Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer (21 April 1896, in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

– 30 August 1978, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) 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 ...

who brought

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 and adults into safety before and during the

Second World War 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 ...

. Together with other people involved in the pre-war

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

, she saved the lives of more than 10,000 Jewish children, fleeing anti-Semitism. She was honored as

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

. After the war she served on the Amsterdam city council.

Early life

Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer, known as 'Truus' to her family, was born in the city of

. She was the firstborn child of Jacob Meijer, who worked in a drug store, and Hendrika Boer, a self-employed dressmaker. For two years she attended the School of Commerce. Her teachers described her as a "desperate case", "even though she is diligent". But gradually things got better, In 1913, the family moved to Amsterdam. Her parents taught her to stand up for people and, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, set an example of helping the needy by taking in a homeless

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

boy. A year later, she got her first job at a bank, where she met her future husband, the banker J. F. (Joop) Wijsmuller. They married in 1922 and went to live on the Nassaukade in an apartment on the third floor. Wijsmuller stopped working as was usual at the time. When it became clear that they were not having children, Wijsmuller became involved in social work. Her husband supported her in all her activities. From 1933 they could always count on their live-in assistant, Cietje Hackmann. She did her administration and took care of children, if they stayed with them, when Wijsmuller was away from home. 2018-05TW met baret

Social and political work

Wijsmuller took on several unpaid jobs as a social worker. For example, she was a coordinator for an association for homecare, and administrator for a daycare center for children of working women. From 1939 on she was a board member of ''Beatrix-Oord'', a sanatorium in Amsterdam. After the war she had it converted into a general hospital, where abortion was also possible. She joined the ''Vereeniging voor Vrouwenbelangen en Gelijk Staatsburgerschap'' ("Association for Women's Interests and for Equal Citizenship"). There she met chairman

Mies Boissevain-van Lennep Adrienne Minette (Mies) Boissevain-van Lennep (September 21, 1896 – February 18, 1965) was a Dutch feminist who was active in the Resistance before being arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Herzogenbusch concentration camp. After the war, she ...

, who would later become a resistance fighter. In addition to this work, Wijsmuller was nominated as number 6 on the list of Liberal candidates for the Amsterdam city council elections in 1935. Because of the threat of war she founded the ''Korps Vrouwelijke Vrijwilligers'' (KVV; "Corps for Female Volunteers") in 1938, which she managed from her home. Soon she had an extensive network of people.

From 1933 onward help for Jewish children

From 1933 onward, Wijsmuller traveled to Germany to fetch family members of Jewish acquaintances and bring them safely to the Netherlands. She did so for many years to come. After the ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

'' in 1938, rumours reached her that Jewish children were wandering unattended in the woods, so she went to the Dutch–German border to see what was going on there. She smuggled a Yiddish speaking Polish boy across the frontier under her skirts, and took him to Amsterdam. On 17 November 1938, she took her first group of 6 children from the crowded waiting room of the Dutch consulate to the train. But customs attempted to remove them from the train. Wijsmuller however had noticed that the Dutch

Princess Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. ...

was on the coupe next to her. "Children, comb your hair and wash your hands" and she threatened to take the six of them to the princess. After which customs backed down.

December 1938 Meeting Eichmann

In November 1938 the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Government decided to let Jewish children under the age of 17 from Nazi countries enter the United Kingdom for a temporary stay. Various organisations started working together in the

Refugee Children's Movement The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...

[] (RCM) to take care of these children. On December 2, Wijsmuller received a request to come to the newly established Dutch Children's Committee in Amsterdam. During this visit, Norman Bentwich from England was also present. He asked her to travel to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to meet a certain Dr Eichner, which they believed was the name of

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

, a deadline he seemed to assume she would not be able to make. First, she reserved trains at the station. Then, the parents, the Jewish organisations and Wijsmuller succeeded in letting 600 children leave Vienna on 10 December. The journey from Vienna to

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

took around 30 hours. One hundred of the children received shelter in the Netherlands, while 500 traveled on to Britain. In England Wijsmuller had contact with

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(a chairwoman from the RCM, who asked in astonishment: "but you were only sent to talk?" when Wijsmuller arrived with 600 children) and others. In the Netherlands she cooperated with the social worker Gertrude van Tijn from the '' , belonging to the Committee for Jewish Refugees),

'' and many others. Wijsmullers' vigour was fuelled by the degrading way she had seen Jewish inhabitants treated in Vienna. In the Netherlands, however, nobody believed what she had seen.

