Marten Geertsema
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Jacob Geertsema | |
| Moeder: | Jantien Gerber | |
| Geboren: | 14 Dec 1904 | Hoogkerk |
| Overleden: | 3 MEI 1945 | Neuengamme, Duitsland |
| Beroep: | predikant | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Geertsema First Name: Marten Date of Birth: 14/12/1904 Date of death: 03/05/1945 Rescuer's fate: murdered Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: CALVINIST Gender: Male Profession: REVEREND Place during the war: Dwingeloo, Drenthe, The Netherlands ; Assen, Drenthe, The Netherlands ; Neuengamme, Camp, Germany Rescue Place: Dwingeloo, Drenthe, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding Providing forged documents Other File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/10994) Marten Geertsema was a Calvinist minister in the village of Dwingeloo (prov. Drenthe) when the Netherlands were occupied in May 1940. He was strongly opposed to the German oppression and felt deeply for the prosecuted. Within the Calvinist community in the area he served as a personal example and spiritual leader of the resistance. He started his activities with dissemination of the Christian underground paper Trouw, and became very involved in helping persecuted Jews. He provided false food stamps for Jews in hiding and hid Jews in his home when they needed a temporary shelter on their way to a more secure hiding place. Thus, he hid Barend Soesan for a short time. Two weeks after his arrival, Barend was joined by his wife Annie Soesan-Brilleman. However, a week later they had to be moved on, as the resistance activities and the preaching against the Nazi occupation regime became more and more known to the collaborating Landwacht (auxiliary police) and the German authorities. In 1944, with the building of a defense line in the area of Dwingelo by the Organisation Todt, Geertsema openly called on people not to work for this German engineering company, preaching that is was better to go to Amersfoort or Vught (Herzogenbusch) concentration camps than work for the Organisation Todt. Early in the morning of October 19 that year, Geertsema was arrested by the Landwacht and taken to the prison in nearby Assen. Even though there was a possibility to escape in December, he decided not to do so, thinking that by escaping he would endanger his wife and infant son. On January 16, 1945, however, he was transported to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on May 3, 1945. On January 21, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Marten Geertsema as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Geertje Hendrikje van der Krieke | geb. 26 Dec 1906 overl. 26 Feb 1998 |
| Huwelijk: | 29 Nov 1934 | Hoogkerk |