Roelofs Cornelis & Trijntje (Lammers)

Roelofs, Cornelis & Trijntje (Lammers) In the autumn of 1942, when Arend Joosten was searching for a hiding place for his youngest brother, Benno-Arend, a friend from the underground took the child to his sister and brother-in-law, Trijntje and Cornelis Roelofs, in Apeldoorn, both of whom were blind. Trijntje and Cornelis were told that the boy had lost his parents in the bombing of Rotterdam. They welcomed the child into their home and treated him like their own son. When the underground activists were satisfied that the Roelofses were trustworthy, they told them the truth, that Benno-Arend was a Jew and his parents were in hiding elsewhere. In 1944, the Germans arrested and killed Trijntje’s brother. His friends, who were underground members, wanted to move Benno-Arend to another hiding place but Trijntje and Cornelis refused to let him go. He remained with them until the end of the war. The Roelofses motives were purely humanitarian and they received no financial assistance. On September 18, 1980, Yad Vashem recognized Cornelis Roelofs and his wife, Trijntje Roelofs-Lammers, as Righteous Among the Nations.