Hendrik Burgers

Geslacht: Man
Vader: Teunis Burgers
Moeder: Jacoba Hagen
Geboren: 3 Apr 1878 Spankeren
Overleden: 21 MRT 1976 Velp
Beroep: belastingambtenaar
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Burgers
First Name: Hendrik
Date of Birth: 01/01/1888
Date of death: 01/01/1985
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Male
Profession: CUSTOMS OFFICIAL
Place during the war: Velp, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Velp, Gelderland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11730)
The Jewish Bram van der Heijden, born in 1897, lived in Arnhem where he had a clothing store. In 1941, he was widowed and left with two grown daughters, one of whom was married.
With the onset of the deportations of the Jews from the Netherlands in the summer of 1942, Bram van der Heijden decided to look for a hiding address instead of waiting for the summons to report for ‘work in the East”. After escaping a major razzia in Arnhem at the end of 1942, Bram turned to underground workers for help. In turn, the Burgers family was asked to take him in. The Burgerses had two grown children, Berendina (Dinie), born in 1919, and Teunis, born in 1920, who were consulted. Dinie, who had witnessed the razzia in Arnhem, was a strong supporter of helping the Jews in their most difficult hours. The religious convictions of the family also made them decide to come forward in spite of the personal danger involved. And so Dinie picked up Bram van der Heijden and took him to her parental home.
Hendrik Burgers was a customs clerk who had retired during the war; Geertruida took care of the household. They had a large house, and Bram was given a room out of sight in the attic. A special hiding area was prepared next to the room. He now answered to the name Bart, and spent all his time in this room. His presence was not to be known by anyone outside the family.
In the evenings, he would come down and all the members of the family would tell stories to pass the time. Some time later, Bram’s daughter, Toos, and her husband, Meijer Salomons, were also taken into hiding by the Burgers family when they had to leave an earlier hiding address. Since hiding three adults was too dangerous, the couple was moved on after some months. They were later betrayed, deported and murdered.
After a house search at the Burgers home when all rooms were thoroughly searched, it was no longer considered safe to keep Bram. A new address was found, and Dinie was to accompany him there. However, when they arrived at the pre-arranged address, the people were too afraid to go through with it, and Dinie and Bram returned to the Burgers home. The same happened with another address. Towards the end of the war, Germans were billeted with the Burgers family, and Bram had to stay in the attic at all times. At one point, a German soldier opened the door to his room and saw Bram, but luckily did not make an issue of it.
Bram van der Heijden stayed on with the Burgers family until the liberation of the area in April 1945. Both his daughters perished. After the war, he married Dinie.
On February 14, 2010, Yad Vashem recognized Hendrik Burgers and Geertruida Burgers-van Maanen as well as their daughter Berendina Jacoba Markus-Burgers as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Geertruida van Manen geb. 28 Juli 1889 overl. 22 Nov 1964
Huwelijk: 3 OKT 1917 Rheden
Kinderen:
  Berendina Jacoba Burgers Male geb. 1 Jan 1919