Maria Helena Rompen
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Pieter Martin Hubert Rompen | |
| Moeder: | Maria Barbara Steins | |
| Geboren: | 21 MRT 1898 | Wittem |
| Overleden: | 12 MEI 1952 | Beek |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Erkens First Name: Maria Helena Maiden Name: Rompen Date of Birth: 21/03/1898 Date of death: 12/05/1952 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Place during the war: Beek, Limburg, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Beek, Limburg, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9592) Jan Willem and Maria Erkens lived with their five children, aged five to fifteen, in the village of Beek (prov. Limburg). Jan Willem worked at a solicitors office, while Maria took care of the children at home. In August 1942, the Erkens couple asked a friend of theirs, Mrs. Rens, how her husband Meijer Rens was managing under the increasing anti-Jewish measures. Meijer, a physician by profession and originally from Amsterdam, had worked in an Amsterdam hospital until he was fired in 1940, being a Jew. He had then moved with his wife and newborn son to the village of Beek, where they got to know the Erkens family. Even though Meijer had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1939, he was still considered a Jew according to Nazi racial laws. His name was included in the list of the Jews in Beek that had been collated by the municipality in 1941 on the orders of the German authorities. On 26 July 1942, a denunciation of the deportations was read from the pulpit in the Catholic churches. As a reprisal, the converted Catholic Jews were slated for immediate deportation along with all other Jews. Thus, the Erkenses immediately offered to take 30 year-old Meijer into their home. Meijer had to stay indoors at all times, since no one was to know of his presence. His wife subsequently reported him missing. The Erkens family took care of all his needs, and instructed the children never to speak to anyone about an extra person in the house. In April 1944, Meijer Rens was approached by an underground cell, to join the Allied Forces as a physician. He accepted the challenge and was taken via an escape route to France. However, he was arrested in the south of France and taken to Dachau, where he was interned until the end of the war in May 1945. Contact between Rens and the Erkens family children was renewed in the 1990s. On September 3, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Willem Erkens and Maria Helena Erkens-Rompen as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Jan Willem Hubert Erkens | geb. 4 Feb 1901 |
| Huwelijk: | 23 Jan 1926 | Meerssen |