Gerrit Marinus Hemeltjen
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Albart Hemeltjen | |
| Moeder: | Anna Margaretha Nagel | |
| Geboren: | 7 Sept 1905 | Tonsel, Harderwijk |
| Overleden: | 17 MEI 1971 | Ermelo |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Hemeltjen First Name: Gerrit Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Bunschoten, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Bunschoten, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/8247) Gerrit Hemeltjen was an active member of a local soccer club in Bunschoten (prov. Utrecht), where he befriended Antonie Sjaardema*, a clerk at the nearby Baarn municipality. Both had also been members in the socialist youth movement before the war. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews in the summer of 1942, both men decided to act and became involved in a local resistance cell. By the fall of 1942, Sjaardema was put in touch with the Jewish Rintel family who needed an urgent place to hide. The Rintel family included the parents, Marinus Joseph, b.1900, and Clara (neé de Jong), b.1908, and their children, Johanna, b.1933 and Ed, b.1937. Antonie Sjaardema, single at the time, brought Marinus and Clara to Gerrit Hemeltjen and his wife, Geertjen, then both in their early forties, who had agreed to take them into their home. He also brought the Boeke couple from Amsterdam, who had been betrayed at an earlier hiding address, and who also found a hiding place in the Hemeltjen home. Both couples stayed indoors most of the time, Mr. Boeke and Clara Rintel had false papers, so that only they could venture outdoors from time to time. A special hiding area was installed under the roof. No one was told of their presence, although a story was invented that both couples were refugees from the western part of the country, just in case of a house search. The Hemeltjens had three young children, four to 12 years old, and still shared all they had with their four wards. Antonie, who by now was working at the local social distribution office, took care of extra food coupons and some money needed for living expenses. He also brought news to the Rintels about their children who were in hiding elsewhere. Both couples stayed until the liberation of the area in May 1945. Good relations with the Rintel family continued until their rescuers deaths. On November 1, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Gerrit Hemeltjen and Geertjen Hemeltjen-Schaftenaar, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Geertjen Schaftenaar | geb. 30 Juni 1905 overl. 4 MEI 2004 |
| Huwelijk: | 1 Aug 1928 | Harderwijk |