Henri Louis van Eeghen
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Samuel Pieter van Eeghen | |
| Moeder: | Olga Catharina Antoinetta van Loon | |
| Geboren: | 1 Dec 1887 | Amsterdam |
| Overleden: | 17 Aug 1976 | Driebergen |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Eeghen van First Name: Henri Louis Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: PROTESTANT Gender: Male Profession: BUSINESSMAN Place during the war: Driebergen, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Driebergen, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/10563) Henri and Marguerite van Eeghen, both in their fifties, were devout Protestants with six children, the youngest around nine, and two married. They were originally from Amsterdam, but had moved to Driebergen (prov. Utrecht) after their home was taken over by the German occupier in 1941. Their second home was a detached house with a small farm as well as a forester's cottage on the premises. Henri was a member of the directorate of a large commercial bank and quite well to do. The children were educated by governesses and Marguerite was assisted in the household chores by two domestics. Father and grown sons were active in resistance activities from early in the war, and the home was often a safe haven for other resistance workers. With the onset of the deportations of the Jews in summer 1942, Henri van Eeghen's Jewish tailor, named Mok, asked him in desperation to take his son, Albert Mok, b.1930, into hiding. The van Eeghens agreed. Soon afterwards the Mok family was caught, deported and all were murdered in the death camps. A few months later, Marguerite was contacted by a member of a rescue group for Jewish children in Amsterdam, and asked if she could hide Els Porcelyn, b.1931. The Porcelyns were originally from nearby Laren, but had been forced to relocate to the Jewish section of Amsterdam. After a difficult initial adaptation period, Els felt very much loved by the van Eeghens. One of the younger daughters became a close friend. Both Albert and Els had a dark complexion, whereas the van Eeghens were blond. Thus, both children were not allowed to venture outside the farm's premises. Since German soldiers were stationed close-by and occasionally entered the van Eeghen compound, encounters with the children were inevitable. Thus, Marguerite instructed Albert and Els to tell them that they were Spanish refugees, a story that was luckily always 'bought'. The van Eeghens had prepared a special hiding area under the roof in case of need for various people hiding with them, including their own sons over 18. Nonetheless, Els and Albert had to go into the woods a number of times, when rumors of imminent searches reached the van Eeghens. They hid there by a sand bank, accompanied by one of the van Eeghen children. In March 1944, the home of the van Eeghens caught fire. The whole family had to evacuate, taking Albert and Els with them. They intended to move to relatives, but they were afraid to have the two Jewish children there. The van Eeghens thus looked for a temporary alternative. Once the forester's cottage on their land had been prepared for the family, they moved their temporarily. During the Hungerwinter of 1944-1945, when there was no food in the area, the children occasionally received some from the German soldiers in the barracks nearby. Various members of the van Eeghen family went on treks to the rural eastern parts of the country to find food. Both Albert and Els stayed with the van Eeghens nearly three years, until the liberation of the area in April 1945. The parents and sisters of Els survived the war and she returned to them soon after the liberation. No one of Albert's family survived. He stayed on with the van Eeghens until he came of age. On May 15, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Henri Louis van Eeghen and Marguerite Eeghen van-Boreel as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Catharina Margaretha Boreel | geb. 5 Dec 1891 overl. 2 MRT 1981 |
| Huwelijk: | 4 Apr 1918 | Amsterdam |