Geertruida, known as Truus, was born in the picturesque Dutch town of Alkmaar in 1896. Her family had a history of helping others: after World War I, her parents took in and raised some Austrian children who’d been orphaned. Soon after marrying Joop Wijsmuller in 1923, Truus carried on this family tradition, throwing herself into charitable work. Sadly, Truus and Joop were never able to have children of their own. But Truus would come to help save the lives of hundreds of Jewish children.
After Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933 and as anti-Semitism increased throughout Europe, Truus became increasingly concerned about hatred directed against Jews. Even though she wasn't Jewish, she was outraged at the intense anti-Semitism. In 1933, Jewish refugees began pouring over the border from Nazi Germany into Holland, and a group of local Jews and non-Jews established the Comite voor Joodsche Vluchtelingen (Committee for Jewish Interests) to help settle these refugees. Truus became a supporter, working to help German Jews integrate into life in the Netherlands.
She arranged Kindertransport, or children’s transports, bringing Jewish children out of Germany and into safety in the Netherlands. Once the children were there, Truus took an active interest in their welfare, making sure these traumatized children had as normal a childhood as possible.
Children saved by Truus Wijsmuller, Bergen aan Zee, Holland, 1939 (Courtesy of Arthur Adler)
One of the children she saved was a 12-year-old boy named Arthur Adler, as well as his sister Melly. Truus arranged for him and the other Jewish children to live in various safe houses, and for the older children to receive vocational training. Eventually, she moved Arthur and Melly to Burgerweeshuis, Amsterdam’s municipal orphanage, where she’d managed to find housing for scores of Jewish children. “Mrs. Wijsmuller came to the orphanage every day with a committee of Jewish women. It was only later that I learned that she was one of the people orchestrating our rescue,” Arthur later recalled.
He also remembered that Truus arranged for the Jewish children she’d brought to Holland to have regular swimming lessons. She even invited Arthur and some of the other children to celebrate Shabbat dinners that she and Joop arranged for the children in their home. “Although she herself wasn’t Jewish, Wijsmuller was conscious of Jewish traditions. She made sure the (Jewish children she’d saved) went to shul (synagogue), and she made sure my dad had his bar mitzvah when he turned thirteen,” explained Arthur’s daughter Sheryl Abbey in a documentary about Truus’ life.
When Arthur turned thirteen in March 1939, Truus arranged for him to celebrate his bar mitzvah in the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam and bought him a Hebrew Bible for the occasion. She later managed to book passage for him and Melly on a ship to the United States where their parents and other siblings had already managed to flee.
In 1938, with anti-Semitism ramping up to unimaginable levels, Truus knew she had to do more to help the Jews of Germany escape, and planned an audacious move. With her high social position and connections, Truus was able to gain an audience with Adolph Eichmann, one of the architects of the Nazi Holocaust. She travelled to Vienna where he was staying and asked him for permission to bring Jews, particularly children, out of the country and into England. Eichmann replied with a dare: he’d give Truus permission to take 600 Jewish children away, if she could manage to plan and complete their entire journey that very week. He even checked if the offer was acceptable to Hitler, who approved of this dare.
The Scheinowitz sisters, who were rescued by Truus Wijsmuller during the Holocaust,
in a photo from 1942. (Courtesy of Pamela Sturhoofd)
This might have been Eichmann's sadistic way of denying Truus permission, but she saw his offer as a major opportunity. Truus worked tirelessly to plan the exodus of 600 children, collecting children from Jewish families, filling out reams of paperwork and possibly bribing Nazi officials. Within five days, she’d succeeded, spiriting 600 Jewish children out of Vienna and into England in a hastily-arranged kindertransport.
Truus remained in Vienna afterwards, continuing to assist Jews from central Europe in bringing their precious children to safety in England. Desperate Jews contacted Truus from as far afield as Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Danzig, Konigsberg and Breslau, begging her to take their children out of Europe. For several vital months, Truus managed to send groups of children to safety. Each week, she'd put groups of 150 Jewish children on trains headed to the Dutch port of Hoek van Holland, near Rotterdam, where they would board boats bound for England. Working with these relatively small groups, Truus was able to send about 500 Jewish children to safety each week. She continued to transport Jewish children even after war broke out on September 1, 1939.
Truus’ last Dutch boat set sail on May 14, 1940, the day that Holland surrendered to the Nazis. On that day, she evacuated hundreds of Jews who’d found relative safety in hiding in Holland. She visited the Burgerweeshuis orphanage where she told 74 Jewish children living there to flee. She also visited safe houses dotted throughout the city where Jewish refugees were staying. One by one she loaded these terrified Jewish children onto five busses bound for the coast, then arranged for them to board the SS Bodegraven, the last peacetime Dutch ship out, bound for Britain.
