Sytske Bessem
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Isak Bessem | |
| Moeder: | Wilhelmina Adriana Stoffel | |
| Geboren: | 11 Dec 1911 | Teteringen |
| Overleden: | 3 Aug 1999 | |
| Beroep: | verpleegster | |
| Aantekeningen: | Ketelaar Sytske (1911 - 1999 ) Personal Information Last Name: Ketelaar First Name: Sytske Maiden Name: Bessem van Date of Birth: 11/12/1911 Date of death: 03/08/1999 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Profession: MIDWIFE Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding Arranging shelter File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/341) Commemoration Date of Recognition: 23/05/1967 Righteous Commemorated with Tree/Wall of Honor: Wall of Honor Ceremony organized by Israeli diplomatic delegation in: The Hague, Netherlands Rescued Persons Amerongen van, Arnon, Jacob van Amerongen, First name unknown Amerongen van, Arnon, Loes Rescue Story Eyk van, Bertus Johannes Ketelaar, Sytske (van Bessem) In the winter of 1942, long before they actually went into hiding, Jacob (Jaap) and Loes van Amerongen (both later Arnon) rented a room in the home of Sytske van Eyk-van Bessem (later Ketelaar-van Bessem) and her husband, Bertus (Bert) van Eyk. Bert was a teacher and Sytske was a midwife who used to set out on her bicycle wrapped in a big blue cape to deliver babies all over Amsterdam. At that time, Jaap and Loes stored books and clothes in their rented room and only slept there when there was fear of razzias. In the summer of 1943, Jaap and Loes were sent to Westerbork but were released and sent back to Amsterdam three weeks later thanks to Jaaps papers. However, on the day before Rosh Hashana 1943, as Jaap was on his way to the Jewish high school where he taught bookkeeping and economics, an acquaintance stopped him. He informed Jaap that the Jewish Council had been deported during the night and that Amsterdam was slated to become free of Jews. Realizing that it was time to disappear, Jaap returned home, where Loes was preparing for the High Holidays. Grabbing their forged identity papers, a package of tea, and a few cakes of soap, they left the house and went to Jaaps brother, who, to their consternation, had already been taken away. Jaap and Loes then went to a dentist whom they knew and hid in his waiting room, where they took the yellow stars off their coats. They waited until it was dark and then walked over to their rented room, where Bert and Sytske, were overjoyed to see them, welcoming them with wine and roast chicken. Jaap and Loes stayed with the van Eyks until February 1944, and during their stay Bert and Sytske frequently sheltered other Jews in need of a temporary hiding place. Moreover, Sytske took it upon herself to place Jaaps aged mother in the Gemelli clinic in Bussum, where she remained in hiding until her death in January 1945. In 1944, there were too many people who suspected that the van Eyks were hiding Jews, and Jaap and Loes, who had been given excellent forged papers by the Westerweel* group, moved to South Limburg. However, they went back to the van Eyks several times when the new hiding place became dangerous. The two couples remained good friends after the war. On May 23 1967, Yad Vashem recognized Bertus Johannes van Eyk and Sytske Ketelaar-van Bessem as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Bertinus Jan van Eijk | geb. 19 Dec 1899 overl. 15 OKT 1972 |
| Huwelijk: | 5 MRT 1941 | Amsterdam |
| Scheiding: | 24 Sept 1949 |
Gezin 2
| Huwelijkspartner: | Jan Arnold Albert Ketelaar | geb. 21 Apr 1908 overl. 23 Nov 2001 |
| Huwelijk: | 1974 |