Maartje van der Wal

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Watze van der Wal
Moeder: Froukje Hoekstra
Geboren: 20 Jan 1900 Minnertsga, Barradeel
Overleden: 11 Jan 1974 onbekend
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Dijkstra
First Name: Maartje
Maiden Name: Wal van der
Date of Birth: 1900
Date of death: 11/01/1974
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Religion: CHRISTIAN CATHOLIC
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Sint Jacobiparochie, Friesland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Sint Jacobiparochie, Friesland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/12196)
Lola Ekart, born in Austria in 1923, was sent to the Netherlands soon after the Anschluss in 1938. She was taken to a group of young, mostly German Jewish refugees who were preparing themselves in the Wieringermeer, north-west Netherlands, for agricultural life as pioneers (chalutzim) in the Land of Israel. In June 1941, all these youngsters were forced to move to Amsterdam, from where many of them were soon deported to Mauthausen. Lola found a temporary job with a Jewish family in the city and by the end of the year she was able to secure a position through the Jewish Council as a caretaker in Apeldoorn’s Jewish psychiatric institute, in the east of the country. This job gave her an exemption from the deportations that had started in the summer of 1942. However, in January 1943, the German authorities turned their attention to all Jewish health institutions and deported both patients and staff to Auschwitz after all. Lola happened to be absent during the raid, and she returned to Amsterdam, where she was taken in by two of the chalutzim she had known. In May 1943, one of them took her to the northern province of Friesland, where she was taken into hiding by the Dirk and Maartje Dijkstra.
The Dijkstras were devout Roman Catholics in a predominantly Calvinist region, and had three young children. They lived frugally, being barely able to make ends meet. Yet they took Lola in and made her feel at home as much as possible. Lola stayed with the Dijkstras until December that year, when she heard from fellow chalutzim, that there was a possibility to flee to France with members of the Westerweel* group. En route, she stayed for some days with Frans Gerritsen* in Haarlem, and from there was taken over the border. In January 1944, she arrived in Paris and joined others who were involved moving people over the Pyrenees to Spain. During her time in France, she kept in touch with the Dijkstras through correspondence, describing her experiences during that period, which included an arrest.
In 1946, Lola emigrated to the Land of Israel which was then still under the British Mandate. She continued to keep in touch with the Dijkstras.
On August 14, 2011, Yad Vashem recognized Dirk Dijkstra and Maartje Dijkstra-van der Wal as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Dirk Dijkstra geb. 7 MRT 1896 overl. 22 MRT 1977
Huwelijk: 14 Juni 1923 Barradeel