Verstappen Franciscus & Johanna (Kuijpers)

Verstappen, Franciscus Hubertus & Johanna Maria Sibilla (Kuijpers) In the 1930s, Franciscus (Frans) Verstappen was the manager of the local branch of the farmers’ cooperative in Oirlo, Limburg. In this capacity, he maintained business relations with the Weijand brothers, Jews from Arnhem, Gelderland, who dealt in jute sacks used for agricultural purposes. In 1941, Frans and Johanna (Marie) Verstappen met Adelbert Weijand, his wife, Rose, and their son Karel, while on a visit to Arnhem. In September 1942, Adelbert and Rose entrusted Frans and Marie with their child. In the meantime, the parents found a hideout near Arnhem. Frans often took the boy to visit his parents in hiding, a very risky venture. In 1943, Frans and Marie offered Karel’s parents shelter in their home and the couple accepted. They stayed with the Verstappens for six months before Frans advised them that it would be safer for them to find a new address through the local Catholic priests. Frans and Marie were among the most prominent anti-Nazis in Limburg, trying constantly to sabotage the persecution of the Jews. They were not only among the first people in the area to hide Jews in their home, but the actual number of people they sheltered, for various lengths of time, was immense. While the Weijands were hidden in their home, there were about ten other Jews there too. Frans and Marie also helped about 20 of the Weijands’ relatives find hiding places in Limburg. In the spring of 1944, the Verstappens welcomed two Jewish women, Chana Prins (later Stavi), a nurse from Amsterdam, and Laura ter Hoek (later Gottlieb), into their home. On July 6, the Gestapo raided the Verstappens’ home in the middle of the night and arrested these two women as well as Frans and ten Jews who had been hiding elsewhere in Oirlo, including members of the extended Weijand family. They were all taken to a prison in Eindhoven, North Brabant, where Frans was released. The others were then taken to Westerbork, and then toBergen-Belsen or Auschwitz. Chana and Laura survived Bergen-Belsen but most of the others perished. During the war, Marie was also instrumental in persuading the Church authorities secretly to declare the Venray area, where almost no Jews or Protestants had lived for centuries, a sanctuary for Jewish refugees. After the war, the Weijands stayed with the Verstappens for several months. A relative of theirs, Mrs. N. Middelkoop, who had returned sick from the concentration camps, was also taken into the Verstappens’ home and cared for until she was well enough to move elsewhere. Chana and Laura contacted Frans and Marie after they were liberated from Bergen-Belsen and were given back all the belongings that the Verstappens had kept safe for them during the war. On December 10, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Franciscus Hubertus Verstappen and his wife, Johanna Maria Sibilla Verstappen-Kuijpers, as Righteous Among the Nations.