Asscher Nel (van den Akker)

Asscher-van den Akker, Nel Nel van den Akker (later Asscher), an active member of the Westerweel* group, was especially valuable during the last year of the war. Unlike many others, she had not been arrested and could therefore continue with her Resistance activities, caring for those in hiding, visiting them, and bringing them ration cards, money and forged documents. Nel, together with Lore Durlacher, also took part in the liberation from Westerbork of a group of Palestine Pioneers. Among those who were freed were around 20 members of the Hehalutz Movement, one of whom, Gideon Drach, was smuggled out of the camp by Kurt Walter, the conductor of the small goods train that traveled to and from the camp and himself a Hehalutz member. Nel later married one of the pioneers. On June 16, 1964, Yad Vashem recognized Nel Asscher-van den Akker as Righteous Among the Nations.