Godefridus Hakkens
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Hendrikus Jacobus Petrus Hakkens | |
| Moeder: | Maria Johanna Hurkmans | |
| Geboren: | 11 Juni 1919 | Breda |
| Overleden: | 1971 | |
| Religie: | Rooms Katholiek | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Hakkens First Name: Godefridus Alias: Frits Date of Birth: 1919 Date of death: 27/12/1971 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Place during the war: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands ; Breda, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Amsterdam, Noordholland, The Netherlands ; Breda, Noordbrabant, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/9339) Ten months after the occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, a first major round-up took place as a result of a series of street provocations by Dutch collaborators. Four hundred Jewish men were picked up on February 13 in Amsterdam, among them Abraham Szanowski, originally from ?ód? in Poland, who had moved to the Netherlands in 1936. They were deported to Buchenwald and Mauthausen where they were murdered. His wife, Gita, (née Goldblum) was left with two small children, baby Esther born a month prior to the raid, in January 1941, and her older sister, Lea, born in 1938. A year later, in early 1942, after a series of anti-Jewish measures, Gita decided to try and flee to Switzerland with false papers that her husbands brother had provided her. He promised to take care of Lea; Johanna Marijnissen who had been the Zanowskis domestic help was willing to take baby Esther. Johanna was about to get married with Godefridus (Frits) Hakkens. The young couple moved to the southern city of Breda where no one would know them and thus they were able to present Esther as their own daughter who now went by the name, Elly. Some months later, the Germans were searching for Frits who was active in an underground resistance cell, and Frits had to go into hiding. At that point it was too dangerous to keep Esther in their home, and Johanna contacted other resistance group members in order to locate a new address for Esther. She was taken to Louis and Marina Neele* in Haarlem, where she stayed until the liberation of that city in May 1945. Gita Szanowski indeed reached Switzerland and survived the war. She was able to locate both her daughters, and emigrated with them to Brazil. The Hakkens family immigrated to New Zealand, where they passed away in the seventies, and both families lost contact. In 2010, the Hakken children decided to look for Esther, publishing her picture in a Dutch publication that is read by Dutch survivors. Esters sister Lea, living in Los Angeles, saw the picture and contacted her sister. She in turn immediately contacted the Hakkens in New Zealand and went to visit them. On December 27, 2011, Yad Vashem recognized Godefridus Hakkens and Johanna Hakkens-Marijnissen as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Johanna Adriana Dimphna Marijnissen | geb. 12 Jan 1921 overl. 1975 |
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