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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 05:10 08/11/2007 Three Dutch couples named Righteous Among the Nations By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent tags: Holocaust  The children of three Dutch couples received the title of Righteous Among the Nations Wednesday in their deceased parents' names, the Israeli Embassy in the Hague told Haaretz. The Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Authority said it had posthumously awarded its highest honor for non-Jews who rescued Jews from the Holocaust to Berthus and Gijsbertje Colet, Pieter and Siebregje van der Werff and Cornelis and Marretje Veenhof, at a ceremony in Rotterdam's liberal synagogue. Another Dutch couple, Hendrikus (Hein) and Martha Snapper, received the title last month. Yad Vashem said that the four cases are not part of any specific effort connected with the Netherlands. "This is part of our general action regarding applicants," spokeswoman Estee Yaari said. Advertisement The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Colet, Riet, received the medal in her parents' name for helping to save Mr. and Mrs. Thalman, who owned the Eindhoven furniture shop where Berthus Colet, a carpenter, worked. The Thalmans, who were Jewish, spent 22 months in hiding from the Nazis in a two-by-three meter room in the Colet household. Berthus Colet had earlier given the Thalmans the key to his house in case they needed to hide. The Jewish couple showed up at the Colets' doorstep when the deportation of Dutch Jews to death camps began in 1942. The Nazis would often execute anyone caught hiding or assisting Jews. In 1943, Pieter and Siebregje van der Werff sheltered two Jews in their house in the small town of Bolsward in northern Holland: Elisabeth Groenteman, who was 23 at the time, and nine-year-old Esther Waterman. The two Jewish girls did not live in hiding at the van der Werffs, but ate at the dinner table with the couple and went with them to church. Some of the van der Werff's neighbors must have known the girls were Jewish, Yad Vashem concluded, but no one said a word. The van der Werff's son, Sytze, who thought of Esther as his older sister as he was growing up with her during the war, received the medal in his parents' name. When the deportations started, Milo Liebstaedter, a Jewish banker of German descent, came to Cornelis and Marretje Veenhof for help. The couple had made their Utrecht home, where they lived with their three children, a safehouse for Jews in hiding. At tremendous personal risk, the Veenhofs took in the Liebstaedter's two daughters: three-year-old Hedi and her sister. Hedi's sister was quickly moved to another shelter, but Hedi remained with the Veenhofs, who presented her as their adopted daughter. The Veenhofs' biological daughter, Margriet, who received the medal in her parents' name, was only two at the time. By the age of four, when the Netherland was still occupied, she already knew not to mention her step-sister to strangers. More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us Preface to peace? The U.S. has rejected Abbas' demand for a schedule for the final-status agreement. Crowd control The IFA has banned Beitar Jerusalem fans from two home games for booing Rabin.   1.   Same motives make Dutch support Palestinians now 06:13  |  Lili 08/11/07   2.   Re 1 all is not good in tulip land 08:09  |  Alan the real one 08/11/07   3.   To #1 09:42  |  A mother 08/11/07   4.   Recognition 10:04  |  Cyclops 08/11/07   5.   Lili fr Norway 10:34  |  chanan 08/11/07   6.   dutch couples..CYCLOP 10:38  |  chanan 08/11/07   7.   Palestinian Christians now persecuted by Muslims 10:55  |  former Dutch girl 08/11/07   8.   Righteous Among The Nations 11:02  |  Clickfool 08/11/07   9.   Lili`s preference 11:03  |  Michael Jacobs 08/11/07   10.   #5 Chanan, Lily fr Norway may be an ofspring of 11:33  |  Haham me Bat Yam 08/11/07   11.   Jacobs 11:52  |  Ted 08/11/07   12.   Ted to the rescue 12:50  |  Michael Jacobs 08/11/07   13.   Dutch Righteous amongst the Gentiles 12:58  |  Zwi Eshed 08/11/07   14.   Jacobs 14:20  |  Ted 08/11/07   15.   Other main reasons 14:49  |  Ted 08/11/07   16.   Ted - unfounded insinuations?? 15:51  |  Michael Jacobs 08/11/07   17.   Answer 3 20:20  |  Ted 08/11/07   18.   Ted - Here`s a horrible answer 01:24  |  Michael Jacobs 09/11/07

Today Online IDF reservists: Hamas militants fight like soldiers, not terrorists Responses: 248 Iran rejects Interpol warrant for suspects in Argentine bombing Responses: 80 UNRWA chief: Blockade on Gaza fuel support for extremists Responses: 124 Report: Washington worried Israel gearing up to attack Iran Responses: 110 Haaretz.com TV: Judaism seeking rebirth in Poland Responses: 55 David Grossman snubs Olmert upon receiving prize Responses: 46 Rosner's Domain * The 2008 candidates and the lies of "change" * Short of confronting Damascus, options are limited (WTR) * Rosner's Guest: Let's create a women's Talmud * Does Ron Paul single out Israel? More Headlines 23:04 Officials: PA, Israel want U.S. help on summit draft 23:06 UN Chief orders full probe of rocket launching from school in Gaza 01:25 Israeli envoy to U.K. Zvi Heifetz likely to advise Blair on Mideast 23:44 Barak and Olmert meet face-to-face to level working tensions 20:33 Prague neo-Nazis plan march in Jewish quarter despite city ban 23:02 Hezbollah: Drill held at Israel border meant to ready us for war 15:53 Iran rejects Interpol warrant for suspects in Argentine bombing 19:55 Three tourists killed, two locals injured in Negev road accident 20:34 El Al plane from N.Y. hits flower crates at B-G Airport; no injuries 19:17 Israeli stores recall toy found with elements of date-rape drug Previous Editions Select Day 08 nov 07 nov 06 nov 05 nov 04 nov 02 nov 01 nov 31 oct 30 oct 29 oct 28 oct 26 oct

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