Atten van Maarten & Trijntje (Mullem van)

Atten van, Maarten & Trijntje (van Mullem) According to an arrangement made earlier with the underground, one day in 1943, seven-year-old Kitty de Leeuw (later Bovets) went off with a stranger named Maarten van Atten rather than heading home after school. As they walked along, Maarten told the child to hold her doll tight against her chest in order to cover her yellow star. He took her to his home in Pijnacker, South Holland, where she was to stay for safekeeping. Maarten, a vegetable grower, and his wife, Trijntje had nine children. The family lovingly welcomed Kitty into the household and she was looked upon as a sibling to the children. They all equally shared the food that Trijntje managed to obtain on her searches made by bicycle. Kitty even attended school and participated in all the family’s social activities. She was taught to tell people that her father was in Germany and her mother was in the hospital. She was given the name Marietje van Zanten. During the course of the war, Maarten and Trijntje hid three other people, among them a Jewish girl. The Germans searched the house once, and when they found Kitty she told them her story and they believed it. An NSB member who lived on the van Attens’ street never betrayed the family. After the liberation, Kitty wished to remain with her rescuers, to whom she had become emotionally attached. However, she was sent to a surviving uncle. She nevertheless stayed in touch with the van Attens. On May 7, 1986, the Dutch government honored Maarten and his wife. On January 14, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Maarten van Atten and his wife, Trijntje van Atten-van Mullem, as Righteous Among the Nations.