| Righteous Among the Nations |
|---|
 |
| By country |
Joop Westerweel (25 January 1899, Zutphen – 11 August 1944, Vught)[1] was a schoolteacher,[2] a non-conformist socialist and a Christian anarchist[3] who became a Dutch World War II resistance leader, the head of the Westerweel Group.
Westerweel, along with Joachim Simon and other Jewish colleagues, helped save around 200 to 300 Jews by organizing an escape route, smuggling Jews through Belgium, France and on into neutral Switzerland and Spain. He was arrested on 10 March 1944, after leading a group of Jewish children to safety in Spain, whilst on his way back to the Netherlands at the Dutch/Belgian border. He was executed at Herzogenbusch concentration camp in August 1944.[1]
Legacy
The Joop Westerweel Park in Israel-Palestine was named in memory of Westerweel. Several streets in the Netherlands are named after Westerweel, in Heemskerk, Montfoort, Rotterdam, and Vlaardingen. In Amsterdam, a public primary school is named after Westerweel. Along with his wife, in 1964 Joop received the Yad-Vashem award.[4]
Family
The Dutch television presenter Bas Westerweel is Joop Westerweel's grandchild.[5]
See also
- Anarchism in the Netherlands
- Wieke Bosch, another Dutch anarchist who saved people from the Holocaust and was executed by the Nazis
References
- ^ a b Presser, Jacques (1998). Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry. Wayne State University Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-8143-2036-5.
- ^ Johan (Joop) Westerweel | "Their Fate Will Be My Fate Too…" Teachers Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust An online exhibition by Yad Vashem. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ Warren I. Cohen: Profiles in Humanity: The Battle for Peace, Freedom, Equality, and Human Rights ; Chapter 10; page 158
- ^ https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/righteous-teachers/westerweel.asp?
- ^ http://www.verreverwanten.nl/afleveringen/serie%203/verre%20verwanten%20van%20bas%20westerweel%20en%20jessica%20van%20andel/2076.html
Further reading
- Schippers, Hans (2019). "Joop Westerweel and the Left-Wing Radical Milieu in the 1920s and 1930s". Westerweel Group: Non-Conformist Resistance Against Nazi Germany: A Joint Rescue Effort of Dutch Idealists and Dutch-German Zionists. De Gruyter. pp. 33–59. doi:10.1515/9783110582703. ISBN 978-3-11-058270-3. S2CID 166468317.
External links
- Teachers Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust. Yad Vashem
- ONA SIMAITE, JOOP WESTERWEEL, IRENA SENDLEROWA. USHMM
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
You must be logged in to post a comment.