Beek van Barend & Suzanne (Paauw van der)

Beek van, Barend Hendrik & Suzanne Helena (van der Paauw) In 1942 the Coster family of Amsterdam began making plans for going into hiding. Their daughter had already been smuggled to a Belgian monastery and hideouts for the parents had been located. Time was running out, however, for 14-year-old Maurice Simon, who noticed that more and more pupils were disappearing from his school as each day passed. Fortunately, by the time the Germans raided the Costers’ home, there was no one left there---Maurice had been moved temporarily to his neighbor’s home. He soon moved to another address in Amsterdam for a month and then his mother found him a safe haven in the village of Vaassen, near Epe, with Barend and Suzanne van Beek. The van Beeks had previously hidden a Jewish girl before Maurice’s arrival. Apart from brief spells at other hideouts, Maurice remained with the childless van Beek couple until the liberation. Initially, Maurice’s father transferred money to the Van Beeks, but this soon became impossible. Barend van Beek was the headmaster of the Protestant school in Vaassen. In November 1942, Maurice, under the name Theo, was registered at the high school. People were told that he was the van Beek’s nephew and he even attended church on Sundays with Barend and Suzanne. Maurice was given everything he needed by the van Beeks, including clothing and pocket money. In September 1944, Maurice’s mother Bertha Coster-Seyffers, joined him at the van Beeks’. She remained there until May 1945. Maurice’s father stayed with the van Beeks for two weeks but spent most of the war hiding out near Vaassen. Towards the end of the war, the Dutch SS seized the Protestant school and also requisitioned part of the van Beeks’ home for the purpose of Einkwartierung. After the war, the van Beeks and the Costers maintained a warm relationship, even after Maurice immigrated to Israel in 1955. He invited his wartime saviors to visit him there in 1969. On September 10, 1969, Yad Vashemrecognized Barend Hendrik van Beek and his wife, Suzanne Helena van Beek-van der Paauw, as Righteous Among the Nations.