Adriana Coppoolse

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Gillis Coppoolse
Moeder: Pieternella Francke
Geboren: 29 OKT 1896 Oostkapelle
Overleden: 5 MRT 1987 Terneuzen
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Hamer den
First Name: Adriana
Maiden Name: Coppoolse
Date of Birth: 29/10/1896
Date of death: 05/03/1987
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Terneuzen, Zeeland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Terneuzen, Zeeland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/318)
In 1943, when Betsy Walvis (later Elisheva Polak) was five years old, her parents decided to take up a friend's offer to arrange to hide her. Betsy's mother, also in hiding, was not informed of her daughter's whereabouts until after the war; her father perished in Auschwitz. Betsy was initially taken to the Simone family in Amsterdam. She stayed there for five months before being transferred by the underground to the den Hamer family in Terneuzen, Zeeland. Jacobus and Adriana den Hamer had nine children aged seven to 22. They also lived with two aged grandparents, one of whom was totally paralyzed. Betsy was provided with forged documents that identified her as Liesje Huistink, a refugee from Walcheren, another island in Zeeland whose bridges had been blown up and the residents evacuated. The family was never financially compensated. They acted out of religious and humanitarian motives. About three months before the end of the war, the Germans requisitioned the den Hamers' home and made it their headquarters. The family was assigned one room in the house. Jacobus and Adriana decided to send four of their younger children as well as Betsy to a safer place. The fact that some of the children stayed together disguised Betsy's "otherness." They were sent to a cousin, Mrs. Koos Dilleman, in Zaamslag, a neighboring village, where they stayed until the liberation. On May 5, 1945, Jacobus went to pick up his children and Betsy. Betsy stayed with the den Hamers until August 1945, when her mother located her after searching through lists of survivors. After Betsy had returned to her mother, the den Hamers continued to send her presents and even paid for her flight from Israel in 1966 to celebrate Adriana's 70th birthday.
On February 28, 1967,Yad Vashem recognized Jacobus den Hamer and his wife, Adriana den Hamer-Coppoolse, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Jacobus den Hamer geb. 7 Feb 1891 overl. 28 Jan 1957
Huwelijk: 5 MEI 1920 Oostkapelle