Kuiper Thijs & Rinske (Pietersma)

Kuiper, Thijs & Rinske (Pietersma) In October 1943, the Germans came for the Wagenaars, who were living in Amsterdam. The two adult sons managed to escape to the van Drooge* family, who were business acquaintances of their father, and they contacted the underground. Sal Wagenaar (later Sal Ganor) was moved from one hiding place to another until the van Dijks in Lemmer, Friesland, took him in. When this place became too dangerous, Sal moved in with accountant Thijs Kuiper, his wife Rinske, and their three small children, who also lived in Lemmer. Rinske and Thijs, who later won a prize for his novel written in Frisian and became an honorary member of the priesthood, helped save Jews without receiving any financial payment, and Sal stayed with them until the liberation, after which he lived with Rinske’s parents, the Pietersmas, until August 1945. On June 18, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Thijs Kuiper and his wife, Rinske Kuiper-Pietersma, as Righteous Among the Nations.