Petronella Catharina Louisa van de Walle
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
| Vader: | Jan Francies van de Walle | |
| Moeder: | Josephina Johanna Rodrigo | |
| Geboren: | 13 Feb 1903 | Rotterdam |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Geerards First Name: Petronella Catharina Louisa Maiden Name: Walle van de Alias: NELLIE Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC Gender: Female Place during the war: Breda, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Breda, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding Supplying basic goods Arranging shelter File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/7651) The Alter and Geerards families became friendly in 1935, when Abraham Alter opened a photography shop in Breda, North Brabant, and Eugene Geerards became his bookkeeper. In the very early stages of the war, Eugene forged papers in Abraham's dark room. In September 1942, Abraham voluntarily reported to Westerbork, thinking that this would save his wife and daughters. However, after awhile, he smuggled a note out of the transit camp and told them to go into hiding. At the end of 1942, Eugene took Grietje Alter and her daughters, ten-year-old Betty and eight-year-old Carrie, to a hiding place. Six weeks later, when they needed a new shelter, he brought them to his own home. Hidden with Eugene and Petronella (Nellie), the fugitives spent their days studying, reading, and talking in one of the bedrooms. At night, they slept under the roof of the adjacent garage, where they listened to an illegal radio and recorded messages for the Resistance. They entered this area through an opening in the wall behind Eugene and Nellie's bed which they could not open from inside. The Geerardses only let them out in the morning after their children had gone to school. Eugene and Nellie's two daughters, who were about the same age as Betty and Carrie, did not discover that their friends were hiding in their home until after the war. The Geerardses' two sons, who were a little older, did know and took food to the fugitives three times a day. The Geerardses received no payment; they helped the Alters out of friendship and humanitarianism. Once a month, Eugene traveled to Amsterdam to provide Grietje's parents with ration cards. He continued to do so until the Germans apprehended them, only two months before the liberation. At one time, Eugene, a Catholic who looked Jewish, spent several days in prison because a traitor had reported that he was a Jew. On another occasion, a non-Jewish friend of the Geerardses asked for temporary shelter and for three days, the Alters hid in the attic, where they could not even stand up. By the end of the war, Abraham had been murdered in a death camp and collaborators inhabited the Alters' old home. Eugene did not rest until Grietje, who had lost all her family, could move back to her property. Eugene became the Alter family's guardian and acted like a father to the daughters. On May 27, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Eugene Emile Geerards and his wife, Petronella Catharina Louisa Geerards-van de Walle, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Eugène Emile Geerards | geb. 21 Juli 1899 |
| Huwelijk: | 18 Juli 1929 | Hulst |