Truus Oversteegen
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Jacob Wilhelm Oversteegen | |
| Moeder: | Trijntje van der Molen | |
| Geboren: | 29 Aug 1923 | Schoten |
| Beroep: | verzetstrijder | |
| Aantekeningen: | Rescue Story Menger, Truus (Oversteegen) From as early as 1933, when Truus Oversteegen of Haarlem, North Holland, was only a young girl, her parents, who were simple laborers, regularly offered shelter to German Jews. By 1941, Truus was involved in distributing pamphlets and ration cards and also went around persuading people to strike. From 1943, Truus worked with Hannie Schaft* for a group led by Mr. N.J.G. Sikkel, who later became State Attorney. Riding on her bicycle and shooting at the enemy, Truus killed more Germans than she later wished to remember. Through Hannie, Truus became acquainted with a group that transported Jewish children to hiding places. One of the children Truus helped was four-year-old Roosje Dingeman. Truus, dressed in the uniform of a Red Cross nurse, escorted Roosje from Haarlem to Dordrecht, South Holland. In 1944, a Jewish child was riding pillion with Truus. They were just passing German soldiers when a British airplane flew overhead and opened fire on them. When Truus turned around, she saw that the child had been killed, but she had to continue. Steering the bicycle with one hand and holding the dead child in the other, she continued peddling until she arrived at a farm where she buried the child. On another occasion, Truus dressed up in the uniform of a German woman soldier, entered a concentration camp with false papers and took out a seven-year-old Jewish boy. When she passed the guard, she lifted her arm and said Heil Hitler. The boy kept quiet and to maintain the charade Truus slapped the child and ordered him to say Heil Hitler too. The boy saluted and was saved. By the end of the war, the Germans were offering 50,000 guilders for her capture, but she managed to stay out of their hands, having a total of 53 addresses across the Netherlands where she could safely go into hiding at any time. After the liberation, Truus had a nervous breakdown, caused partly by the fact that Hannie had been arrested and shot shortly before the liberation, and in part by the suffering of Jewish children that she had witnessed. She married Mr. Menger, a Resistance worker, and they had four children. Truus became a professional artist and painted childrens faces for many years, images from the dreams that haunted her. Truus was offered decorations by Eisenhower, underground movements in Western Europe, and partisan organizations in the east. She turned them all down. On May 10, 1967, Yad Vashem recognized Truus Menger-Oversteegen as Righteous Among the Nations |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Pieter Menger | geb. 11 Dec 1919 overl. 16 Nov 1993 |
| Huwelijk: | 1 Nov 1945 | Velsen |