Sodderland Antonius & Gerdina (Versteeg)

Sodderland, Antonius & Gerdina (Versteeg) Late one night in September 1942, Lies van Dam-Versteeg, a non-Jewish woman married to a Jew, accompanied the elderly Jewish couple Salomon and Mathilde (Spanjaard) Grünfeld to her sister’s house in Eindhoven. Her sister Gerdina was married to Antonius Sodderland, a model builder employed by Philips. The couple was childless. During the day, Salomon and Mathilde stayed in their first floor bedroom but in the evenings, when the curtains could be drawn, the Sodderlands would invite the couple to join them in the living room. Antonius and Gerdina Sodderland were fully aware of the risks they were taking. They did all they could to make the hiding period as tolerable as possible for their wards and never attempted to secure any financial advantage from the arrangement. Eindhoven was liberated on September 18, 1944, but it was so difficult for Salomon and Mathilde to find a home of their own that they remained with the Sodderlands for two more months. Lies van Dam, who had served as a contact and supplied the Grünfelds with ration cards throughout the war, died in the bombardment of Eindhoven, which occurred just before the liberation of southern Holland. Until their deaths, Salomon and Mathilde maintained a warm relationship with the Sodderlands. On May 8, 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Antonius Sodderland and his wife, Gerdina Sodderland-Versteeg, as Righteous Among the Nations.