Hennevanger Nelis & Truus (Osch van)

Hennevanger, Nelis Hennevanger, Truus (van Osch) Flisijn, Lieuwe Flisijn, Catharina Gezina (Vischer) Toward the end of 1942, the Jewish Nathans family, from Arnhem, in the Dutch province of Gelderland, decided to go into hiding. First the parents, Simon and Lies Nathans, found a hiding place for their 5-year-old son, Max, who was sheltered in Zetten by the Den Hartog family (recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations in 2000). Lies Nathans (née Cohen) was pregnant and due to give birth within a few months. Simon and Lies found a hiding place with their former neighbors, Nelis (called Neel, b. 1904) and Truus (b. 1908) Hennevanger, who had moved to Zwolle. On February 16, 1943, the Nathans’s second son, Lex, was born in the Hennevanger family’s attic. The presence of a newborn baby greatly increased the danger of being discovered by the Nazis. People in the area could hear a baby crying, and when some of them started asking the Hennevangers about the crying baby in their house, they realized that the Nathans family could no longer stay with them. After a few weeks they found a solution. Lies and baby Lex went to Andijk, to Marie Schuurman-Gutter (recognized as Righteous in 2006). Lex stayed there until the end of the war, and Lies went in hiding in Oldebroek. Simon was hidden by Lieuwe and Catharina Gezina Flisijn (b. 1909 and 1907, respectively), who also lived in Zwolle. The Flisijns had three children, who called Simon “Ome (uncle) Willem.” He spent most of the day in a little room on the first floor. When the weather was good, he could lie flat on his back on the little balcony, where he could not be seen, counting planes. Simon joined the family for meals, but sometimes people came to visit unexpectedly, and then he had to disappear into the front room, and his plate and other traces of his presence were quickly removed. Once, the family was even warned by a Nazi-sympathizing neighbor that they should hide “that man that could be seen on the first floor” in a better way. He could be seen from outside. There is no doubt that this was a narrow escape for the Flisijn family and Simon Nathans. Once in a while Lieuwe Flisijn and Simon Nathans went to visit Lies Nathans at her hiding place in Oldebroek. It was a very dangerous trip by bicycle, during which they had to cross the bridge over the river IJssel, which was always checked by German soldiers. Fortunately, they always made it safely. When Catharina Flisijn was ready to give birth to her fourth child, they thought it would be better if Simon went to another family and that a young Jewish woman would be hidden instead. Therefore Simon was “exchanged” for a Jewish woman, Jeanne Blitz, who remained with the Flisijn family for many years after the war. Simon went to Jeanne’s former hiding address in Oldebroek, where he stayed until the liberation. The Nathans family survived the war thanks to all these brave people, who endangered themselves and their families to save them. The Nathans always remained in warm contact with them after the war, visiting them regularly. The Nathans children immigrated to Israel during the postwar years, and in 1966 the Flisijn family even went to visit them, by car, taking the boat from Italy. For four weeks they traveled together with the Nathans family through Israel, and Lieuwe Flisijn wrote a report about their trip. On April 11, 2016, Yad Vashem recognized Nelis and Truus (van Osch) Hennevanger and Lieuwe and Catharina Gezina (Vischer) Flisijn as Righteous Among the Nations.