Binkhorst Adriaan & Elizabeth (Vroomans)

Binkhorst, Adriaan & Elizabeth (Vroomans) Adriaan (Aad) and Elizabeth (Bep) Binkhorst lived in Rotterdam, where Bep worked as a seamstress. Among Bep’s clients were three generations of the de Hartog family, a Jewish family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. de Hartog, two sons, three daughters, and their grandfather. Mr. de Hartog was the caretaker of the local Jewish cemetery. In the summer of 1942, when the razzias and deportations were intensified, Mr. de Hartog managed to arrange an exemption for his family because of his position in the local Jewish community. Nevertheless, the family prepared the necessary items on a list provided by the Germans, including clothing, in case they were eventually called to report to the authorities. While the de Hartogs were organizing themselves, Bep and Aad urged the family to go into hiding and offered to shelter the entire family in their home. It took much effort to convince the de Hartogs to take them up on their offer---the family had been convinced that they could survive hard labor in the east and were also reluctant to place the Binkhorsts in danger. The de Hartogs did eventually agree to being sheltered, however, and moved in with Aad and Bep, who took care of all their needs and made them feel entirely at home. In February 1944, they were betrayed. The Germans arrested Bep and deported her to Ravensbrück, where she survived the war. Jitschak de Hartog, one of the sons, was hidden in the attic when the Germans came to search the house and managed to escape. Jitschak also succeeded in warning Aad not to return home. Subsequently, Aad arranged new hiding places for the de Hartog family, at separate addresses. By the end of the war, Jitschak had been in 12 different hideouts, many of which had been organized by Aad. While Bep was in Ravensbrück, Aad also continued to be involved in underground activities in Rotterdam. In the meantime, Bep’s parents had hidden a baby in their home and were betrayed. The baby was taken fromthem and the father arrested and taken to a labor camp. Although Mr. Binkhorst Sr. survived the war, he died a year after liberation. Aad, Bep, and her parents all risked their lives to save Jews, maintaining that their actions were a normal human response to the evil of the Nazi regime. All of the members of the de Hartog family survived the war, and they stayed in touch with Aad and Bep afterwards. On March 23, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Adriaan Binkhorst and his wife, Elizabeth Binkhorst-Vroomans, as Righteous Among the Nations.