Oostlander Arie & Celia (Grift van der)

Oostlander, Arie Pieter (1.11.1919, Boxmeer – 13.1.1997, The Hague) Oostlander-van der Grift, Celia Margaretha (18.10.1908, Breda – 2.10.1989, Breda) Arie and Celia Oostlander were a young couple, living in the village of Princenhage (prov. North-Brabant), near Breda. Arie worked as an engineer. His hobby was music and on Sundays he played the organ at the local Protestant church, where Herman Coolsma* was minister. Both families were neighbors as well, and Arie, as did Coolsma, became active in a local resistance cell. In the summer of 1942, they were asked to give shelter to Jews and agreed immediately, even though their first daughter, Hanneke, had been born just six weeks earlier. In July, Louis Agsteribbe (born 8.5.1908, Amsterdam) arrived with his wife Amalia (Maly), née Appel, (born 18.8.1912, Amsterdam); they had decided not to respond to orders for “work in the East” and instead were looking desperately for a hiding address. The Agsteribbes received a room on the first floor where they had to stay most of the time. They soon became part of the household: Maly helped out with the care for the baby and Lou tried to keep the little one happy at all times. Relations between the Oostlanders and the Agsteribbes were good. When visitors came, however, the Agsteribbes had to be out of sight and had to stay in their room, very quietly making sure that not to make any sound that could be picked up by the visitors. This potentially led to dangerous situations, when Hanneke would call out for ‘ome’ (uncle, meaning Louis Agsteribbe), which was quickly explained by the Oostlanders as ‘oma’ (grandmother). Arie dug a hole in the ground in their back garden where the Agsteribbes could hide when danger came too close. This indeed happened a number of times, as Germans were billeted in the village school further down the street. Once, when Celia’s sister, a courier in the resistance, came to warn them of an imminent raid, Arie was able to spirit theAgsteribbes over to his parents. When the danger had passed, he brought them back to his own home. Their next door neighbors, Herman and Johanna Coolsma had a Mendels family in hiding with them. As the families had adjacent back gardens, they had a nearly invisible passage made so that they could move their wards quickly in case of danger. Beyond that, it enabled both the Mendes and Agsteribbe families to spend some time together away from their daily confinement. During the course of the Agsteribbes’ stay, two more children were born to the Oostlanders, a daughter Plonia in 1943 and a third one in October 1944, just before the liberation of the village that same month. After the war, warm relations continued between the families. On January 21, 2007, Yad Vashem recognized Arie Pieter Oostlander and Celia Margaretha Oostlander-van der Grift as Righteous Among the Nations.