Poort Homme

Poort, Homme Vos, Jan Vos, Alida Soon after the onset of the deportations of the Jews in the summer of 1942, Dr. Homme Poort from the city of Groningen, decided to reach out and open his home to Jews who needed a place to hide. Poort was a professor at the local university, living by himself. He opposed the Nazi regime from the fall of 1940 when university staff had to sign an “Aryan declaration” as part of the Nazi policy to dismiss Jewish professors. He took in Leo Fuchs and soon after Dov (Berl) Jurgrau, originally from Romania, but living in Amsterdam since the early thirties. Jurgrau joined Dr. Poort in resistance activities in the area as much as he could. Again some months later, Dr. Poort also welcomed Dov’s, eight-year-old daughter Ruth Jurgrau (later, Lavie) into his home. Both father and daughter were taken to Dr. Poort by a Mrs. Boersma, a non-Jewish friend of the Jurgraus, who had convinced them to go into hiding. She accompanied Dov by boat and train, insisting that he stay silent so as not to reveal his foreign accent. In the meantime, Ruth’s mother, Lea (née Friedman), stayed with Mrs. Boersma and her husband in Amsterdam. In the summer of 1943, someone informed on the Boersmas and all were arrested. Mr. Boersma was taken to the Vught (Herzogenbusch) concentration camp; Lea was deported to Sobibór where she was murdered. Mrs. Boersma was released some time after her arrest. Upon learning of the arrests at the Boersmas, father and daughter Jurgrau realized that they immediately needed to leave Dr. Poort’s home. Luckily, through personal connections of Dr. Poort, a new address was located right away with Alida and Jan Vos, and their 14-year-old daughter, Geertje, also in the city of Groningen. The Jungraus were given space in the attic. Geertje welcomed Ruth as a younger sister and the two became good playmates. Ruth was now answering to the name Liesje. After some time, however, Dov returned to the home of Dr. Homme Poort. He could not bear theloss of his wife and swore revenge. One day, he ran outdoors with a knife, trying to kill a German soldier. He was immediately arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. Fearing for Ruth’s safety at the Vos’ home, she was now taken to the home of Ritske and Immigje Veenstra* in Wijntjeterp (prov. Friesland). On May 2, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Homme Poort as well as Jan and Alida Vos, as Righteous Among the Nations.