Pieter Eigenraam
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Johannes Kornelis Eigenraam | |
| Moeder: | Maartje Bijl | |
| Geboren: | 7 Juli 1921 | Amsterdam |
| Overleden: | 2000 | Haarlem |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Eigenraam First Name: Pieter Date of Birth: 07/07/1921 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Profession: FURRIER Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding Arranging shelter File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/3102) Israel Leo Waldinger escaped from Poland with his parents and his brothers to Berlin during the First World War. In 1933, he and his father and brothers fled to Holland, where he managed to find work at the BUGO Company making fur items. It was there that he met Pieter Eigenraam, a member of the anti-Nazi underground. In early 1942, Israel received orders to report for work. The fur and leather industry was at the time working full tilt for the German army. Pieter's employer, Mr. Bucher, one of the two partners in BUGO, sent Pieter to the Gestapo every day to ask for the release or at least the postponement of the callup order for the Jewish furriers. One day, when all requests for postponement were still unanswered, Pieter proposed to his Jewish friend that he hide with his parents. Pieter's father, Johannes Kornelis Eigenraam, was a postal official and a man of modest income. Israel offered him 1,000 guilders so that the family could accumulate food. It was agreed that should he be pursued, he would go to their home. A secret hiding place was prepared for him in a cupboard. In September 1942, Israel occupied Pieter's parents' basement in Amsterdam. His name was changed to Henk, but the people in the house knew that he was a Jew in hiding. For 18 months he hid there without breathing fresh air. He did light work around the house, all the time expecting the Allies to come and liberate them. The Eigenraams received leaflets published by the underground, which, after they were read, were passed on to other houses. Johannes was shocked one day to see the Germans conducting a search of her neighbor's house, and fearing that she would reveal the source of the leaflets, Israel was forced to leave the place where he had been hiding for a year and a half. Johannes and Pieter took him on foot to another hiding place. On February 5, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Pieter Eigenraam and his parents, Johannes Kornelis Eigenraam and Maartje Eigenraam-Bijl, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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