Theodore Jean Marie Hubert Hennekens
| Geslacht: | Man | |
| Vader: | Jean Jacques Hubert Maximilien Hennekens | |
| Moeder: | Anna Elisabeth Adolphina Maria Hubertin Hollman | |
| Geboren: | 1921 | |
| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Hennekens First Name: Theodore Date of Birth: 13/02/1921 Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Male Profession: COMPANY OWNER Organization/ Religious order: Trouw Place during the war: Beek, Limburg, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Beek, Limburg, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/3756) Before the war, Theodore and Maxime Hennekens, two brothers, owned a cigar manufacturing company in Beek, Limburg. When the war broke out in May 1940, and they were soon forced to close down the factory because of the scarcity of raw materials, they turned it into a shelter for fugitives. Theodore, the younger of the two, also became especially active in the Resistance. From 1942, he was involved in distributing Trouw, one of the illegal Dutch newspapers, in south Limburg. Theodore was also constantly searching for families willing to shelter fugitives and also involved in obtaining food coupons for those in hiding. On August 3, 1942, Theodore escorted Frans Kanarek, a Jewish refugee from Germany living in Beek, whom he had become acquainted with through his business and later befriended, into the loft of the cigar factory. On April 6, 1943, Frans's mother, Johanna, joined him in this hideout, where Maxime built them a comfortable living area. Theodore and Maxime provided everything that Frans and Johanna required, without charging them and without telling any members of their immediate family. Both fugitives survived the war. During the period that Frans and Johanna were in hiding, the fighting reached Limburg and Allied pilots were seeking shelter from the Nazis. For four weeks in 1944, Theodore and Maxime hid two American pilots in the same building as the Kanareks. The pilots later escaped to England. After the war, Theodore and Maxime received certificates of appreciation from the U.S. Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and from the President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower. They were also awarded the Memorial Resistance Cross from the Dutch Government, in 1984. On January 21, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Theodore Hennekens and his brother, Maxime Hennekens, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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