December 1938-September 1939 Kindertransport

From then until the outbreak of

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 ...

on September 1, 1939, Wijsmuller organised children's transports with children up to 17 years old from Nazi Germany and the annexed territories, mainly to Great Britain, but also to the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The trains from the south-east arrived via

Emmerich Emmerich may refer to: Places * Emmerich am Rhein, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ** Emmerich Rhine Bridge ** Emmerich station * Emmerich, Wisconsin, unincorporated community in the town of Berlin, Wisconsin, United States Other uses * ...

on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; the trains from the north-east passed Bentheim on Thursdays. After the first large transport, the work involved became more structured and a maximum of 150 children per transport was agreed upon. Several times a week, Wijsmuller traveled to Germany and Nazi-occupied territories to pick up children and arrange things on site with the organisers involved. The children were allowed to take one suitcase, 10 German Marks and no photos or valuables. Mostly - but it was not always allowed- Jewish companions traveled with the children to the UK border, provided they all returned. Otherwise the transports would have ended. Once a group of weakened women and children of Sudeten-Germans traveled with them. It was an exceptional operation carried out under great pressure that required the cooperation of parents, guardians and various committees with volunteers in many cities and countries. It was mainly women who took care of the travel and accommodation of the children. Wijsmuller was convinced of the urgency of these transports and gave momentum to the "Kindertransporte", as the evacuations came to be called. She maintained contacts with all of the parties involved in several countries, including the main committees in Vienna, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin (from March 1939 in Prague and Dantzig ) and also the train and boat companies. She always carried in her handbag a toothbrush, a bar of soap and a towel, as she could be asked at any time to travel. Wijsmuller took responsibility for the travel documents when traveling.. She arranged, that the border police and customs controls were carried out as much as possible on the way before the border. And under her guidance (or under that of one of the other Dutch women). That prevented delays. On August 24, 1939, Wijsmuller was met at the border by a delegation from the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

with a brass band. She was forced to celebrate with them that she had crossed the border at Bentheim for the 50th time. Wijsmuller was later quoted saying that the success of the operation was mainly due to the Jewish committees in Vienna, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin and Breslau (and later in Prague, Dantzig and Riga). A miracle of self-control in her eyes, because she realized how afraid people must have been to send their children into the world. Other people organised transports too, for example

Nicholas Winton Sir Nicholas George Winton (born Wertheim; 19 May 1909 – 1 July 2015) was a British humanitarian who helped to rescue children who were at risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany. Born to German-Jewish parents who had emigrated to Britain at ...

and

Recha Freier Recha Freier (Hebrew: רחה פריאר) born Recha Schweitzer, (October 29, 1892 in Norden, East Frisia – April 2, 1984 in Jerusalem) founded the Youth Aliyah organization in 1933. The organization saved the lives of 7,000 Jewish childre ...

. Ultimately, 10,000 children up to 17 years old were saved from a certain death by being transported on a route via the Netherlands into Great Britain. Approximately 1800 refugee children from nazi-countries remained in the Netherlands. The outbreak of the war between Great Britain and Germany in September 1939 put a stop to these transports, as from then on the borders to the UK were closed.

March 1939 Children in the ''Burgerweeshuis''

From March 1939 onwards Wijsmuller was on the board of the Amsterdam orphanage ''Burgerweeshuis'', (now the

Amsterdam Museum The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the building the Amst ...

), which started to accommodate the refugee children. Wijsmuller and her husband were very involved with the children. The children came in small groups to stay overnight at the Wijsmullers'. Joop Wijsmuller took them on outings, for example to Artis, the Amsterdam zoo. The children called Wijsmuller "Tante Truus" (Auntie Truus).

June–July 1939: Refugee ships

In June 1939, international negotiations took place in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

among European countries about the distribution of nearly one thousand Jewish refugees on the MS ''St. Louis''. Wijsmuller was part of the Dutch delegation, who boarded the ship and welcomed the 181 refugees on their arrival in the Netherlands. In July 1939 Wijsmuller was involved in the departure of children on the cargoship the ''Dora'' which eventually landed with 450 refugees in the then English mandate territory Palestine.

September 1939 – December 1939: Last journeys from the German border

The mobilisation disrupted train traffic and the border at Bentheim in Germany was closed. On 31 August Wijsmuller was told that a group of children from the

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

was stuck in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

. She arranged travel documents, picked the children up in buses and took them to the boat in Hoek van Holland. On 1 September she received a telephone call from Germany that Orthodox boys were stranded at the station of Kleve. The Dutch Railways put together a train for her, consisting of dining cars. At the station at Kleve she also found a group of 300 Orthodox men from Galicia. She told the Germans that "after all, these are also boys", and got permission for them to leave. It was the last group to leave Nazi territory via

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

to England. In November and December 1939 she regularly collected Jewish refugees in Bentheim (from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and other places) who had papers for America. They left with the

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...

from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

September 1939 – May 1940: Journeys to England and southern France

From September 1939 till May 1940 Wijsmuller helped Jewish children and adults stranded in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden. She traveled with them to England and the unoccupied parts of France and Spain. In Danmark she arranged an airplane and gasoline for the refugees. On these journeys (by plane to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam by plane to England, and by train to Marseille) she accompanied the refugees. She arranged all the while the necessary but hard-to-get travel documents. Wijsmuller was described as a born tour conductor,] being able to reassure the refugees and to unearth all the talented children aboard for songs, recitations and performances during the long train journey. From

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

people traveled on by boat to try to reach the then English mandate area Palestine. In November 1939 Wijsmuller was arrested and molested by the French in Marseille, suspecting she was the much-wanted German spy "Erika". Due to a lack of evidence she had to be released.

