Reinders Leonardus & Maria (Rens van)

Reinders, Leonardus Jacobus & Maria Johanna Berta (van Rens) On May 1, 1943, Margareta Friedman’s father told her that she would have to begin to eat everything, including pork. This was especially difficult for the nine-year-old child, who had grown up in a strictly Orthodox Jewish home. She moved to several hiding places, until finally, in March 1944, Johanna van de Voort* accompanied her to the safety of Leonardus (Leo) and Maria (Marie) Reinders’s home in Tienray. Leo and Marie were both 29 years old and the parents of two girls, both under two. They named their foster daughter Greetje Faber and told people that she was Marie’s niece from Rotterdam. Greetje spent her time helping with the children and doing housework, such as canning, and preparing food. For a while, when the front was nearby and the Germans requistioned most of the Reinderses' home for themselves, the children were forced to spend most of their time in the cellar. On another occasion, rumors spread that a house search for Jewish children was imminent and so Sister Bernadette* whisked Greetje away to safety in the middle of the night. Greetje was desperately unhappy at her new hiding place and so the Reinderses took her back once the danger passed. Greetje remained with them until June 1945. Throughout her time with them, they accepted no financial aid; they acted solely out of the goodness of their heart and because they felt it was their duty to help people in need. During the war, Greetje became very attached to her foster parents and even began to call them “aunt” and “uncle.” After the war, she started calling them “mom” and “dad.” Many years later, when Margareta Friedman (by then Mrs. Horen) had children, she taught them to call Leo and Marie “grandpa” and “grandma.” On March 28, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Leonardus Jacobus Reinders and his wife, Maria Johanna Berta Reinders-van Rens, as Righteous Among the Nations.