Koetsier Gijsbert & Peetje (Hierden van); Son: Gijsbert ; Daughter: Rietveld Hermina (Koetsier)

Koetsier, Gijsbert & Peetje (van Hierden) & Gijsbert Albertus Rietveld, Hermina (Koetsier) The Koetsier family lived on a small farm in Putten, Gelderland. Their daughter Neeltje had already left the farm and lived with her husband, L. Roos*, in Rotterdam where she worked as housekeeper for a Jewish widow, Louise Frederika de Sterke, and her two daughters, Elizabeth Dina and Elsa Henriette, both in their early twenties. In the summer of 1942, when the deportation of Jews intensified, Neeltje offered to take Elizabeth Dina to hide at her parents’ farm. Family friends hid Elsa Henriette and Neeltje found shelter for the mother. Neeltje’s parents, Gijsbert and Peetje Koetsier, were very poor. They owned one cow, a small field in which they grew rye, some fruit trees, and a small vegetable garden, but the Germans impounded much of the farm produce. Gijsbert received a small pension for injuries sustained during his military service. An adult son, also called Gijsbert, still lived at home and tended horses on a large estate, contributing only a small part of his income to his parents’ household. Another of their daughters, 17-year-old Hermina (Hermien), was engaged to Gerrit Rietveld, whom she later married, and worked as a seamstress, saving her earnings for her future home. Their other son, Aalt, was still at school at that time. The Koetsier farmhouse was very small, with one room for cooking, eating and sleeping. Elizabeth arrived at the farm in July 1942 and was warmly received into the household. She shared a double bed with Hermien in one of the two small rooms in the wooden structure at the back of the house. Conditions were primitive: the structure also housed a cowshed, with a wooden barrel in the corner serving as a toilet. Washing and bathing was done at a pump in a separate shed in the farmyard. Elizabeth pretended to be a malnourished young woman escaping the harsh wartime conditions in the city. She was asked to pay a minimal weekly sum that far fromcovered her expenses, considering the fact that the family was not able to get extra food cards from the underground. In October 1942, Elizabeth’s mother was betrayed and was forced to leave her hiding place that very night. With Neeltje’s help, Louise de Sterke was taken to the farm on the back of a bicycle, where she was accepted into the family as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Hermien went to sleep in her little brother’s room and mother and daughter shared a double bed. Louise had difficulty getting used to the primitive conditions and the Koetsiers did everything they could to make her life more comfortable. In winter, Peetje would bring her a little stove to keep her warm while she was using the makeshift toilet, and a partition with a curtain was placed around the barrel to give her more privacy. In contrast to Elizabeth, Louise looked very Jewish and that increased the risk. When the razzias in the region intensified, the two refugees had to be moved to the abandoned chicken coop. Eventually, even this solution was no longer safe and with the help of Neeltje and her husband the family dug a pit in the ground, supported by poles, as a hiding place. Every evening, Peetje would bring them their mattresses, which she would air and dry every morning. Around September 1943, it was decided that they should move on to a safer address. Gijsbert, the son, and the Rooses were able to secure them forged identity cards. Right after they left, the farm was thoroughly searched. From then on, Elizabeth and her mother had to move frequently and often had to pay for shelter or relinquish their few belongings--- which was never the case at the Koetsiers. On February 28, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Gijsbert Koetsier, his wife, Peetje Koetsier-van Hierden, and their daughter Hermina Rietveld-Koetsier as Righteous Among the Nations. On January 9, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized their son Gijsbert A. Koetsier as Righteous Among the Nations.