Aguirre y Otegui Martin

Martín Aguirre y Otegui Regina Robberechts (Sister Agatha) Felix Robberechts Constant & Seraphine Robberechts Fred Bild was born on August 7, 1935 in Leipzig, Germany. Following the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, the Bild family managed to escape to Antwerp, Belgium. However less than two years later, with the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany, they found themselves once again under German rule. As a result of the persecution of Jews in Antwerp, the family moved to Brussels. In September 1942, Fred’s father Joseph was caught on the street and deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. His wife, Ida, who was pregnant, took Fred into hiding in Etterbeck, a neighborhood in Brussels. Following the birth of her second son, Jack, in March 1943, Ida turned to the Comité de Defense des Juifs (CDJ), and asked them to find hiding places for her two boys. In August 1943, Fred was taken by the CDJ to the orphanage at Château Beau Sejour, in Linden, which was run by Madeleine Sorel*. He was then taken by Martín Aguirre y Otegui, a Basque refugee who had fled from Spain with his brother in 1937, to France and then back to Belgium. Aguirre y Otegui, who had been raised in Catholic boarding schools and was active in the Church’s rescue network, took Fred first to Father René Ceuppens, one of Cardinal Van Roey’s secretaries, in the Malines area. For Belgium’s Jews, Malines (Mechelen) was not only the name of a town, but also the site of the detention camp where Jews were held prior to their deportation. Despite his young age, Fred knew of the town's reputation, and was terrified when he realized he was being taken to Malines. He escaped from his benefactor, who had to run after the frightened child through the streets of Louvain and take him by force to the railway station. Aguirre y Otegui not only had to pacify Fred, but also come up with plausible explanations to the many people – including the guards on the train – who were witness to thescene. After spending several nights at the home of Father Ceuppens, Fred was taken away once more by Aguirre y Otegui, this time on a bicycle. The two spent several days traveling through the countryside, until they reached the monastery of Klein-Willebroeck. After a month at the monastery, Father René’s brother Father Joris took Fred to the village of Lubbeek (Brabant), where he was placed in the hands of the Robberechts family. Living in the Robberechts' farmhouse at that time were Regina (Sister Agatha), her brother Felix, and their younger brother Constant and his wife Seraphine. Fred was introduced to the villagers as Pierre van Dorpe, a city boy who suffered from health problems and had been sent to the countryside to regain his strength. Fred acclimated quickly to life on the farm, and learned to speak Flemish fluently. The family enveloped him in warmth, and integrated him into their household. Sister Agatha was given a dispensation from the mother superior of her convent to remain in Lubbeek to take care of the child. In September 1944, Fred’s mother arrived in Lubbeek accompanied by Colette Robberechts, who lived in Brussels. Ida did not take her beloved son back with her at that time, but asked that he stay with his kind hosts until she could get back on her feet and find a way to support the family. She told Fred that Aguirre y Otegui had also transferred his brother Jack to safety. In June 1945, the family was finally reunited in Brussels. Fred continued to visit the Robberechts family, spending all of his school holidays with them until he moved to Canada with his brother, mother and her new husband in 1948. On January 11, 2011, Yad Vashem recognized Martín Aguirre y Otegui, as well as Regina (Sister Agatha), Felix, Constant and Seraphine Robberechts, as Righteous Among the Nations.