Yad Vashem to scan documents on Dutch Righteous among the Nations
The government of the Netherlands and Yad Vashem have
agreed to digitally archive documents connected to Dutch rescuers of Jews
during the Holocaust.
The documents will be scanned by Yad Vashem, Israel's
Holocaust commemoration authority, in the next two years, Yad Vashem deputy
spokesperson Yifat Bachrach-Ron told JTA.
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and Caspar Veldkamp, the
Dutch ambassador to Israel, signed the agreement on starting the process Monday
at Yad Vashem.
Yad Vashem has recognized 5,204 Dutch residents as
Righteous among the Nations -- its title for non-Jews who risked their lives to
save Jews. It is the highest figure of any Western European nation and second
highest in total. Poland tops the list with 6,339 righteous gentiles.
During preparations of documents connected to Dutch
recipients of the title, Yad Vashem researchers discovered the last known
letter of resistance fighter Hein Sietsma, who along with his fiancee,
Berendina (Diet) Eman, helped save dozens of Jews in The Hague before being
caught and murdered in the Dachau concentration camp.
Siesma and Eman were recognized as Righteous among the
Nations many years ago, but their file contained a small envelope that had not
been opened. The envelope contained a letter that Siesma managed to send to his
fiancee, folded into a one-centimeter package.
"Even if we never meet each other again on this
earth, we will never be sorry for what we did," the letter read. "We
will never regret that we took this stand, and know, Diet, that of every human
being in the world, I loved you the most."
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