Evert Hesselink
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Lambertus Hesselink | |
| Moeder: | Hendrika Meulenkamp | |
| Geboren: | 19 OKT 1913 | Borculo |
| Overleden: | 30 MEI 1979 | |
| Religie: | Ned. Hervormd | |
| Beroep: | landbouwer | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Hesselink First Name: Evert Date of death: 01/01/1979 Rescuer's fate: survived imprisoned Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Profession: COAL SALESMAN FARMER Place during the war: Neede, Gelderland, The Netherlands ; Amersfoort, Camp, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Neede, Gelderland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding Arranging shelter File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9475) Siblings Evert and Harmina Hesselink, both in their thirties and single, lived on the family farm in Neede (prov. Gelderland), where Evert also ran a charcoal business. A cousin, who, like others in the Hesselink family, was active in a local underground group, was living with them as well. On June 14, 1943, six-year-old Simon Duesseldorp from Amsterdam was brought to their home. After the onset of the deportation of Jews to the death camps, Simons parents, Nathan and Jenny (née Parsser) had decided to look for a place to hide their two children. They contacted resistance workers in Amsterdam who took Simon to the Hesselinks in Neede. The boy was supposedly an orphan from bombed-out Rotterdam. The Hesselinks took care of all Simons needs and he was able to move freely around the farm. It was, however, too dangerous for him to go to school. Harmina especially was involved with Simons well being on a daily basis. One night, in May 1944, Germans entered the Hesselink farm, looking for their cousin who was in the resistence. Though he was not at home at the time, an illegally kept radio was found and Evert was arrested. He was subsequently taken to the Amersfoort camp for political prisoners, from where he was released some weeks later. At the time of the search, Harmina saved Simon by putting him in bed with her, hoping they would not order her to get out. Fearing a repeat search to find the cousin, Simon was temporarily sent to the Hesselinks mother in nearby Borculo, where he stayed until December that year. Mother Hesselink already had two Jews hidden in her home as of September 1944. Keeping Simon as well thus became too risky. He subsequently returned to Evert and Harmina and stayed with them until the liberation of the area in April 1945. When it turned out that his parents had been murdered, Simon was again taken in by mother Hesselink, from where he was able to renew contact with his Jewish roots, passing holidays with a local Jewish family. Simon stayed with mother Hesselink until November 1946, when a relative was discovered who took him in. He stayed in touch with his rescuers also after his immigration to Israel in 1959. On September 3, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Evert Hesselink and his sister Harmina Hesselink, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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