Berend van Eerden
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Eefke van Eerden | |
| Moeder: | Roelfien Houwing | |
| Geboren: | 22 Feb 1913 | Groningen |
| Beroep: | magazijnbediende, administrateur boekhouder | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Eerden van First Name: Berend Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Heemstede, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Heemstede, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9691) The Steenbergen family, Egbert and Aaltje and their son Herman, born in 1923, lived in Heemstede (prov. North-Holland). Egbert ran a real estate company, where his daughter Tonny as well as her fiancé Berend van Eerden also worked. They, as well as other members of the staff, were involved in underground activities. In September 1942, 19-year-old Herman went into hiding in the village of Oirschot (prov. North Brabant), fearing that he would be ordered by the Germans to work on coast fortifications. While there, he met the Jewish van der Heijden family, parents and two daughters, Rita, four and her sister Cathrien, seven years old. Even though they were living away from the main Jewish population centers, they realized that the restrictive anti-Jewish measures and the onset of the deportations for work in the East, threatened them as well and they started to look for hiding addresses. Herman, and his parents, Egbert and Aaltje, picked up the girls in September and took them to their home. The Steenbergens were devout Calvinists and considered it their Christian duty to save Jews, the People of the Book. Beyond hiding Rita and Cathrien, Egbert placed the van der Heijden parents, as well as a Polak couple who were their cousins, in one of the apartments he was managing in Amsterdam. Rita and Cathrien were supposedly nieces from Rotterdam, who had no home left after the bombing of the city in May 1940. Initially they found it difficult in their new environment, being the only children in a strange home. However, the Steenbergens made them feel as comfortable as possible. The van der Heijden girls called them Uncle and Aunt. They could not go to school and thus the Steenbergens were involved in home-schooling Cathrien and Rita. The girls participated in the daily prayer with each meal. Rita, not looking too obviously Jewish, was allowed from time to time to play outside the home. One day in the summer of 1944, the Steenbergens were betrayed. Their daughter Tonny frantically called home with the message that the Dutch pro-Nazi auxiliary police force (Landwacht) had searched Steenbergens office. Not finding Egbert at his desk, they were on their way to the Steenbergen home. Immediately, Aaltje whisked the girls to neighbors. The Landwacht searched the home, but found no one. They returned that same evening and robbed the house. Meanwhile, the Steenbergens themselves went into hiding. Rita and Cathrien van der Heijden were taken to Paulina Ledeboer-Stevens*, where they stayed until the liberation in May 1945. The van der Heijden girls were reunited with their parents after the war and immigrated to Israel in the early fifties. They lost all contact with the Steenbergens/van Eerdens until recently, when contact was renewed with surviving Herman and Berend. On May 26, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Egbert and Aaltje Steenbergen and their son Herman Steenbergen as well as Berend van Eerden and Tonny van Eerden-Steenbergen, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Tonny Steenbergen | geb. 24 Aug 1919 |
| Huwelijk: | 18 Sept 1945 | Heemstede |