Nyssen Joseph & Henriette (Henrard); Son: Zelie ; Son: Raymond ; Daughter: Josephine

Nyssen, Joseph Nyssen-Henrard, Henriette Nyssen, Zélie, Nyssen, Raymond Nyssen, Josephine The Jablonka family, originally from Poland, lived in Brussels. During the war, when Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend non Jewish schools, their older son Walter continued going to the Athenée Royale in Brussels, where he was registered as a Polish Catholic. On November 11, 1943, when thirteen-year-old Walter came home from school, he discovered that his parents had been taken away. Pierre Van der Bosch*, a friend of the family, took the boy home with him for three days. Since, he alone could not provide for Walter, Van der Bosch turned to the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, in Herve (north of Verviers), who in turn found a family willing to shelter Walter. These were Joseph and Henriette Nyssen. Van der Bosch thereupon took Walter to the Nyssen family, in the village of Aubel, north of Herve. The Nyssens lived on a farm with three of their four children; one daughter was a nun and lived in a convent. Joseph was a local municipal councilor and was associated with many agricultural associations in the area; his wife Henriette was paralyzed since 1935. Thus, the main burden fell on the Nyssen children, who became the principal caretakers of the household. Zélie, in particular, took care of Walter, who shared in the household chores by helping out on the farm, milking cows and picking apples. Walter felt protected and loved. To outsiders, Walter was presented as a city boy whose home was bombed due to the war. The Nyssens were pious Roman Catholics, and in order to keep up appearances, Walter joined the family to Mass on Sundays, without however participating in the communion. On occasions, the Nyssens also visited Walter’s younger brother Marcel, who was in hiding with another family. Walter stayed with the Nyssens until the end of the war, eight months after Belgium’s liberation. On January 27, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Joseph Nyssen andHenriette Nyssen-Henrard and their children Zélie, Raymond and Josephine, as Righteous Among the Nations.