Kleiman Johannes

Kleiman, Johannes In the autumn of 1941, when Jews had to appoint Aryan “Vertreters” for their business, Otto Frank appointed his employee Johannes (Jo) Kleiman (Jo Koophuis in Anne Frank’s diary) as managing director of his company, Opekta, so that it could continue operating. Then, with the help of Jo and Victor Kugler*, Otto transformed the upstairs storage rooms at the rear of his office at Prinsengracht 263, Amsterdam, into a hiding place that was separated from the main part of the building by a stairwell hidden by a revolving bookcase. In July 1942, Otto, his wife, and their daughters Margot and Anne, as well as four other Jews, moved into this hideout. Jo was one of the five people who took care of them there. Each of these five people had their own task: Jan Gies* and Jo purchased ration coupons on the black market and, if necessary, sold items of the hiders’ jewelry. For 25 months, Jo also visited the Jewish fugitives every day, sometimes early in the morning and sometimes during the lunch break when the other office employees were out of the building. The excitement of these activities caused Jo several attacks of ulcers during this time. On August 4, 1944, the group of hidden Jews was betrayed and the Germans raided their hiding place. Jo and Victor were arrested and sent to a concentration camp in Amersfoort, where Jo’s health deteriorated and he suffered terribly. After some time, the Red Cross managed to secure his release. On March 8, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Johannes Kleiman as Righteous Among the Nations.