Nauta Walle & Ellie (Plaat)

Nauta, Walle H.J. Nauta-Plaat, Ellie Dina Dasberg (later, Angress) was born on October 12, 1928 in Amsterdam, into a well-known Dutch Jewish family. Her father was a renowned physician. In this position, he was declared ”essential personnel” by the German authorities, such that he and his family were given a Sperre, exemption from deportation, something that would turn out to be temporary. When the Dasbergs considered the situation too insecure after all, they decided to look for hiding addresses for their family of four. The Dasberg parents found a hiding address together in the town of Bussum (prov. North-Holland), a nine-year-old daughter in Hilversum, and Dina, then 15, was taken into the home of Walle and Ellie Nauta in Utrecht (prov. Utrecht). They considered it part of their human duty to help out someone in dire need. The Nautas were both in their early thirties -- Walle was a physician as well, whereas Ellie a nurse. When Dina arrived, the Nautas had a seven months old baby, Tjalda. They lived in a small house, but did have a room in the attic that became Dina’s new room. If asked, Dina was supposedly an orphan from Rotterdam, who had been taken in as household help, an acceptable story for a physician’s family. She was treated as a member of the family and soon felt comfortable in her new environment, even though she was separated from her parents and in continuous danger of detection. A special hiding area was constructed under the carpet in the corner of the living room, in a space between two floor joints. In the evenings, Dina was allowed to step outside with the family dog that instilled fear in all passers by, who would make a large detour. In January 1945, a second daughter, Janneke, was born to the Nautas and Dina helped take care of the now two young children during the day. In the course of 1944, Dina was happily provided with false identity papers. This turned out to be very useful, as she was then able to assist the Nautasin looking for food at farm in the area during the infamous Hungerwinter of 1944-1945. Dina stayed with the Nautas until the liberation of the city in May 1945. She then returned to her parents and sister, who had all survived the war at their hiding addresses. In the early fifties, the Nautas immigrated to the United States with their then three children, where Walle became a distinguished professor of medicine. Dina also immigrated to America with her husband, where they had five children. They all stayed in close touch throughout the years. On October 26, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Walle Nauta and Ellie Nauta-Plaat as Righteous Among the Nations.