Nicolaas Carlie
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Jacobus Carlie | |
| Moeder: | Anna Margaretha Kwestro | |
| Geboren: | 8 Jan 1907 | Leiden |
| Overleden: | 3 OKT 1991 | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Carlie First Name: Nicolaas Alias: NICO Date of Birth: 08/01/1907 Date of death: 03/10/1991 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Leiden, Zuidholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Leiden, Zuidholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/3503) Heinz Leopold Speyer, a traveling salesman dealing with optical instruments, was an acquaintance of Nicolaas (Nico) Carlie, with whom he had often done business. One evening, towards the end of 1943, Speyer knocked on Nicos door and begged to stay the night because the Germans were chasing him. Speyer had escaped from Westerbork, walked through the night, stopped at a farm where he had received clean clothes, moved from one hiding place to another, and finally walked from The Hague to Leiden in order to seek refuge with Nico. Nico did not have a specially constructed hideout in his home, but he believed that fortune favors the bold and gave Speyer his best room, the front room above the shop. On the following Sunday, Nico and Speyer built a double wall on the top floor, behind which Speyer stayed. One day, as a client left Nicos shop he whispered to him that the Germans had blocked the street and were bound to search his house. Heinz Leopold Speyer, who was sitting in the workshop behind the shop, immediately moved into his hiding place. Before long, the Germans arrived at Nicos door. Nico invited them in as calmly as possible. The German in charge barked, Ausweiss! and then ordered his men to search the house. While they were searching upstairs, the officer held Nicos Ausweiss against the light and declared that it was a forgery. He was right! Damned war, the officer shouted, and handed the Ausweiss back to Nico. The officer saluted and they all marched out of the shop. After awhile, Nico called Speyer down and they sat together in the workshop. Suddenly the door swung open and one of the German soldiers burst in. I thought it was the end, Nico declared in his testimony to Yad Vashem. I asked the German what I could do for him, and he said that he wanted me to repair his watch. While I was working with trembling hands, the German chatted with the Jew and even gave him half a packet of tobacco, just like that. On November 6, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Nicolaas Carlie as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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