Dirk Groenewegen van Wijk
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Pieter Johannes Groenewegen van Wijk | |
| Moeder: | Trijntje Vogelvang | |
| Geboren: | 4 OKT 1921 | Amsterdam |
| Overleden: | 15 Juni 1985 | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Groenewegen Wijk van First Name: Dick Date of Birth: 04/10/1921 Date of death: 15/06/1985 Rescuer's fate: tried/interrogated imprisoned survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: CALVINIST Gender: Male Profession: EMPLOYE Organization/ Religious order: The N.V.- LTD Group (en-va LTD.Group) Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands; Brunssum, Limburg, The Netherlands; Maastricht, Limburg, The Netherlands; Amersfoort, Camp, The Netherlands; Burscheid, Camp, Germany Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands; Voorthuizen, Gelderland, The Netherlands; Brunssum, Limburg, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Arranging shelter Supplying basic goods Other File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/2083) From the beginning of the occupation, the strictly Calvinist (Gereformeerd) Protestant Dick Groenewegen van Wijk was employed at a branch of a German firm on Frederiksplein in Amsterdam. In the summer of 1942, Dicks friend, Gerhard Musch*, asked for his help in looking after the Brauns, who were already in hiding. The address in Friesland where Marianne and Leo Braun were staying was no longer safe, and so they were moved to where their parents were hiding in Voorthuizen, Gelderland. A few days later the Brauns packed their belongings and made their way to the nearby Barneveld railroad station to take the train to Amsterdam. At the station they met Dick and after a violent argument returned to their hideout. However, Dick promised he would look out for new hiding places for them. At the same time, Dick was working to set up an organization that, in October 1942, became the Naamloze Vennootshap (NV*, Limited Liability Partnership). That same month, he and Gerard were forced to go into hiding to avoid being sent to Germany. They found a place to hide in Heerlen. One of Dicks tasks was to find foster families in Heerlen and the immediate surroundings. Dick made many trips to Amsterdam, where the local branch of the NV, headed by Joop Woortman*, was trying to persuade Jewish parents to put their children in the hands of the NV. Together with Gerard Musch and others, Dick picked up children from the families that Woortman and his colleagues had managed to persuade and escorted them to foster families in Limburg. From January 1943 on, it became possible to smuggle Jewish children out of the crèche on the Plantage Middenlaan in Amsterdam. Dick, who was involved in this operation, would surreptitiously remove the last four children of a group out for a walk and take them to the Woortman home or the station. Many children escaped from Amsterdam in this way. In the summer of 1943, Dicks new job was organizing money and goods to finance the care of the many people rescued. In close cooperation with Jaap Musch, he managed to arrange for the largely Reformed NV to join with the almost exclusively Catholic Limburg branch of the LO, which assured them enough ration cards for the more than 200 children under the NVs care. In the meantime, together with Gerard Musch, Dick had moved into the NVs new headquarters, the Vermeers house on the Prins Hendriklaan in Brunssum, Limburg. Throughout 1943 the NV recruited half of the Vermeer* familys 11 children and their home was always full of people. On May 9, 1944, Dick arrived in Heerlen. Two Landwachters inspected his papers and realized that they were forged and he was taken to the SD offices in Maastricht, Limburg, where he was interrogated. He was then taken to the Amersfoort camp, from where, after a short time, he was moved to a camp for Russian prisoners of war in Burscheid, 30 km from Cologne. After a few weeks, he escaped with a fellow prisoner and with great difficulty made his way back to Brunssum. Four days later he appeared totally exhausted on the Vermeers doorstep. As he was being warmly welcomed, he fainted. In the meantime, a new co-worker, Ida Roose of Goes, Zeeland, had arrived in Brunssum. She was assigned the task of supplying ration cards to foster families. Idas second job was looking after Dick, who was very weak. Dick soon returned to work. He and Ida had also fallen in love and a few years after the liberation they were married. On September 22, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Dick Groenewegen van Wijk and his wife, Ida Elisabeth Groenewegen van Wijk-Roose, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Ida Elisabeth Roose | geb. 21 MEI 1923 overl. 10 MRT 2005 |
| Huwelijk: | 12 Dec 1946 | Apeldoorn |