Hendrikus Petrus van Gemert
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Petrus van Gemert | |
| Moeder: | Johanna Roelofs | |
| Geboren: | 17 Apr 1905 | Wijchen |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Gemert van First Name: Hendrikus Petrus Date of Birth: 17/04/1905 Date of death: 13/12/1992 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC Gender: Male Profession: FARMER Place during the war: Wijchen, Gelderland, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Wijchen, Gelderland, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/3153) Henri Hartog Themans was born in Amsterdam in 1938. In mid-1942, Henri and his parents were relatively safe because his father, David Themans, was working at the Joodsche Raad and was exempted from deportation. However, in early 1943, David contacted people in the underground to help find hiding places for his family. In February 1943, Dr. Albertine van der Bilt*, accompanied by Paul Terwindt* and Elly Mensink, took Henri to Albertines mothers home in Arnhem, where he stayed for about four months. From there, Henri was moved between various other hideouts before Albertine succeeded in securing him refuge with Hendrikus and Louisa van Gemert in Wijchen, a small village in Gelderland. Hendrikus and Louisa, a childless couple, lived on an isolated farm without electricity or running water, but they were self-sufficient in food. Since they sold some of their crops, a large number of people came to their house. Thus, Henri had to be especially careful. He was represented to the family and friends of the van Gemerts as a child who had survived the air raids on Rotterdam. Only their priest knew the truth. Once, near the end of 1943, the Germans raided their property in search of illegal radios. Fortunately, they did not notice Henri. The van Gemerts had agreed on a code with Henri to use in times of danger; patting him on the leg was a sign to remain silent. Through the underground, Hendrikus regularly sent letters to Henris parents. However, most of them ended up being destroyed on the way for fear of being intercepted. Hendrikus and Louisa were devout Catholics. When the area they lived in was liberated, in September 1944, Louisa went to enroll Henri in a local school. Henri stayed with the van Gemerts until after the liberation of the rest of Holland in May 1945. Henri, later Dr. Themans, remained in close contact with his wartime foster parents. On March 19, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Hendrikus Petrus van Gemert and his wife, Louisa Antonia van Gemert-de Bruijn, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Louisa Antonia de Bruijn | geb. 23 Dec 1915 overl. 13 Feb 2007 |
| Huwelijk: | 4 MEI 1939 | Nijmegen |