Helena Henrica Wilhelmina Arnoldina Aarts
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Matheus Franciscus Aarts | |
| Moeder: | Petronella Theodora Anna Maria Verberne | |
| Geboren: | 1908 | Amsterdam |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Holla First Name: Helena Henrica Wilhelmina Arnoldina Maiden Name: Aarts Date of Birth: 17/03/1907 Date of death: 06/10/1994 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Place during the war: Vught, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Vught, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding ; Illegal transfer File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/829) When, in June 1943, Max Cahen and his wife, Henriette (formerly Elion), who lived in the town of Vught, North Brabant, received deportation orders to Westerbork, Henriette managed to avoid deportation by being hospitalized for a faked concussion. Max managed to get permission to be taken to the Vught concentration camp in order to work in the so-called Philips* group. Max knew Henri Holla, originally from Venlo, who lived in the same town as he. Henri was a key figure in the Dutch underground; he was the east North-Brabant representative of the LO and towards the end of the war became a leading member. Henri provided Henriette with false identity papers, then found her a temporary hiding place with his sister and brother-in-law, Marie and François op de Coul*, in Roosendaal, North Brabant. Henri's wife, Helena, took her there in June 1943. Henri suggested that Henriette, who was pregnant, approach the Federation for Unmarried Mothers (FIOM) with her false identity papers. In August of that year, she received a message from Reverend Scheermakers*, the director of the "Moederheil" FIOM home, that she was welcome. There, on January 26th 1944, Henriette Cahen gave birth to a daughter. Another family that the Hollas assisted was the Bendiks family: Schmuel J., his wife, and his daughter, who had been ordered to leave their home in Den Bosch in 1941 and had been living in Vught ever since, occasionally with the Cahens. They were in possession of false Belgian identity papers in case they had to flee. Henri, who already had four children, took in the Bendikses' three-year-old granddaughter, whose mother had died. In May 1943 the Bendikses were ordered to leave for Westerbork. Henri took it upon himself to arrange their escape to Belgium and accompanied them from Vught on foot to Boxtel, and then by train to Maastricht, from where they could make arrangements to flee. He found an architect who was willing to hide them for a few days in his home in the nearby village of Amby. From the village, the plan was that some young boys would take them through a cave and across the mountains to Belgium. Henri went with them as far as the entrance to the cave and after a hazardous journey the Bendikses reached Belgium, where they remained in hiding until the liberation. The Hollas also helped Henri van Leeuwen, a widower with a three-year-old daughter, Rina. Henri Holla suggested that Rina be left with him, but her father refused. At the border crossing between Holland and Belgium they were caught and sent to prison. After Henri van Leeuwen was sentenced to death, Henri took Rina in as his fifth child and she went to school with the other children. After the war, she returned to her grandparents. In 1947, Henri was knighted as Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw. On September 2, 1973, Yad Vashem recognized Henri Bernard Sibert Holla and his wife, Helena Henrica Wilhelmina Arnoldina Holla-Aarts, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Henri Bernard Sibert Holla | geb. 19 Nov 1904 |
| Huwelijk: | 31 Jan 1938 | Den Bosch |