Diederik Ferdinand van den Elst
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Abraham van den Elst | |
| Moeder: | Hendrika de Witte | |
| Geboren: | 6 Nov 1906 | Ambt Almelo |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Elst van den First Name: Diederik Ferdinand Date of Birth: 06/11/1906 Date of death: 24/06/1986 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Profession: MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE Place during the war: Almelo, Overijssel, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Almelo, Overijssel, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/2255) Diederik and Aaltje van den Elst lived in Almelo, Overijssel. Diederik worked in the municipality, Aaltje was a housewife, and they had a seven-year-old daughter and infant son. Initially, they hid only some members of the Jewish Simon family from the same city: the brother, Samuel, and Bram Lievendag, the fiancé of the eldest daughter, Mia. Mia and her sister, Helena, were still working when Helena was warned that a large number of Jews had been arrested the day before, and they realized that the time had come to hide. Helena and Mia turned to Diederik and Aaltje and asked to hide with them until they found a permanent hideout. Aaltje van den Elst immediately agreed. Meanwhile, Diederik himself was hiding in another place because he refused, as a municipal official, to work for the Germans. The two girls would knit and send the finished products to the families of people who saved Jews and in return received food coupons, which were vital for anyone in hiding. In March 1944 the girls' parents, David and Rebecca, who had been hiding in another location in the same town, could no longer remain in their hiding place and Aaltje agreed to take them in too. One day the van den Elsts were informed that the Germans were about to storm their house to arrest the four members of the Simon family. The Jews were quickly moved. A brief search was conducted, and Aaltje kept her composure and denied that she had hidden any Jews, but unfortunately she had not managed to destroy all the evidence. As a punishment, her house was sealed, the keys taken away, and she had to go with her two children to live with her mother-in-law. After six weeks she succeeded to regain entry to her home and the first thing she did was to invite the two Jewish girls back to hide in her home. After a few weeks, the parents and the brother also returned, staying with her until the liberation on April 4, 1945. On April 18, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Diederik Ferdinand van den Elst and his wife, Aaltje van den Elst-Bouwes, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Aaltje Bouwes | geb. 19 Juni 1905 |
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