Hoolmann Elizabeth

Hoolmann, Elizabeth Elizabeth Hoolmann was a German national living in Brussels. On the eve of the German invasion of Belgium, all German males were arrested. Elizabeth’s husband died of typhus in an internment camp in Northern France. Jossel David and Jyte Beila Rechter and their two children lived in Brussels, where Lucien, a third son was born in March 1942. A few months later, Yossel David was told to report for forced labor. He was sent to northern France and from there deported later on to Auschwitz. At the end of 1942, Jyte Beila and her three children moved into a home with other Jewish families but were denounced. She tried to bluff her way out with a concocted story, and ran off with the children without their belongings while the officer went to make a phone call to verify her story. They had nowhere to go and sat in a park when Jyta Beila remembered that she had heard about Elizabeth Hoolmann and sent her eldest son to her to beg for accommodation. Elizabeth Hoolmann immediately responded favorably to the boy’s appeal. She lived in a tiny apartment on the third floor of a building. A young Jewish girl was already hidden with her when she decided to host Jyte Beila and her children, except for her eldest son Leo whom Elizabeth sent to a nearby priest who was known to have connections with the underground. The boy remained in hiding with Catholic families until the liberation. The Rechter family remained with Elizabeth Hoolmann for a few weeks. During the day, they were allowed to move around freely, but at night they had to keep silent for fear of the downstairs neighbors. Then, Elizabeth found a safe hiding place for them in an abandoned warehouse. She remained their guardian until the liberation and they loved her as part of their family. The children used to call her ‘tante Hopitchi’. On March 25, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Elizabeth Hoolmann as Righteous Among the Nations.