Florida Kruiswijk

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Hendrik Kruiswijk
Moeder: Adriana Verschoor
Geboren: 28 Aug 1906 Naarden
Overleden: 1 Sept 1984 Bussum
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Fokker
First Name: Florida
Maiden Name: Kruiswijk
Date of Birth: 28/08/1906
Date of death: 11/09/1984
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Bussum, Noordholland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Bussum, Noordholland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11331)
Jack Chapon was born in Amsterdam on December 26, 1942, while deportations of the Jews of the Netherlands to the camps in the East were already fully under way. Thus his parents decided to immediately find a hiding place for the baby, so that they would not need to take him with them. They turned to friends and were referred to one family that could not deal with the daily stress that would be involved in taking care of a baby while nobody nearby was to know about this. Jack was subsequently picked up, and, through contacts with a brother of Florida Fokker, brought to her family in Bussum (prov. North-Holland), in the beginning of 1943. Jack's mother succeeded in finding a hiding place for herself as well.
Hendrik and Florida Fokker, both in their thirties, had two sons, Cor and Adriaan, born in 1927 and 1930. Jack was presented as their own son as he had a dark complexion, similar to Hendrik's. They called him Wim, and treated him as their own in all respects. When Wim started to talk, he called Hendrik and Florida 'papa' and 'mama', just as the other children did. Later on during the war a baby girl was born into the Fokker family, called Frieda.
Jack, now Wim, stayed with the Fokkers until the liberation of the area in May 1945. It turned out that his mother had survived, but it took some time until she was able to fully take care of him. During this period, Florida made numerous pictures of the, by then, little boy, in order to show his own mother the child's development. The eventual separation from the Fokkers was a difficult one for Jack, as the Fokkers were the only family he had ever known. During the following years, Jack returned often to the Fokkers, whom he always considered as their own natural child.
On May 4, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Hendrik Fokker and Florida Fokker-Kruiswijk as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Hendrikus Lambertus Theodorus Fokker geb. 16 MEI 1897 overl. 9 Dec 1980
Huwelijk: 10 Juni 1925 Naarden