Gerritje Smit

Geslacht:	Vrouw
Vader:	Jacobus Smit
Moeder:	Tonia Dekker
Geboren:	12 MRT 1909	Utrecht
Aantekeningen:	Last Name: Es van First Name: Gerritje Maiden Name: Smit Date of Birth: 1983 Date of death: 01/01/1909 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Place during the war: Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/12422) In 1942, during the difficult years of the German occupation in Holland, a baby girl was born to Mozes Swaab (b. 1893) and his wife, Hanna (née Veldman, b. 1906), in Amsterdam. They named her Josefina (Jose). That same year Mozes Swaab received an order from the Germans for the Arbeitseinsatz (order for forced labor), to go work in Germany. Although his wife pleaded with him not to go, and to go into hiding instead, he went to the train and disappeared forever. The train eventually took him to his death in Auschwitz. Hanna went home, and when the police came to search the house, she hid under a blanket and was not found. Hanna lost her husband and her four siblings in the Holocaust. But before she was deported, Hanna’s sister Klara had told her about a customer of the bakery she was working for. This customer had many children, and when Hanna went there with her baby, Jose, they were immediately accepted into the family. Hiding a baby, however, was not easy, and after a while they decided that it would be better if Jose were to go into hiding separately. The Utrechts Kindercomité (Utrecht Children’s Committee) came to fetch her and brought her to a young childless couple living in Utrecht: Teun and Gerritje (née Smit) van Es. Teun and Gerritje received baby Jose with open arms and treated her as their own child. She grew up assuming that Teun and Gerritje were her parents. When she grew older, she attended church with them and sang in a children’s choir. Her name was changed to Jose. Although people became suspicious, and there was always the danger of betrayal, Teun and Gerritje gave Jose all the love they had and sheltered her for three years, until the liberation. Fortunately, Hanna also survived the war. She contacted the underground organization Utrechts Kindercomité and learned where her daughter had been taken. When she appeared at the door of the Van Es family, Gerritje was shocked, but she did not hesitate to give Jose back to her mother. It took some time before Hanna took her home permanently because they gave Jose some time to get used to her mother. At first she did not know her at all, but she very politely answered her questions. Jose even agreed to sit on her lap and give her a hug and a kiss. Then she was told that she could call this “madam” “mama” also. All she said was, “Ah, really?” But slowly Jose got used to her “new” mother, and Hanna took her home to Amsterdam. Hanna and Jose always stayed in warm, close contact with the Van Es couple. Hanna remarried in 1951, was widowed in 1954, and moved with Jose to the United States. Jose went back to Holland for a while to finish her schooling, but she settled in New York permanently in 1962. She married Abraham Coltof and had two sons. She continued corresponding with Teun and Gerritje van Es, and Gerritje even visited her three times in New York. Thanks to the bravery of Teun and Gerritje van Es, Jose survived the war. She always remained grateful for that, as well for the love and care she received from them. On July 11, 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Teun and Gerritje (Smit) van Es as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner:	Teunis Hendrik van Es	geb. 26 Juni 1909
Huwelijk:	28 MRT 1934	Utrecht