Soccer team of Jewish children saved by Truus Wijsmuller, Bergen aan Zee, Holland, 1939.
Arthur Adler is standing at far right. (Courtesy of Arther Adler)
One of the children Truus saved that day was Sophie Scheinowitz. Years later, when she was 87, Mrs. Scheinowitz recalled her first glimpse of Truus. Mrs. Scheinowitz had fled to the Netherlands with her family. As German troops pounded the Netherlands, on May 13, 1940, her mother took her to the central train station in Amsterdam, desperate to send her daughter to safety across the sea. “When we were at the station, there was a train coming along with children and a lady, a big lady with a hat - I always remember her hat,” Mrs. Scheinowitz recalled. “And she said to my mother, ‘Look here, tomorrow I’m coming again with a transport of children, and you be there with your children and I’ll take them along.'”
Truus could have fled with the children on the SS Bodegraven too, but she stayed behind in Holland to continue to help Jews flee. She turned her attention to Jews from the Baltic nations and Poland, and accompanied them on secret routes to France. She led hundreds of Jews through occupied Europe and Spain, and onto the French port of Marseilles, where she arranged passage for them on boats to Palestine. This was incredibly dangerous. To evade detection Truus and her fellow resistance workers never led groups of more than 35 people at a time. Truss also delivered food, forged documents and medical supplies to the Gurs and St. Cyprien’s internment camps in France’s unoccupied zone, where French resistance fighters were detained.
In 1941, Truus was identified as a resistance fighter by the Red Cross. She was banned from entering France, then soon after she was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo. Though the Gestapo let her go, that experience made her realize her life was in grave danger and she stopped accompanying fleeing Jews. Truus did continue to work with a Dutch church sending food to prisoners in the Dutch concentration camp Westerbork, to prisons in Amsterdam, and to the Bergen-Belsen and Theresienstadt concentration camps.
Truus Wijsmuller honored at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, April 13, 1967. (Yad Vashem)
Truus’ final act of wartime heroism came in 1944 when she received a horrifying note. The food she had sent to a group of 50 Jewish orphans in Westerbork was no longer needed as these children were about to be sent to Auschwitz and murdered. Truus raced to Westerbork, where she insisted to the Nazi guards that the children were actually “Aryan” and not Jewish at all. Her ruse succeeded, and instead of being sent to Auschwitz they were sent first to Bergen-Belsen and then to Theresienstadt, where they received relatively benign treatment as non-Jews. All 50 of these children survived and returned to the Netherlands after the war. When they arrived in the Dutch town of Maastricht, Truus was the first person to greet them at the station.
Truus saved the lives of over 10,000 Jews during the darkest days of the Holocaust. On October 18, 1966, she was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel. Geertruida Wijsmuller passed away in 1978 in Amsterdam, her legacy largely forgotten. In today’s difficult times, her heroism and determination to what was right should continue to inspire us.
(24) Herb Z., May 6, 2020 7:18 PM
A woman of valor. Ashis Chayel.
I am a son of holocaust survivors.
(23) Wim van der Hoek, April 28, 2020 3:37 PM
Truus is not forgotten!
I am very much surprised that you write about Truus Wijsmuller, while not mentioning the excellent documentary about Truus Wijsmuller which was made by Pamela Sturhoofd and Jessica van Tijn. The premiere was on March 8, 2020. And highly applauded by the audience. The documentary will be broadcasted on Dutch TV, prior to commemorating Liberation Day.
(22) Reuven Frank, April 23, 2020 2:37 PM
Book
I agree with those who wish you would assemble all these great accounts into
a book.
Please.
(21) Lennie Lurie, April 23, 2020 10:42 AM
Commemorating Righteous Gentiles in more public ways
The story of Geertruida Wijsmuller is indeed amazing but sadly who has really heard of this brave woman? I believe that public places: town centers, roads, malls, etc., in Israel should proudly be named after these relatively unknown Righteous Gentiles. It is not enough just to have a ceremony at Yad Vashem, these Gentile heroes and heroines should be publicly recognized and their names recorded for all to see, admire and respect. They deserve no less by Jews living in Israel.
(20) Al Hoffman, April 22, 2020 11:43 PM
Never Again
It stuns me still as I am reminded of this. Let us be cautious, and forthright both. This, because too often there is repetition of bad information. One time ,A long time ago I repeated something pickup. I was carefully corrected by an elder family member. Perhaps we can help..
(19) zlate1, April 22, 2020 6:12 PM
Turning evil into good
She didn't have any biological children but her "children "and " grandchildren" are as numerous as the sand of the sea shore. I hope Eichmann yemach shema bust a gasket when she succeeded in her challenge. Hashem turns the evil thoughts of evil people to the benefit of his children.
