Witjens Willem & Jeanne

Witjens, Willem & Jeanne Marie Claudine (Sijthoff) Wolf and Ruth Lesser emigrated from Germany to Holland in 1933 and were married in Amsterdam in 1935. In 1938 their first daughter, Léonie, was born. A number of times, after the start of the persecution of the Jews and the deportations in the summer of 1942, German police came for the family but they managed to escape. However, finally, in May 1943 the German police caught them and ordered them to pack quickly for transport to the east. A little later the Lessers were taken to the Hollandsche Schouwburg, the main assembly point in Amsterdam. As a young girl of five, Léonie was taken to the crèche across the street. A few days later, Wolf and Ruth were told that they were to be deported to Vught. Shortly before their departure they received a message that their daughter, Leonie, had been smuggled out of the crèche. Wolf and Ruth were sent to the Bergen-Belsen Vorzugs-Lager, where they remained until 1945. From the crèche, Léonie was taken by Dutch underground members to various addresses until finally she arrived at the home of Willem and Jeanne (Nettie) Witjens in Nederhemert, a little village near ’s-Hertogenbosch in North Brabant. There, Léonie received a new name and identity: Loni van Lessen. She told people that her real parents were killed during the bombardment of Rotterdam. She lived with the Witjens family as if she were their own child. The Witjenses took in another Jewish girl, Nomi Cahn, who at the time was 16 years old. In the summer/autumn of 1942, Nomi stayed with Nettie and Willem for six weeks and then returned to her mother in Amsterdam. When the situation worsened in 1943, Nomi received word from Nettie and Willem that she was welcome to return to their home and so from the summer of 1943 until May 19, 1945, she lived with Willem, Nettie, their own daughter, and Léonie. The neighbors were told that Nomi was the maid. Willem and Nettie opened their home to Nomi and Léonie because they believedthat ethically it was the correct response to the persecution of the Jews. Having five-year-old Léonie in the home presented certain problems. When guests were around, or later, when the Witjenses were forced to house German soldiers in their home, there was a great risk that she would betray her true identity. This was of course stressful for the Witjenses but they never spoke of sending Leonie away and did everything in their power to protect her. Nomi and Leonie survived the war thanks to the Witjenses. On February 22, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Willem Witjens and his wife, Jeanne Marie Claudine Witjens-Sijthoff, as Righteous Among the Nations.