Kezer Karoly & Hendrika (Janse)

Kézér, Karoly & Hendrika Geertruida (Janse) Karoly Kézér was an active member of the underground group in Loosbroek, North Brabant, and involved in obtaining and distributing ration cards for people in hiding. He and his wife, Hendrika (Drika), had already hidden five Jews for various periods of time when the area’s underground commander, Cor van Laanen*, brought a group of four Jewish fugitives to their farm in July 1944. These fugitives---the Hes family, including teenage son Alex, and another man, Bob van Dij--- had been on the run for several weeks before arriving at the Kézérs, where they stayed until the end of the war. Karoly and Drika, who had three young children, shared their food and everything else they had with their Jewish guests despite their poverty and the fact that they did not receive any payment. Karoly even broke into a German army depot to steal a radio to lift the fugitives’ spirits. At first they were given wooden shoes, but, after the liberation, Karoly got them leather boots from the Allied airborne troops. When one of the Jews became ill with dysentery, Karoly tried in vain to procure medicine, but in the end found a successful alternative: a cup of rice, which in those days was worth its weight in gold. The Hes couple helped around the house and the young men worked in the fields. The Kézérs pretended that they were evacuated refugees and taught them how to make the sign of the cross in case any of their neighbors turned up at mealtimes. They even took them to the Catholic church a few times in order to reduce suspicion. Through his underground connections, Karoly was warned when a German raid was planned and made sure the four hid in a dry ditch in the fields whenever necessary. On October 7, 1975, Yad Vashem recognized Karoly Kézér and his wife, Hendrika Geertruida Kézér-Janse, as Righteous Among the Nations.