Bergacker Cornelis & Jannigje (Boeyen van); Daughter: Mager Theodora (Bergacker)

Bergacker, Cornelis Theodorus & Jannigje Willemina(van Boeyen) Mager Theodora Johanna (Bergacker) Simon Benninga was one of 11 Jews living in the village of Eenrum, Groningen, in 1942, all of whom---except one---were related to each other. By November 1942 all the Jews had been rounded up. Simon was the last to go. At the train station in Groningen he met someone from the Jewish Council who sent him back to Eenrum with his 89-year-old aunt. Back in the village, the Protestant minister offered to find him a hiding place through one of his relations, the minister of Leens, Groningen, who then escorted Simon to the home of Cornelis Bergacker. The village where the Bergackers lived was small. The Bergackers daughter, Theodora (Doortje; later Mager), who returned home in 1942, was involved in illegal activities such as distributing food to young Dutch men who were hiding in the fields outside the village to evade the Germans. Simon was introduced to Cornelis Bergacker, the local school principal, and his wife Jannigje, who agreed to shelter him. Upon arriving at their home Simon tore the yellow star off his coat and threw it into the fire. He was called “Ome Jan” to hide his identity and from that day on Simon “disappeared.” Simon was given a room on the second floor of the house, which he later shared with a Dutch theology student who was evading forced labor and also hid with Cornelis and Jannigje for the last two years of the war. The only source of heat during the day was a small wooden footwarmer with coals; in the evenings, he warmed himself in the living room downstairs, with the family. For the first year, Cornelis and Jannigje had no extra ration cards for Simon and the theology student. Later they received ration cards from the LO, which they had to be very careful with so as not to draw attention to themselves. The theology student was at first very friendly with “Ome Jan” but after a while he became restless and in a letter to his parents asked them torelease him from his imprisonment with “that Jew.” The Bergacker family managed to keep the presence of the fugitives a secret from the neighbors for two and a half years, and both survived the war. The Bergackers and Simon and his family kept in touch for over 50 years afterwards. On November 12, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Cornelis Theodorus Bergacker, his wife, Jannigje Willemina Bergacker-van Boeyen, and their daughter, Theodora Johanna Mager-Bergacker, as Righteous Among the Nations.