Mertens Denis & Antonia (Claes)

Mertens, Denis Mertens-Claes, Antonia Ichel and Beila Weinberger, who lived in Antwerp, knew Denis and Antonia Mertens as customers of their grocery store. With the start of the deportations, in 1942, the Mertens couple agreed to the Weinbergers request to shelter their two children: Wanda (b. 1933) and Marc (b. 1936). At the time, the Mertenses’ already kept a little Jewish girl with them, Fanny Ziegler, but they readily agreed to take the Weinberger children as well. The Mertens couple, who neighbors knew were childless, now had three children living with them, so they decided to move out of the neighborhood, and relocate in Noorderwijk, a village to the east of Antwerp, where Antonia’s mother lived. In the meantime, the Weinberger parents were arrested and deported that same year, and both perished in Auschwitz. In Noorderwijk the three children were at first confined to the house and the garden in the rear. Some of the residents of the village knew about their presence, but they kept it to themselves. The hidden children, who previously spoke French, now spoke Flemish only, thus reducing the risk to their safety. Antonia also had to cope with some relatives who collaborated with the Germans and fought at the German side on the Eastern front, who knew about the children. There was also a German army base close by, which was a source of danger for the children’s safety. However, all luckily survived the occupation, and Fanny Ziegler was returned to her mother. As for the two Weinberger children, since they had no surviving relatives, they stayed on with the Mertens couple, who were appointed their legal guardians. Denis and Antonia Mertens continued to care for them, and provided for their education. Marc Weinberger eventually moved to the Netherlands where he became a scientist with the European Space Agency. On March 9, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized Denis Mertens and Antonia Mertens-Claes, as Righteous Among the Nations