Postma Haije & Baukje (Kamstra)

Kamstra, Sijbolt Kamstra, Klaaske (van der Veen) Postma, Haije Postma, Baukje (Kamstra) Gedalje Wajsbaum (b. 1894) and his wife, Ester (née Hopstein, b. 1893), were both born in Poland, in the Łódź area, to Orthodox families. Gedalje deserted from the Polish army in 1920 and went to Germany, where he learned to operate knitting machines. He married Ester, and their daughters, Helmine (called Helma, b. 1923) and Irmgard (b. 1924), were born in Neumünster, in the German province of Schleswig-Holstein. Gedalje started a knitting factory and was very successful. Ester’s youngest sister, Chana Hella, joined the family, initially to help Ester with the household, but soon it became clear that she was a good merchandiser, and she worked at the factory and in the family’s knitted goods store. In 1933 the Wajsbaums moved to the Netherlands, where they opened a knitting factory in Roosendaal (North-Brabant). There a son, Dan Bernardus, was born in 1936. In 1938 the family moved to The Hague, where they founded a new factory and store in partnership with Alfred Kamm. After the Germans had occupied the Netherlands in 1940, they began persecuting and isolating the Jewish citizens. They dispossessed the Wajsbaum family of their business. Chana Hella, who had become active in the Dutch resistance, initiated the family’s going into hiding in June 1942 and organized their first hiding addresses. Dan was hidden in several places, among them a Jewish orphanage called “Ezer Lajatom” and, for a short while, with the Jan Drop family (recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990). In January 1944 Gedalje and Ester were betrayed and arrested; they perished in Auschwitz. Dan, his sisters, and aunt Chana Hella survived. In about August 1944 Dan arrived in Friesland on a ferry, accompanied by a female student. He was sheltered by Haije (b. 1912) and Baukje (née Kamstra, b. 1920) Postma, a couple who had three little children. Haije was a farm hand, and the family lived in the little town of Gauw, which was so small that it did not have street names and numbers. Dan received a false identity; he was called “Bennie Postma.” He could play outside and go to school and to church. He helped Haije work with the cows and Baukje with the household. But when German soldiers were billeted at the neighbors’ home, it became too dangerous for Dan to stay there, so he was transferred to Baukje’s parents, Sijbolt and Klaaske Kamstra (b. in 1885 and 1889, respectively), who also lived in Gauw. Dan felt comfortable there also. The Kamstras gave him everything he needed, and he was never forced to do anything. Dan stayed with Sijbolt and Klaaske Kamstra until the liberation. When the war was over, Dan was found by his aunt Chana Hella, who had put an advertisement in the local newspaper. Dan and his sisters immigrated to Israel, where Dan married and had four sons. He remained in warm contact with his rescuers. On September 19, 2016, Yad Vashem recognized Sijbolt and Klaaske (van der Veen) Kamstra and Haije and Baukje (Kamstra) Postma as Righteous Among the Nations.