Maria Suzanna van Klingeren
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Dirk van Klingeren | |
| Moeder: | Gijsbertha Hendrika Schaap | |
| Geboren: | 19 Juli 1909 | Baarn |
| Overleden: | 18 Sept 1989 | |
| Aantekeningen: | Blankenstein Maria (1909 - 1989 ) Personal Information Last Name: Blankenstein First Name: Maria Suzanna Maiden Name: Klingeren van Date of Birth: 19/07/1909 Date of death: 18/09/1989 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Place during the war: Soestdijk, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Soestdijk, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/10541) Commemoration Date of Recognition: 27/03/2005 Righteous Commemorated with Tree/Wall of Honor: Wall of Honor Ceremony organized by Israeli diplomatic delegation in: The Hague, Netherlands Rescued Persons Bernstein, Henry Bernstein, Rolf Bernstein, Heumann, Martha Rescue Story Blankenstein, Benjamin Blankenstein-van Klingeren, Maria Suzanna Benjamin Blankenstein, b.1914, and his wife, Maria, b.1909, lived in the town of Soestdijk (prov. Utrecht) with their first daughter, who was born in 1940. Two more would follow in 1943 and 1945. Benjamin was a teacher at the local Christian elementary school and Maria was a housewife. In 1943, Benjamin became active in a local resistance cell, that was part of the countrywide Landelijke Organisatie - LO, an organization that assisted those in hiding - Jews, non-Jews who were dodging forced labor in Germany as well as resistance people. In addition, the Blankensteins decided to hide Jews in their own home. When Benjamin Blankenstein heard that the Bernstein family from nearby Soest, was betrayed at an earlier hiding address, he suggested they come and hide in his home. Maria, who had just given birth to their second daughter, agreed. Henry Bernstein, b.1896, his wife Martha (née Heumann) and their son Rolf, b.1929, had fled Germany with the intention of reaching the United States, but with the German invasion in May 1940, they were forced to stay in the Netherlands. The Bernsteins were given a room under the roof of the Blankenstein home. Relations between the two families were excellent, and Benjamin taught Rolf in the evening hours, so that he would not get too much behind in his studies. Since there were many cases of betrayal in the area, the Blankensteins suggested looking for a more secure hiding place for the Bernsteins in the southern province of Limburg. However, before another address was indeed located, the police, acting on a tip, broke into the Blankenstein home on June 5, 1944, at a time when Benjamin was teaching at the school. The police arrested the Bernsteins and plundered the entire house. Maria, who was pregnant with her third child, was left alone with the two little children. The Bernsteins were taken to the Westerbork transit camp, from where they were deported to Theresienstadt on July 31, 1944. Henry and Rolf were subsequently deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. About half an hour after the raid on the Blankenstein home, Benjamin was arrested at his school and taken to prison in Amsterdam and then to the Vught (Herzogenbusch) concentration camp in the Netherlands. On September 5, 1944, with the approaching Allied Forces, Blankenstein was moved to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Towards the end of the war he was taken to Bergen-Belsen, where he perished on February 24, 1945. Martha Bernstein survived. Upon her return from the camp, ill and all alone, she was again welcomed by Maria Blankenstein. On March 27, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Benjamin Blankenstein and Maria Suzanna Blankenstein-van Klingeren, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Benjamin Blankenstein | geb. 20 Feb 1914 overl. 24 Feb 1945 |
| Huwelijk: | 24 MEI 1939 | Baarn |