Zwaans Cornelis & Elisabeth (Driessen)

Zwaans, Cornelis Leonardus Jacobus Johannes & Elisabeth Melanie (Driessen) In September 1942, Mr. I. Silbernberg went into hiding with his wife and 16-month-old daughter, Lydia, on Cornelis (Cornelius) and Elisabeth (Elisa) Zwaans’s ship. The ship, a provisions ship where one could buy marine supplies, was stationary. It was called the Het Zwaantje and was anchored in the harbor of Born, Limburg. It became the home and haven of the Silbernberg family until the end of the war. The Silbernbergs were not the only Jewish people to find refuge on the Het Zwaantje. Silbernberg’s brother Philip and his wife hid there, as well as his uncle and also members of the Wijnperle family. In January 1943, a well-known Jew hunter caught the mother, Else Wijnperle, and her son, Nathan. They succeeded in escaping from the transport train near Dieren and from there they were taken to a temporary hiding place and later to Cornelis and Elisabeth Zwaans. After the arrest of Else and Nathan, Emanuel Wijnperle, the father, was transferred to another address, and the three daughters were provided with an alternative refuge. The two youngest were brought to Cornelis (Cornelius) and Elisabeth on the Het Zwaantje and the eldest was taken to an address in Breda, North Brabant. Sometimes, the Zwaans couple gave refuge to, and fed, over 20 people in hiding at the same time. In 1943, the Germans suspected the Zwaans’s ship as being a base for illegal activity. The police from nearby Sittard warned the family in time so that during a search nothing was discovered. After the raid, many of those who had been staying there returned. Some time later, the Germans threatened to sink all ships in the harbor---Het Zwaantje was not the only ship on which people were hiding. Cornelis Zwaans and others sabotaged the sluice so that the water level would not exceed 5 feet and the ships would be saved. Shortly after the liberation, while assisting the Allied forces arresting collaborators, Cornelis was runover by an American tank. A day later, he died of his injuries. On January 31, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized Cornelis Leonardus Jacobus Johannes Zwaans and his wife, Elisabeth Melanie Zwaans-Driessen, as Righteous Among the Nations.