Langendonk Willem & Cornelia (Reurts)

Langendonk, Willem Adriaan Langendonk-Reurts, Cornelia Willem and Cornelia Langendonk lived in the southern part of Amsterdam, where many Jews lived as well. They had three sons, the oldest born in 1917 and the youngest in 1931. Willem was a bank employee and Cornelia a housewife. In the spring of 1942, new neighbors moved into their apartment building, the Jewish van Leeuwen family. Joseph, Mietje (née Hildesheim) and their children, Lodewijk, b.1930, and Aleida, b.1939, had been ordered to leave their home in Naarden and move to one of the areas in Amsterdam that was designated for Jews. Starting in August 1942, house searches were done on a regular basis, looking for Jews who had been ordered to report for “work in the East” and had not done so. As a result, Joseph van Leeuwen and his son Lodewijk went into hiding, whereas Mietje continued to stay at home with three-year-old Aleida. Just before another search, Mietje and Aleida were allowed by the Langendonks to hide in their apartment, Mietje in one of the cabinets and little Aleida in one of the bedrooms. At that point, both Mietje van Leeuwen and the Langendonks considered it better that a more permanent hiding address be found. In September, the Langendonks located an address for Aleida in Naarden. However, when Aleida was recognized while playing on the street, she had to be immediately moved and so returned to the Langendonks in Amsterdam. In the meantime, a separate hiding address had been found for her mother. From January 1943, Aleida stayed with the Langendonks, even though she was in danger of recognition. Willem was able to get false identity papers for her, as well as for Elly Langendonk, a cousin from the East Indies (later, Indonesia), a Dutch colony at the time. It was decided to present her rightly as being from the tropical colonies, since she had a darker complexion than the Langendonks themselves. In order to minimize the danger of recognition by neighbors, her dark curls were cut off, atraumatic moment for the girl. She stayed at home most of the time, only going out with the family for church on Sundays. Aleida felt completely at home, since she already knew the Langendonks, and was given loving care. She became a younger sister to Fred, the youngest Langendonk son. In May 1943, the older sons, Cornelis, a medical student, and Willem, a bank employee, were taken to Germany for forced labor. After home-leave in December 1943, they both decided not to return to Germany. Cornelis found work elsewhere in the Netherlands as essential personnel, but Willem was subsequently arrested at home, his mother being threatened at gunpoint. At the time, Aleida was sick in bed and when asked by the German police, she told that she was from the Dutch Indies – a story, which was accepted since she had a darker complexion. For a short period, the Kisch couple, relatives of the van Leeuwens, were taken in temporarily for hiding by the Langendonks. Aleida stayed with the Langendonks until the liberation of Amsterdam in May 1945. The return to her parents, who had survived in hiding as well, was traumatic, but she stayed in touch with the Langedonks as much as she could. On March 27, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Willem Adriaan Langendonk and Cornelia Langendonk-Reurts, as Righteous Among the Nations.