Hugenholtz Johannes & Esther (Pouwelsen)

Hugenholtz, Johannes Bernardus Theodorus & Esther Maria (Pouwelsen) In October 1941 Meir Denneboom, 17 was sent to the Hugenholtzes. Johannes Hugenholtz was a reverend in the local Protestant church in Ammerstol, South Holland, and he and his wife, Esther, had two adult children, the youngest of whom, a 24-year-old student, lived at home. Meir stayed with them for two months, until December 1941, when he returned to his parents. He stayed at home in Zwolle until September 1942, when he was sent to a labor camp and then to Westerbork. After escaping from Westerbork with his brother and two other boys, Meir returned home to find his family still there. Later, on October 15, he went back to Johannes and Esther’s, where he found three other Jews in hiding. He escaped during the raid on the home of the Hugenholzes in which the three Jews were caught and sent to their deaths, while Johannes and Esther were sent to prison in Utrecht and from there to the Vught concentration camp for nine months. On February 26, 1981, Yad Vashem recognized Reverend Johannes Bernardus Theodorus Hugenholtz and his wife, Esther Maria Hugenholtz-Pouwelsen, as Righteous Among the Nations.