Westen van Franciscus

Westen van, Franciscus Franciscus van Westen, superintendent of the Christian Queen Emma School in Zwolle, Overijssel, witnessed with horror the roundup of some 200 Jews on October 7-8, 1941, and soon afterwards, became involved in the Resistance. Working with the Vrij Nederland group, he convinced many Jews to go into hiding and supplied them with hiding addresses and food coupons. Eventually, he required 40 coupons a month, which he initially obtained through an underground contact whom he traveled to meet in Sloten, Friesland. Later, he made contact with the parent of one of his students, originally from Rotterdam, who was now working in a distribution office and agreed to bring him coupons every month. He was also involved in bringing copy for publication in the illegal Vrij Nederland and Het Parool newspapers. Eighteen-year-old Marcel Spiro was caught with his father in a razzia in Amsterdam in 1942. Marcel escaped from the train when it stopped in Hettermerbroek, Gelderland, from where he walked to Zwolle. On September 5, he met Franciscus van Westen, who found him a hiding place with retired schoolteacher Nies Jacobs. He stayed with her until April 15, 1945. Franciscus knew Eli Denneboom of Zwolle from before the war. In the spring of 1943, the Denneboom family received an order to report for labor in the east and Franciscus tried to convince Eli that he should go into hiding. Eli asked for refuge for his two daughters only: Bep, aged 16, and Els, 14, and Franciscus took them to a safe place in Eindhoven. Eli and his wife, Frederika (née van Tijn), and their six-year-old daughter, Antoinette, all perished in Sobibor on June 4, 1943. A relative of Eli’s, Karel Denneboom, and his wife hid in a shack in Zwolle for three years and Franciscus supplied them with food coupons. Their sons reported for Westerbork but later escaped with the help of Franciscus, who arranged a hiding place for them. During the war, Franciscus also found another teacher who agreed tohide the two Schwartzenberg girls. In February 1945, they were betrayed and revealed Fransciscus’s identity under interrogation. He went into hiding that evening, followed the next day by the rest of his family. He continued his Resistance activities from his hiding place, coordinating the distribution of coupons and writing for Vrij Nederland and another Resistance pamphlet, Luctor et Emergo. On November 30, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Franciscus van Westen as Righteous Among the Nations.