Margaretha Fokkema

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Dirk Fokkema
Moeder: Hevemia van Hinte
Geboren: 12 Jan 1897 Hoorn
Overleden: 17 MRT 1976 onbekend
Religie: Ger. Kerk
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Brug ten
First Name: Margaretha
Maiden Name: Fokkema
Alias: GREET
Date of Birth: 12/01/1897
Date of death: 17/03/1976
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Religion: PROTESTANT
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Hulzen, Overijssel, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Hulzen, Overijssel, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/591)
In 1942, Hylke ten Brug, born in Britswerd and the 47-year-old principal of the local Protestant elementary school in the village of Hulzen, Overijssel, was asked to hide two Jewish children, Bernhard and Rika (Riekje) Kats of Almelo, aged seven and six, respectively. For Hylke and his wife, Margaretha (Greet), originally from Hoorn, hiding Jewish children was just one more act of resistance against the Germans, motivated by their Christian beliefs. They and their four children sheltered Dutch refugee children from Rotterdam, young Dutch men on the run from forced labor in Germany, and Allied pilots stranded in Holland. The addition of two more children who did not look particularly Jewish did not arouse suspicion in the village and Bernhard and Riekje went to school and played outside. However, because of Hylke’s other Resistance work they were not able to stay until the end of the war. They stayed for two and a half years and were treated like family. Greet was a warm and loving mother to them and Hylke, who knew where their parents were hidden, kept them informed about their children’s progress. Weekly postcards were written in code, and he even visited them once. Greet also participated in her husband’s activities, helping with the distribution of ration cards in the vicinity. Hylke, who had served as a captain in the Dutch Cavalry in World War I, was the deputy head of the Eastern Division of the Dutch Resistance until 1944, when the head of the division was killed and he took over. The ten Brug house and the school both served as underground centers. The ten Brugs’ eldest child, Hans, who was 18, was also a member of the underground and often held meetings in the house. He was caught at the French-Spanish border in 1944 while trying to escape to England and deported to Buchenwald, where he died soon after. Towards the end of the war, Hylke was betrayed and his house and school surrounded by the Germans. He managed to escape and continue his activities from a farm 30 kilometers away, while his family went underground with the two Jewish children, who were then sent to different places. Riekje was sent to the Ponsteens* in Nijverdal, Overijssel, and then to the Mulders, both families of school principals.
On November 11, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Hylke ten Brug and his wife, Greetten Brug-Fokkema, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Hylke ten Brug geb. 29 Sept 1895 overl. 27 OKT 1967
Huwelijk: 1 Nov 1922 Den Haag
Kinderen:
  Johannes ten Brug Female geb. 3 Juni 1924 overl. 9 Jan 1945
  Dirk ten Brug Female geb. 14 Apr 1927
  Hevemia ten Brug Female geb. 22 Nov 1928