Geld van der Dina (Heiningen van)

Geld van der, Dina (van Heiningen) In 1941, 17-year-old Dina van Heiningen was living in Hoevelaken, Gelderland. Dina worked for Caecilia Loots* at her small school for children with severe learning disabilities in Amersfoort, Utrecht. In 1942, Caecilia decided to “expand” the school in order to make room to hide Jewish children. Over the course of the following year, nine Jewish children among whom the sisters Lineke and Marian Sons, Simone Paur and Betty Springer, aged four to 17, found shelter at the school. The staff and pupils lived together like a family. Dina performed most of the household chores such as keeping the house in order and taking care of the smaller children. She also did the shopping. Towards the end of 1944, this task became increasingly difficult due to the general scarcity of food. During that winter, there were no supplies left in the stores. Consequently, in her search for food for the children, Dina journeyed to the farmers in the area around Amersfoort. Over and above this, Dina and Caecilia were both involved in other Resistance activities during the war. Dina worked as a courier, running errands and distributing illegal newsletters. This job was especially perilous because the Germans had constructed the Amersfoort internment camp nearby. On November 11, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Dina van der Geld-van Heiningen as Righteous Among the Nations.