Schuppen van Arie ; Cousin: Frans ; Sister: Mijnhardt Marika (Schuppen van)

Schuppen van, Arie Johan Mijnhardt, Marika Aria (van Schuppen) Schuppen van, Frans Adrianus Jacobus Arie Johan (Ad) van Schuppen, manufacturer of Ritmeester cigars, hid more than 30 Jews at one time or another in the large villa he shared with his sister, Marika Aria (later Mijnhardt). He was the head of the underground unit operating in Veenendaal, Utrecht, where he worked alongside Reverend Overduin* and Barend Versteeg*. With the latter, and with Gerrit van Dijk*, Ad managed to find hiding places for many children. The constant risks he regularly undertook meant that he dared not even marry his girlfriend of the time. One day, Ad and Marika were warned that the Germans were coming to search the villa. They immediately sent the children out of the house in order to give them more time to escape. Ad van Schuppen remained at home to face the enemy. The Germans took him to the notorious Oranjehotel prison in Scheveningen, where they tortured him severely. He never revealed a single name or address. The night before he was due to be executed, his cousin and business partner, Frans van Schuppen, bribed the Germans to throw him out of the car which would take him to his death. Ad never recovered from his ordeal in the prison and remained unmarried. A few years after the liberation, he died, still in the prime of his life. In her testimony to Yad Vashem, Elisheva Lehman (formerly Ellis Pareira) wrote: “My father was a salesman for the [Ritmeester] factory, and although Frans van Schuppen did not hide Jews, he too deserves to be recognized as a righteous person. He paid my father throughout the war and also provided us with cigars which we could exchange for food and clothing.” Lenie de Jong-Sanders, herself rescued by Ad van Schuppen, testifies: “I have been told that Mr. Frans van Schuppen regularly allocated cigars for the upkeep of 23 persons, Jews as well as non-Jews, all of whom survived.” On December 11, 1973, Yad Vashem recognized Arie Johan van Schuppen, his sister, Marika Aria Mijnhardt-van Schuppen, and his cousin, Frans Adrianus Jacobus van Schuppen as Righteous Among the Nations.