Niemeijer Jan & Margien (IJdens)

Niemeijer, Jan & Martha On April 10, 1943, all the Jews in Dieren, Gelderland, among them Louis Bachrach, received an order to report for internment in the Vught concentration camp. Louis decided to go underground, and on April 9 he fled to Emmen, Drenthe, where he found refuge with the Niemeijer family. Jan and Martha Neimeijer were hiding five other Jews in their home when Louis arrived. They stayed there until April 1944, when circumstances made it necessary for them to relocate---Martha was about to have a baby, the house was small, and word had gotten out that Jews were hiding there. The six fugitives then turned to Bertus Zefat* of Valthe for help. Bertus was instrumental in getting the Jews to a safer place in the nearby woods. A hideaway had been dug out in the ground and the people could hide inside it. The six people from Emmen joined the five already hidden there. Later on, more people joined them, and Bertus and some colleagues sustained them until the end of the war. The Niemeijers were part of the group that brought food and heating materials to the hidden people. On April 16, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Niemeijer and his wife, Martha Niemeijer, as Righteous Among the Nations.