Douwe van Dijk

Geslacht:	Man
Vader:	Haaye Jans van Dijk
Moeder:	Trijntje Gerrits Wiedema
Geboren:	23 MEI 1901	Hantum, Westdongeradeel
Aantekeningen:	Last Name: Dijk van First Name: Douwe Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: PROTESTANT CALVINIST Gender: Male Profession: ADMINISTRATOR Place during the war: Ternaard, Friesland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Ternaard, Friesland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/11137) The Marcus family, consisting of parents Leo and Hilde (née Loeb) and their three daughters, Frances (b. 1931), Fientje (b. 1935) and Judith (b. 1938) lived in Zwolle (prov. Overijssel) in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. Leo was a butcher and had many long commercial contacts with farmers in the area. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews to the camps in the summer of 1942, Leo and Hilde Marcus decided to try and go into hiding. They contacted Liesje Bijkersma* also from Zwolle, who then involved Protestant church officials in locating hiding addresses. When the actual orders to report "for work in the East" were delivered to the Marcus family, hiding addresses only for the parents and daughter Frances were in place. Leo then turned to Gerrit and Gerrie Nijenberg from nearby Wijhe, brother and sister, both single, who together managed the farm their parents had left them. He had known Gerrit through his business affairs and now pleaded with them to take in the two remaining daughters, if only temporarily. The Nijenbergs agreed. July 1942 was the first time the Marcus family was split up and Fientje, then seven, and Judith, four years old, had a hard time coping with this. As the Nijenberg farm was very close to their hometown, the girls were not to be seen by anyone; they had to pass their time mostly in a small room in the attic. This situation could not continue for a long and Liesje Bijkersma kept on searching for something more secure, which she found a month later. However, she had been unable to find one place for both girls, and thus the two sisters also had to split up from then on. Fientje was taken to Martin van Linschoten, a Protestant minister, and his wife, Lise, in the village of Laag Keppel (prov. Gelderland). Leo Marcus had benefitted from temporary hiding with them earlier. Fientje felt protected and well taken care of, but had to move to a new address just two months later. The van Linschotens lived in the church rectory with many people coming in and out, not a very safe situation. Meanwhile, Leo Marcus made efforts to reunite his family. He realized that finding one and the same hiding address for all five was impossible, so he tried to rent a place. He contacted Anne Noy, who ran a boarding house, asking if he could bring his family. While understanding that the Marcus family was looking for a place to hide, she still took them in. However, as the five could not freely go outside, their continuous presence inside the boarding house became too suspicious, and the family had to move on, again splitting up. Then, in October 1942, Fientje was taken to Amsterdam, again by Liesje Bijkersma, this time to Anton (Teun) and Ilonka Fennema. Fientje, not having any legal papers, had to stay inside at all times and could not go to school. Teun made it his business to teach Fientje on a daily basis, so that after the war she would be able to continue her school studies. Ilonka, who cared for the house and their own daughter, kept Fientje busy around the house. On dark evenings, the Fennemas allowed Fientje to step out for a few minutes in order to breath fresh air. Also they arranged for her to meet her sister, Frances, who was in hiding close by. Even though Fientje was presented as a refugee from bombed-out Rotterdam, her presence became too risky by early 1943, with increasing razzias in the city. In March 1943, Liesje Bijkersma took Fientje by boat across the inner IJsselmeer sea, to yet another address, this time in the northern province of Friesland, to Douwe and Trijntje van Dijk in the village of Ternaard. Douwe was a municipal clerk and they had one daughter. Again, Fientje, arrived as a so-called refugee from Rotterdam, but the van Dijks knew her real identity and were willing to take the risk. The family was strictly Calvinist and felt they had to help the People of the Book. The move to Friesland was a difficult one for Fientje, as she did not know the local Friesian language and living conditions at the van Dijks were very basic. However, as she had received false papers by then in the name of Dekker, Fientje was able to go to school. During her stay with the van Dijks, she was in touch with her parents, who were in hiding elsewhere, through letters taken back and forth by Liesje Bijkersma. She thus renewed contact with her own family, though not in person. In spite of her alibi and the false papers, Fientje was betrayed; when the police came to the van Dijks' home, however, Fientje was at school. Douwe van Dijk was immediately alerted and he succeeded in reaching the school in time to whisk her out of class. He took her to Sierk and Anna Schaafsma*, where he knew Jews were in hiding. Fientje stayed there for just a few days; in March 1944, she was taken to her last hiding address with Willem and Aaltje Leegsma from Zwaagwesteinde, also in the province of Friesland. There she was reunited with her sister Judith, who had already been in hiding with the Leegsma's for some time. When they were told about the predicament Fientje was in, they immediately agreed to take her in as well. Willem Leegsma was also a butcher. They had no children of their own. The Marcus sisters were indoors at all times; no one was to know about their presence with the family out of fear for betrayal. They both stayed with the Leegsmas until the liberation of the area in April 1945. Contact with most of the rescuers remained after the war, until the Marcus daughters immigrated to Israel. On September 2, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Gerrit Nijenberg and his sister Gerrie Nijenberg, Martin and Lise van Linschoten, Anne Noy, Anton Fennema and Ilonka Fennema-Zboray, Douwe van Dijk and Trijntje van Dijk-Tuininga, as well as Willem Leegsma and Aaltje Leegsma-Noordewier as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner:	Trijntje Tuininga	geb. 18 Aug 1901
Huwelijk:	14 Aug 1928	Westdongeradeel