Hester van Hall
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Adriaan Floris van Hall | |
| Moeder: | Petronella Johanna Boissevain | |
| Geboren: | 26 Nov 1912 | Amsterdam |
| Overleden: | 5 Jan 1994 | Heemstede |
| Religie: | Doopsgezind | |
| Beroep: | doopsgezind proponente | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Dufour First Name: Hester Maiden Name: Hall van Date of Birth: 26/11/1912 Date of death: 05/01/1994 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: BAPTIST PROTESTANT Gender: Female Place during the war: Haarlem, Noordholland, The Netherlands, Aerdenhout, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Haarlem, Noordholland, The Netherlands, Aerdenhout, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11151) Meier and Betsie Groen (née van Straaten) lived in Amsterdam with their two young children, Bernard Samuel, born August 16, 1940, and Saul. When, in the summer of 1942, the German occupation authorities started to deport the Jews from the Netherlands to "work in the East", which really meant to death camps, the Groens decided to try and find hiding places, but for their children first. Bernard was taken to the Dufour family in Haarlem. Raimond Dufour, a civil engineer, and his wife, Hester, were a Baptist couple, with three small children, Maria, Raimond Jr. and Beppo. Raimond Jr. was nearly the same age as two-year-old Bernard. The idea thus came to them to present Bernard to the outside world as the non-identical twin brother of their own Raimond Jr. In order to strengthen the story, Raimond Jr and Bernard were always dressed the same, as was then the custom for twins. Bernard thus called Hester and Raimond Sr. "mama and papa" and indeed saw the Dufours as his real parents, not remembering his own. Daughter Maria was older and Beppo was still a baby. Handling four such young children was more than a challenge, and Hester sought a nanny for the children, a person she could trust not to betray the Jewish boy among them. Adri Gorlitz, called "Juffie", was hired and stayed with the family throughout the war years. Over time, the Dufours moved close by Aerdenhout, taking Bernard along as a matter of course. A very difficult time, however, came during the infamous Hungerwinter of 1944-1945: the German occupier no longer allowed food to be brought in from the agricultural north and east of the country, or a supply of gas and electricity. The western parts of the Netherlands suffered tremendous starvation and thousands died. The Dufours, as others, tried to survive on sugar beets and flower bulbs. Yet they kept Bernard with them. Bernard became very ill from malnutrition, but the Dufours managed to bring him back to health. Bernard stayed with the Dufours until the liberation of the city in May 1945. Bernard's father and brother had survived the war. Mother Betsie was caught on her way to visit Bernard at the Dufours -- she was deported and murdered in Auschwitz on October 14, 1944. Why had the Dufours taken this risk to themselves and their own children? The answer came quickly: "Because of our religious beliefs, but also for revenge on the German occupier." They knew very well that the risk was real, as the brother of Hester, Walraven van Hall*, a banker and one of the main financial backers of Jewish rescue (NSF group "J"), was caught and then executed on February 12, 1945. Bernard testifies: "I was very lucky, because I was taken into a loving and warm family". In 1967, he immigrated to Israel but stayed in close contact with the Dufours. On August 20, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Raimond Dufour and Hester Dufour-van Hall as Righteous Among the Nations |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Raimond Dufour | geb. 25 OKT 1901 overl. 7 MRT 1977 |
| Huwelijk: | 31 MEI 1938 | Bloemendaal |