Wilhelmina Hubertina Paulina Gielen

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Paulus Hendricus Gielen
Moeder: Maria Elisabeth Holtackers
Geboren: 12 OKT 1908 Baarlo
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Gielen
First Name: Wilhelmina Hubertina Paulina
Date of Birth: 12/10/1908
Date of death: 20/08/1990
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Religion: ROMAN CATHOLIC
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Baarlo, Limburg, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Baarlo, Limburg, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/693)
In August 1943, only a few months after his birth, Avraham Rosenberg’s parents gave him to Ans van Dam-Drukker, a Jewish underground worker who could find a shelter for the baby. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg had agreed to this plan in order to avoid the possibility of the baby being deported. Ans sent Avraham to two sisters, Elisabeth and Wilhelmina Gielen, living in Baarlo, Limburg. Elisabeth and Wilhelmina took in the infant without hesitation. They were able to obtain false papers that represented the child as Paul, a Christian boy orphaned by the bombings in Rotterdam. Neighbors, friends, and even the Germans based nearby believed this fiction, and he survived the war. Elisabeth and Wilhelmina were devout Catholics. In order for the boy not to look suspicious, they raised him as a Catholic. He became their adopted son and he referred to Elisabeth as “mama” and Wilhelmina as “auntie.” Avraham’s parents did not survive the war, and so the sisters continued to raise him, in the same manner as any other local boy, until he was able to take care of himself. At the age of nine, Elisabeth and Wilhelmina told him who he really was. When he was ready to go to university, Avraham moved out of their home and returned to his Jewish roots. However, his relations with Elisabeth and Wilhelmina were not affected, and they remained his “mama” and “auntie” until they died. During the war, the sister’s home was also used as a temporary safe haven for others on the run from the Nazi regime. They sheltered pilots who had been shot down as well as active Resistance workers.
On January 30, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Elisabeth Odilla Maria Gielen and her sister, Wilhelmina Hubertina Paulina Gielen, as Righteous Among the Nations.