Ankie Stork (c. 1922 – November 23, 2015) was a Dutch

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

during the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...

. She is credited with saving thirty-five

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

children from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

by hiding them around the town of Nijverdal during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Stork acted as part of , a Dutch resistance group based in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. Other prominent members of the group included the publisher, Geert Lubberhuizen. Stork, a member of the Hengelose manufacturing family, was the daughter of Johan Charles Stork, the director of the Koninklijke Stoombleekerij in

Nijverdal Nijverdal () is a town of approximately 25,000 inhabitants in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is the commercial centre of the municipality Hellendoorn. Nijverdal (which means ''Industrious Valley'') was founded in 1836 on the territory of t ...

. She became a lecturer and spokesperson after the war. She continued to reside at two residences in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

and

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

until shortly before her death. She died in Enschede on November 23, 2015, at the age of 93.

References

External links

* 2015 deaths Dutch resistance members Dutch people of World War II Women in war in the Netherlands People from Enschede People from The Hague Year of birth uncertain 20th-century Dutch women {{Netherlands-bio-stub