944, however, he could not return home, since it was billeted with Germans. All involved survived the war. Pieter divorced his wife and married Albertha in 1964, a year before his death. Sara and her mother immigrated to Israel in 1947 and by chance were able to re-establish contact with Albertha in the late 1990s.
On October 11, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Pieter van Egmond and Jannetje Egmond van-de Mooij, as Righteous Among the Nations.
On December 12, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Albertha Vos (van Egmond)-Colijn as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Pieter van Egmond geb. 26 Sept 1904 overl. 18 MEI 1964
Huwelijk: XXXX onbekend

Gezin 2

Huwelijkspartner: Jan Vos geb. 13 Sept 1927 overl. 20 Dec 1979
Huwelijk: 1970 onbekend