Henk Bovenkerk
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Hendrik Kobus Bovenkerk | |
| Moeder: | Elisabeth Maria van Wagtendonk | |
| Geboren: | 6 Nov 1908 | Amsterdam |
| Beroep: | leraar MO Nederlands en geschiedenis | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Bovenkerk First Name: Henk Date of Birth: 06/11/1908 Date of death: 22/11/1993 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Haarlem, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Haarlem, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11825) Henk and Theodora Bovenkerk, both in their thirties, lived in Harlem with their infant son. Henk became active in a local underground group, and wrote articles for illegal newspapers. They had a number of Jewish friends and as they saw how the Jews were slowly being excluded from society, they decided to act. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews to the camps in the East in the summer of 1942, Henk and Theodora opened their home as place of temporary refuge for a number of Jews, until a more secure place could be located for them. Most of the Jews stayed only for a short period indeed, but Herman Musaph and his wife found shelter with the Bovenkerks for about a year before they could be moved on. Also Mirjam Loonstijn (later, Cijs), a baby born in 1941, was taken to the Bovenkerks for temporary hiding. She was later taken to Jeanette van Zutphen*. It was often a difficult and dangerous decision to continually hide Jews and the Bovenkerks realized the danger for themselves and their child. But human compassion was stronger than the danger they faced. They took the risk, even though having strangers in a small home and sharing all they had was difficult. Once, a woman who was in temporary hiding with the Bovenkerks, went out into the street, in spite of their warnings. She was caught, and with her arrest the danger for the Bovenkerks increased. Another time, the Bovenkerks were tipped off that someone had betrayed them -- the Jews in their home at the time were immediately moved elsewhere. Yet, when asked why they took these risks, Theodora answered: “Well, just simply out of human compassion”. On April 25, 2010, Yad Vashem recognized Henk Bovenkerk and Theodora Bovenkerk-Kuhbauch as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Theodora Kuhbauch | geb. 23 OKT 1910 |
| Huwelijk: | 26 Juli 1939 | Amsterdam |