Kulk van der Willem & Josephine (Klapwijk)

Kulk van der, Willem Kulk van der-Klapwijk, Josephine Veltkamp, Jan Veltkamp, Mary Proosdij van, Johan Proosdij van-Carmiggelt, Christina Willem van der Kulk, an author who wrote under the pseudonym, van Iependaal, was living in Amsterdam with his wife Josephine and their two teenage children. He was in his early fifties. With the nazification of Dutch cultural life, van der Kulk refused to sign allegiance to the Kulturkammer, which made him and his family suspect under the German occupation. In spite of this, the van der Kulks felt morally obligated to assist other dissidents and persecuted Jews. Considering it safer to move out of the city, they rented a house in Laren (prov. North-Holland). In October 1943, Daniel Grunwald, b.1912, and his wife Regina, b.1916, (née Speelman) knocked on their door. The Grunwalds had married in May 1943 after both their parents had been deported. Daniel, working in the education department of the Jewish Council in Amsterdam, had a postponement from reporting for “work in the East”. However, with the last large razzia in Amsterdam at the end of September 1943, he and his wife were also to be deported. They decided instead to go into hiding. After a short stay with their friend Piet van der Kulk, Willem’s brother, the Grunwalds arrived at the home of Willem and Josephine in Laren. Since, at that time, only one could be accommodated, Regina was taken in November 1943, to Jan and Mary Veltkamp in Eefde/Gorssel (prov. Gelderland), where Jan was a clerk at the municipality. At the van der Kulks, Daniel Grunwald had to stay indoors at all times since no one was to know of his presence. A special hiding area was also constructed under the dining room floor, in case of house searches. Also, Albert Gerson and Leo van Son found temporary shelter with the van der Kulks, as well as a large number of other fugitives. While Regina was in hiding with the Veltkamps, another Jewish woman was temporarily in hiding with them, nicknamed“Dokkie” Heymans. Jan Veltman, active in a local underground group, was able to obtain false papers for Regina, under the name of Maria Ros. This and her bleached hair, enabled her to step outside the house from time to time. The Veltkamps treated her well, but it was considered safer to move her, when rumors of upcoming raids increased at the end of July 1944. Jan Veltkamp took Regina to Johan and Christina van Proosdij, an elderly couple, living in nearby Epse (prov. Gelderland). To outsiders, she was introduced as the housekeeper. Regina was very well received there as well. At times, German soldiers would come in, checking whether they could be lodged there. Luckily, each time they decided the house was too small. By February 1945, when the Germans threatened to burn all major bridges in order to isolate and starve the western part of the country, Regina decided to make her way back to the van der Kulks. After walking for days, she arrived at their home, where she was happy to find her husband Daniel still there in hiding. Regina stayed with them until the liberation in May, 1945, whereas Daniel was spirited out to Aart Vos*, a friend of van der Kulk, when Germans billeted their home at the end of April 1945. After the war, the Grunwalds maintained contact with all their rescuers, even after they moved to the United States. On December 20, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Willem van der Kulk and Josephine Kulk van der-Klapwijk, Jan and Mary Veltkamp, as well as Johan van Proosdij and Christina Proosdij van-Carmiggelt, as Righteous Among the Nations.