Bakker Dionysius & Cornelia (Rheenen van)

Bakker, Dionisius Dirk & Cornelia Johanna (van Rheenen) Dionisius Bakker and his wife Cornelia Bakker-van Rheenen, lived in a small house by the woods near Nunspeet, Gelderland. In 1940, Dionisius retired from his job with Dutch Railways. Cornelia, who was considerably younger than he, was a housewife. That same year, Dionisius and Cornelia hid three anti-Nazi underground activists in their home and decided that they would do whatever they could to oppose the occupation. In the summer of 1942, they hid a Jewish family, the Hertzes, a couple and two daughters from the town of Harderwijk. A few months later the Germans broke into their home and nearly discovered the family hiding there. This was a turning point in Dionisius and Cornelia’s activities. They helped the family escape eight kilometers into the woods bordering their house. The hiding place slowly grew into a camp where dozens of people were sheltered: Jews, non-Jewish members of the underground, and Allied pilots. A group of young people formed around the couple to help them. The camp, called “Pas op Kamp” (“watch-out-camp”) and located between Nunspeet and Epe, consisted of 13 huts built partially underground. The Bakkers took on the task of running the camp in November 1943. They bought food at different places around town in order not to arouse suspicion and took the food to the camp on bicycles and in carts. They also brought gas tanks so that those hiding could cook and succeeded in overcoming the water problem by digging a well over which two pumps were fixed. When someone from the camp was ill Cornelia Bakker made sure they received treatment. This became their life, though the Germans were suspicious and broke into their home eight times. Cornelia and Dionisius acted out of patriotism and love of their fellow man, without any thought of reward. The camp was discovered by accident on November 29, 1944. Eighty-seven Jews and about 15 American pilots were living there at the time. Fortunately,most of them succeeded in escaping but eight were caught and shot on the spot. The rest were hidden in neighboring villages and most of them survived the war. Dionisius and Cornelia continued as before hiding five members of the underground in their home, among them a Jewish brother and sister. On January 13, when the Germans broke into their home they found only Dionisius and arrested him. He was executed on March 2, 1945. Cornelia was badly injured after falling off a bicycle loaded with food that she was delivering to the camp. On June 16, 1964, Yad Vashem recognized Dionisius Dirk Bakker and his wife, Cornelia Johanna Bakker-van Rheenen, as Righteous Among the Nations.