Wilhelmina Sophia de Wit
| Geslacht: | Vrouw | |
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| Aantekeningen: | Last Name: Hoften First Name: Willy Maiden Name: Wit de Rescuer's fate: survived Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS Gender: Female Place during the war: Almelo, Overijssel, The Netherlands Rescue Place: Almelo, Overijssel, The Netherlands Rescue mode: Hiding ; Providing forged documents ; Arranging shelter File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/8763) On January 29, 1944, when arrests of Jews and the deportation to the East of most of them had already been accomplished, the few Jews still alive in the Netherlands were underground. Adrian Hoek was born in a hole dug into the wet earth of a forest near Markelo, where his parents and a few more people were in hiding. After the birth in the forest, the baby was taken to a local hospital in Hengelo, also nearby, from where he was picked up and taken home by Willy Hoften-de Wit. The baby had been given the assumed identity of a baby born the day before with the name of Adrian. Willy and Henk Hoften were a young couple without children living in Almelo. Henk Hoften was an official at the Labor Exchange but dedicated most of his time to underground activities with his friends of the AJC, the socialist youth organization. He forged documents and looked for hiding places for persecuted Jews. Henk and Willy had already hidden other Jewish children in their home for short periods, among them the son of the well-known industrialist, Sieg Menco of Enschede, with no regard for their own safety. After the resistance staged a successful attack on the prison in Almelo in which two of the central figures of the AJC were freed, Henk Hoften became a prime suspect of the Germans. Realizing the danger, Henk and Willy went underground in Almelo with "their" baby, Adrian, but were soon discovered. Henk was arrested, tortured, and subsequently executed on September 30, 1944; his house was demolished. Even under torture, he never gave away any information. Willy Hoften never abandoned baby Adrian. She took care of him during the remainder of the war when she had to live with her friends, the Mondriaans* in Almelo, after her husband was executed. Even after the war, Adrian lived with her for a few years after Adrian's own parents, who had survived, proved temporarily unable to care for him. Adrian then went back to his parents but maintained close contact with "Auntie" Willy until her death in 1988. On January 2, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Henk Hoften and Willy Hoften-de Wit, as Righteous Among the Nations. |
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Gezin 1
| Huwelijkspartner: | Hendrik Höften | geb. 2 Juni 1913 overl. 30 Sept 1944 |
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