Lubberts Taeke & Ymie (Pees)

Lubberts, Taeke & Ymie (Pees) Dr. Jacob Adler and his wife, Batya, were staff members at the Nederlands Israelitisch Ziekenhuis, a Jewish hospital in Amsterdam. In March 1943, they went into hiding. When their daughter was born on August 5, 1944, they had difficulty finding a new hideout. After three months of wandering, they eventually found refuge with Taeke and Ymie Lubberts, who also hid Miriam Ginzburg from December 1943 and her husband Benjamin from September 1944. When the Adlers arrived in December 1944, they were welcomed lovingly. Taeke, a schoolteacher, and Ymie had six children. They lived in a small house in Oldemarkt, Overijssel. Besides hiding these five people, they had previously hidden other Jews and non-Jews too and they also helped other fugitives find shelter in farms in the nearby villages. Taeke regularly visited the people he helped shelter and also provided them with ration cards and other necessary provisions. Later on in the war, he became the leader of the local Resistance and in this capacity also rescued Allied pilots. Taeke had connections in the National Resistance Movement, from which he received some funding. However, this barely covered the costs of maintaining his expanded household. Ymie, who was pregnant with her seventh child, managed to cook for everyone in a small oven kindled with wood collected by her children. All the food was shared equally among the family and the guests, even during the harsh hunger winter of 1944--1945. The Lubberts children were warned not to talk about what was going on in their home---the hidden armaments, people, and pamphlets. They even helped distribute illegal newspapers. When Taeke had to leave the house temporarily, Ymie was left at home after giving birth with arms hidden under her mattress. After the war, the Lubbertses said: “We acted as Christians. When we saw Jews transported to the railroad station we decided to save Jewish lives. We never regretted this [decision].” On December22, 1977, Yad Vashem recognized Taeke Lubberts and his wife, Ymie Lubberts-Pees, as Righteous Among the Nations.