Willem Westbroek

Geslacht:	Man
Vader:	Adrianus Westbroek
Moeder:	Geertruida Koudijs
Geboren:	4 Apr 1905	Driebergen
Aantekeningen:	Westbroek Willem Personal Information Last Name: Westbroek First Name: Willem Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Driebergen, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Driebergen, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/4842) Commemoration Date of Recognition: 23/01/1991 Righteous Commemorated with Tree/Wall of Honor: Wall of Honor Ceremony organized by Israeli diplomatic delegation in: The Hague, Netherlands Ceremony held in Yad Vashem: Yes Rescued Persons Hollander, Bertha Hollander, Simon Rescue Story Westbroek, Willem & Bastiaantje Wilhelmina Jeanne (Sonnevelt) Willem and Bastiaantje (Jeanne) Westbroek met the Hollander family through mutual acquaintances in the Dutch Resistance movement. When the Germans expropriated Mr. Hollander’s business and he was forced into unemployment, he began playing bridge to pass the time. A number of members of his bridge club were involved in the underground and had connections with the Resistance. One day, during a bridge game, Mr. Hollander was advised to take his family into hiding. Shortly afterwards, Jaap Esmeijer took them to the Westbroeks’ home in the Landgoed Bornia woods near Driebergen, Utrecht. They assumed that it was a secure place because it was so isolated. However, as the war progressed they realized that perhaps it was not so safe because Resistance members fled to these woods when running away from the Germans. Nevertheless, the Hollanders stayed there from May 1942 until May 1945. The Hollanders slept in one of the spare rooms with a built-in bed cabinet. The Jewish family tried to help their hosts with household chores because the Westbroeks had five children and Jeanne was not well. Bertha Hollander often helped mend the children’s clothes and, in the evenings, her husband helped Willem with the gardening and woodcutting. The Westbroeks never received any payment from their wards. They simply wanted to help the Jews during the most difficult years of the war for humanitarian reasons. Willem and Jeanne initiated their own efforts and were willing to save Jewish lives even if they endangered their own lives and the lives of their children in the process. On October 28, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Willem Westbroek and his wife, Bastiaantje Wilhelmina Jeanne Westbroek-Sonnevelt, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner:	Bastiaantje Willempje Jacoba Sonnevelt	geb. 29 Jan 1909
Huwelijk:	8 MEI 1929	Rotterdam