Woortman Johannes

Woortman, Johannes Theodorus Riekerk, Lena Maria (Glasoog) Two tireless members of the Resistance, Johannes (Joop) and his wife at the time Lena (Semmy) Woortman led the rescue of about 160 children from a crèche located opposite the Hollandsche Schouwburg, the roundup site for Jewish deportation from Amsterdam. In 1941, Joop and Semmy witnessed the brutal suppression of the February strike. This was the time when Joop assumed an alias, “Theo de Bruin,” a name that became well known in Jewish circles. In July 1942, as the Germans began the systematic deportation of Jews to the east, Joop and Semmy resolved to do their utmost to help Jews find a safe haven. With the help of the network of contacts he had established in his present and former jobs, Joop succeeded in persuading a small number of Jews to go into hiding. He did not yet have the required addresses but this problem was solved in October 1942, when Joop and Semmy met Gerard Musch* and Dick Groenewegen van Wijk*. The latter two had set up the NV* group a few months previously in cooperation with Jaap Musch*. The NV operated in South Limburg and provided Joop with addresses where Jewish children could go into hiding. From that time on, Joop Woortman combed the Jewish quarters untiringly to convince Jewish parents to save themselves and put their children into the care of the NV. Meanwhile, Semmy would welcome NV members who had picked up the Jewish children. The members would use the password: “I come from Theo de Bruin,” and would often stay overnight with the Woortmans before continuing on to Limburg. Moreover, with the help of his numerous contacts, Joop was able to secure money, ration cards, and goods and thus provided a solid financial basis for the NV in its first year. In 1943 a system was devised to smuggle children out of Jewish crèche in Amsterdam with the help of the NV. The smuggling method was improved during the following months and emulated by the Amsterdam Student Group* and the Trouw*group, who also rescued children from the center. The NV group took about 160 Jewish children from the crèche. This was largely the work of Joop and Semmy Woortman. Among the children they saved were Rachel (Chella) and Lea Winnik, aged 13 and ten at the time. Woortman passed on their names to the NV and they both were taken to safe houses in Limburg. On September 29, 1943, when the crèche was cleared out and closed, Joop became increasingly involved in the armed resistance. Occasionally, he traveled to Limburg in this capacity. He also maintained contact between a small group of children in Limburg and their parents who were hiding elsewhere. This contact involved mainly the passing on of letters and photographs. In May 1944, a former classmate betrayed Joop. He managed to evade arrest and set up new headquarters at 107 Ruyschstraat. Meanwhile, Semmy and her stepdaughter fled to Apeldoorn, Gelderland. In July 1944, Joop was involved in an unsuccessful raid on the detention center on the Weteringschans. On the day of the raid, Joop was ill and managed to avoid arrest. However, he failed to make good his escape by moving immediately to a new hideout and was arrested on July 19 and interrogated at the prison on the Amstelveenscheweg. Semmy did everything to free her husband, but Joop was transferred to Bergen-Belsen on September 4, 1944. There, he succumbed to spotted fever in mid-March 1945 and died. Semmy moved back to Ruyschstraat in Amsterdam and made contact with the NSF on behalf of the NV. Until September 1944, she managed to provide the NV in Limburg with funds. Just before the start of the railroad strike, she also took over the care of Rachel Winnik who had found it difficult to settle in Limburg. Rachel stayed with Semmy until the liberation. On September 22, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Johannes Theodorus Woortman and Lena Riekerk-Glasoog (formerly Woortman) as Righteous Among the Nations.