Logtens Francis & Johanna (Jongkees)

Logtens, Francis & Johanna Anna (Jongkees) On August 16, 1942, a young Jewish woman named B. Parfumeur (later Puyt) was taken by Trijntje van Praag* from her native city of The Hague to Francis (Frans) and Johanna Logtens’s home in Haarlem. Frans and Johanna, who had been married for 25 years and had no children, believed that it was their Christian duty to rescue Jews and had thus contacted the Resistance movement to express their desire to shelter a Jewish girl. They planned for her arrival very carefully so that it coincided with their wedding anniversary, and told friends and relatives that they were expecting a niece of Frans’s from Rotterdam. According to the story disseminated, she had not yet recovered from the trauma of the bombing of the city and was in shock and needed rest. When the girl arrived a week later, everything seemed very natural. After awhile, it seemed as if she had always been there. Frans and Johanna treated her like a real daughter and she called them “aunt” and “uncle.” B. Parfumeur stayed with the Logtenses until September 1, 1945, and remained in touch with her foster parents even after she married in December 1946. After Johanna’s death in 1971 at the age of 75, Frans moved in with the Puyt-Parfumeur family for two years until he died in 1973, aged 84. On June 3, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Francis Longtens and his wife, Johanna Anna Longtens-Jongkees, as Righteous Among the Nations.