Maria Wilhelmina van Steijn

Geslacht: Vrouw
Vader: Johannes van Steijn
Moeder: Maria Elisabeth Stiennen
Geboren: 1916 Lisse
Aantekeningen: Last Name: Hoogervorst
First Name: Maria Wilhelmina
Maiden Name: Steijn van
Date of Birth: 18/09/1915
Date of death: 12/03/2000
Rescuer's fate: survived
Nationality: THE NETHERLANDS
Gender: Female
Place during the war: Lisse, Zuidholland, The Netherlands
Rescue Place: Lisse, Zuidholland, The Netherlands
Rescue mode: Hiding
File number: File from the Collection of the Righteous Among the Nations Department (M.31.2/308)
A few months before they went into hiding, 33-year-old Abraham Elzas and his wife, Judith Elzas-van Leer, 31, of Voorburg made contact through a friend with the Hoogervorsts, a family who lived in Lisse, South Holland. On February 23, 1943, they left their apartment and moved in with Theodorus and Maria Hoogervorst. Theodorus was a farm laborer and although his monthly salary was not large, he and his wife only agreed to take a very small amount of money from Abraham and Judith. The Elzases lived in a tiny attic room that they never left for 26 months. Theodorus and Maria were devout Catholics who had an infant son. They did everything to make Abraham and Judith’s abnormal existence as normal as possible. They tried to make up for the their lack of freedom of movement by giving them more food than they could afford. After the liberation, Theodorus wrote a detailed letter about his motives for hiding Jews and about his and Maria’s experiences during those tense 26 months. The Elzases asked the Catholic Church to recognize the Hoogervorsts and the Pope awarded them a high decoration.
On February 6, 1973, Yad Vashem recognized Theodorus Hoogervorst and his wife, Maria Hoogervorst-van Steijn, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Gezin 1

Huwelijkspartner: Theodorus Hoogervorst geb. 23 Apr 1905
Huwelijk: 31 Jan 1940 Lisse