(1/10) On 21-04-1896 Truus Wijsmuller (born Meijer) was born.
Truus Wijsmuller, the woman who, with her 'big mouth', saved 10.000 Jewish children.
It starts in 1933, when Hitler came to power. She travels to Germany to pick up relatives of Jewish acquaintances.
Truus Wijsmuller, the woman who, with her 'big mouth', saved 10.000 Jewish children.
It starts in 1933, when Hitler came to power. She travels to Germany to pick up relatives of Jewish acquaintances.
(2/10) A few days after kristallnacht she travels to the Dutch-German border to see what is happening there. She takes a Yiddish-speaking Polish boy, under her skirts, to Amsterdam.
In November 1938, the British government decides they will take Jewish children for temporary stay
In November 1938, the British government decides they will take Jewish children for temporary stay
(3/10) So, on 02-12-1938, she is invited to visit the new Dutch Childrens Committee. They ask her to go to Vienna to meet a certain Dr. Eichmann.
As she is a woman, Eichmann at first snaps at her, but she meets him undaunted.
His reaction: 100% Aryan and yet so crazy.
As she is a woman, Eichmann at first snaps at her, but she meets him undaunted.
His reaction: 100% Aryan and yet so crazy.
(4/10) Eichmann thinks he is setting her an impossible task by giving her permission to travel with 600 children within five days on "Shabbat". Wijsmuller immediately went to the station to reserve trains. The parents, the Jewish organizations and Wijsmuller succeeded...
(5/10) They get 600 children to leave Vienna on Saturday 10 December. 500 children travelled via Hoek van Holland to England; the other 100 were accommodated in a school in The Hague and stayed in the Netherlands.
(6/10) Between December 1938 and the outbreak of WW2 she organizes trips several times a week with children from the Nazi area, mostly to the Uk, but also to the Netherlands and later to Belgium and France.
She was involved, as a director of the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis...
She was involved, as a director of the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis...
(7/10) ..an orphanage, where German refugee children are housed. The children call her 'aunt Truus'.
In May 1942 she is arrested. The Gestapo suspects her of smuggling false identity papers for Dutch Jews to help them escape.
But they can't proof anything, so she is released.
In May 1942 she is arrested. The Gestapo suspects her of smuggling false identity papers for Dutch Jews to help them escape.
But they can't proof anything, so she is released.
(8/10) She is known to the Germans as "die verrückte Frau Wijsmuller" (the crazy Wijsmuller woman), because she helps Jews, for nothing.
In 1943 she arranges that all children in #Westerbork receive a package at christmas.
The list of her actions goes on and on.
In 1943 she arranges that all children in #Westerbork receive a package at christmas.
The list of her actions goes on and on.
(9/10) Her reaction after the war:
"What I did was not enough. It was only about ten thousand children. How many millions died after that?"
Wikipedia on Truus Wijsmuller:
translate.google.com/translate?dept…
Story in The times of Isreal:
timesofisrael.com/truus-wijsmull…
"What I did was not enough. It was only about ten thousand children. How many millions died after that?"
Wikipedia on Truus Wijsmuller:
translate.google.com/translate?dept…
Story in The times of Isreal:
timesofisrael.com/truus-wijsmull…
(10/10) In 2017 a documentary "Truus' children" has been made about her and the children she saved.
Trailer:
In 1966 she was named as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
A real (underrated) heroine.🕯️❤️🕯️
She passed away on 30-08-1978
Trailer:
In 1966 she was named as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
A real (underrated) heroine.🕯️❤️🕯️
She passed away on 30-08-1978
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