Roos Leendert & Neeltje (Koetsier)

Roos, Leendert & Neeltje (Koetsier) Neeltje Roos-Koetsier worked as a housekeeper for the de Sterke family in Rotterdam. As the threat of deportation increased, Neeltje offered a hiding place to one of the de Sterke’s daughters. The offer was accepted, and in July 1942, Neeltje took 23-year-old Elizabeth Dina de Sterke to the farm of her parents Gijsbert and Peetje (van Hierden) Koetsier in Putten, Gelderland. Elizabeth’s father had died just before the Germans invaded the Netherlands. Her sister was hidden in de Bilt and Neeltje helped her mother, Louise Frederika, find a family willing to shelter her. Neeltje also personally accompanied Louise to the address she located in Voorthuizen. After a few months, Louise de Sterke was betrayed at this hideout and in November 1942, Neeltje took her, on the back of her bicycle, to her parents’ farm in Putten. The de Sterkes also asked Neeltje to take their valuables for safekeeping. After Louise de Sterke went into hiding, Neeltje entered her house to retrieve all the food stored there and took it to her parents’ farm. Neeltje endangered her life doing this because German officers were due to enter the abandoned property soon afterward. In the meantime, Elizabeth’s grandmother had been hiding in the Eudokia hospital and was later transferred to the Jewish hospital. Neeltje, who was especially close to “Oma,” visited her regularly. One day, when “Oma” was deported, Neeltje had to report this tragic news to her daughter and granddaughters. Neeltje frequently visited Elizabeth and her mother at the farm. She also delivered mail from them to their friends in Rotterdam. Neeltje maintained contact with Elizabeth’s sister in de Bilt and often journeyed there especially to see her, refusing to accept payment for the traveling expenses. In 1943, there were many razzias around Putten and it became too dangerous to hide Jews in the farmhouse. Thus, Neeltje and her husband, Leendert Roos, helped dig a pit in the ground where Louisede Sterke and her daughter could hide. After a while, even this dugout became too unsafe and the mother and daughter decided that for the good of the Koetsier family it was wise to move. Neeltje helped them obtain false identity papers from the underground and find a new address. In the fall of 1943, she personally accompanied them there by bicycle. On August 20, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Leendert Roos and his wife Neeltje Roos-Koetsier, as Righteous Among the Nations.