(18) marjorie hirsch, April 22, 2020 1:04 AM
Great woman-Truus! This reminds me of the brave Corrie Ten Boon.
Thank you for this moving story about a brave and righteous gentile. Truus's
story is profoundly moving and I will share it!
Rachel, April 22, 2020 9:28 PM
Miep, who sheltered Anne Frank’s family, was also Dutch
The Netherlands has had a long history of tolerance.
(17) Alan S., April 21, 2020 8:17 PM
Inspiring...
It is wonderful to read about a this woman, righteous and saintly.
(16) Anonymous, April 21, 2020 7:02 PM
Eichmann's Dare: Save 600 Jewish Children in 6 Days
moving, informative, inspirational...true heroism! thank you for keeping her memory alive by writing this wonderful story of Truus Wijsmuller.
(15) Martin Florsheim, April 21, 2020 6:53 PM
Wow. Truus needed to be recognized as a true friend of Jewish ! Can Netherlands recognize her?
(14) denise crammer, April 21, 2020 5:48 PM
Wonderful lady
How wonderful to hear of this brave and extremely humane lady’s story. Those many children whose lives she saved will have gone on to have children and grandchildren, thereby making her extremely charitable act even more outstanding. Thank the Lord for selfless individuals like this saintly lady Mrs Truus Wijsmuller ❤️
(13) Claudia Yohanna Meisyer, April 21, 2020 4:59 PM
Beautiful
It would be great to have a collection of stories like this in a book.
(12) Dr.B.H.Rosenthal, April 21, 2020 4:58 PM
Let me live free iof fear
It makes me feel good that there were and there are some very special people in this world who did and are doing some very special things for people who need the basics of life. Let me live free of fear because of my beliefs. A moving article thank you so much.
(11) Stan Cohen, April 21, 2020 4:21 PM
Truus' brave and heroic acts saved the world and lives of thousands!
A wonderfully written article of heroism and bravery towards the Jews By a non Jew doing the right thing. It also allows us in the pandemic times of today to realize that each of us have an opportunity to help others, do mitzvahs, and show kindness.
(10) Avie Shapiro, April 21, 2020 3:54 PM
Inspiring!
Thank you for sharing this important segment of defiance in the face of the Nazi terror!
(9) Claudio Otavio Lopes, April 21, 2020 3:48 PM
She cannot be forgotten
Thanks so much for sharing this poignant story. Ms. Truus’ name cannot be forgotten. It should be cheered and etched on the frontdoor of any kindergarten around the world.
(8) Anonymous, April 21, 2020 3:35 PM
Reassurance
Articles about people like Truus are reassurance that even during dark times, there are good people
(7) Henry Wiltsçhek, April 21, 2020 3:14 PM
Mazel tov Ms Miller
Ms Miller just keep these wonderful stories coming - that never should be forgotten
(6) Fred A. Kahn, April 21, 2020 2:55 PM
iI AMA hOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
The isolation affecting most of us is familiar to me. I recall vividly living in hiding for two years in Belgium during the German occupation to avoid deportation as a Jewish child to a concentration camp. I was then 10 to 12 years old, not attending school, avoiding youths my age and rarely stepping out of our hidden refuge in the Belgian Ardennes. Through my life, the isolation and stress of those early years have ever been in my memory. I still remember the anxiety and fear of being apprehended.
Today's restrictions resonate, even at 87 years old.
Fred A. Kahn, Bethesda, MARYLAND
Source; The Washington Post, April 16, 2020
(5) barry jankelowitz, April 21, 2020 2:46 PM
What an amazing lady was TruusWijsmuller was, and I hope that her story lives on for ever. I salute her and her husband.
Long may her memory survive!
(4) HindA langer, April 21, 2020 2:44 PM
This is more incredible than some of the well know Righteous Gentiles
What a story of the triumph of intense organized, targeted goodness -activism to save Jewish lives in the darkest days! A woman with principles, means, presence of mind And unbelievable lack of fear. Words fail me.
(3) Anonymous, April 21, 2020 2:38 PM
She was a wonderful person but
She did not save 10, 000 Jews. There 10, 000 total on the kindetransports. She save over a thosuad for sure.
Bunny Shuch, April 22, 2020 8:33 AM
She didn't just save children
According to the article, Truus saved not only Jewish children, but adults as well. Kindertransport was but one of her endeavors.
(2) Barry Steinhart, April 21, 2020 2:28 PM
Incredible bravery and righteousness
There are no words that can adequately describe the righteousness, bravery and spirituality of this wonderful woman. It’s impossible to imagine the reward that she, and all those like her, receives in heaven. I am flabbergasted that there are such angels in bodily form, down here on Earth.
(1) Shimeon Weiner, April 21, 2020 1:55 PM
Inspiring - Thank you.
Time to compile all your articles in a book!