May 1940: The children from the ''Burgerweeshuis'' to England

On 10 May 1940 Wijsmuller was in Paris to take a child away when she heard of the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi German invasion of t ...

. Within three days she traveled back to Amsterdam, where she immediately was arrested and questioned by the Dutch police, on suspicion of espionage. After her release she went to the orphanage ''Burgerweeshuis'' to see the children. The local garrison commander passed a request on to her from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to arrange for the Jewish children at the orphanage to travel as fast as possible to the coastal town of

IJmuiden IJ_(digraph).html" ;"title="n IJ (digraph)">n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality ...

so they could catch a boat to England on time. Wijsmuller brought along as many children as possible on the way, bringing a total of 74 children to the very last boat, the SS ''Bodegraven",'' that left the harbor. Minutes later the Dutch government surrendered. The Bodegraven sailed for England, but due to the German nationality of the children, at first they were not allowed to disembark. Eventually the ship moored on 19 May at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The children spent the war with foster families and in various institutions in England. Wijsmuller decided to stay in the Netherlands. She wanted to be with her husband and besides she found there was more work for her to do.

May 1940-1943 More help in wartime

2019-04De-Burgerweeshuiskinderen-voor-mei-1940

After the capitulation of the Netherlands Wijsmuller traveled to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. There she consulted with the Belgian Red Cross and the Belgian Children's Committee. In

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

she had also contact with the French Red Cross and with the OSE (Oeuvre Secours aux Enfants, a Jewish aid organisation for children). During this period Wijsmuller devoted herself to uniting families. She took children to their parents who had escaped to Belgium and France. On her way back she brought children with her whose parents remained in the Netherlands. Sometimes she brought children to their parents in Germany. She placed children of Jewish women with other, safe families shortly after birth. In Brussels she made contact with Benno M. Nijkerk, a Dutch-Belgian businessman. They agreed to bring as many children as possible to the south, legally or illegally. Nijkerk had false identity cards forged in Brussels. He was the treasurer of the "Comité de Defense des Juifs", a Belgian Jewish resistance group. Later he became a member of "

Dutch-Paris Dutch-Paris escape line was a resistance network during World War II with ties to the Dutch, Belgian and French Resistance. Their main mission was to rescue people from the Nazis by hiding them or taking them to neutral countries. They also serv ...

" which was an underground network of the Dutch, Belgian and French resistance. Wijsmuller smuggled the false identity cards with information about the escape route to Holland. This work continued until at least 1943. In June 1943 she traveled for the last time with Jewish children in the direction of the Spanish border.

Till March 1941: Help with the Amsterdam Red Cross in France

With the Amsterdam Red Cross she traveled with food and medicine to the

Gurs Gurs is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geogr ...

and St. Cyprien internment camps in the south of France. The financing was partly organised by Wijsmuller. She obtained the required German travel and passage permits via the Amsterdam and Belgian Red Cross. Whenever possible she took along Jewish children and smuggled them to

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

or Spain. This help came to an end in February 1941, when the

Dutch Red Cross The Netherlands Red Cross ( nl, Rode Kruis) was founded in 1867. It is among the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It adopts branch governance structure which leads to approximately 214 branches that enables it to serve the whole country. It ...

terminated her travel permits after Wijsmuller made her criticism known about their representative in Paris.

End of 1941 till June 1942: travels to Spain

From May 1941 till June 1942, Wijsmuller was involved in refugees on behalf of the Hoymans & Schuurman's agency and other stakeholders . At the SS' s request, Wijsmuller functioned as the liaison between the SS, the Jewish Dutch and the agency. She accompanied groups who still had permission from the Nazis – having to pay them a lot of money – to leave Europe through Spain and Portugal. Wijsmullers' condition to cooperate was that Jewish children could travel free of charge. With this she helped bringing about 150 people to safety. The travels to Spain continued after May 1942. Thanks to the efforts of several people involved a total of 341 people escaped the Nazi's.

Contacts with Nazis

With the Nazis, Wijsmuller had contacts from high to low. She used it when she wanted something done from them. For example, she received travel documents for Jewish children to leave the country from a

employee who believed that children belonged with their parents. Before that she had accepted his invitation to have a drink with him on an Amsterdam terrace. He saw her walking in the street and recognized her. Previously he was a border official during the "Kindertransport". In May 1941 the SS-er Rajakowitsch called her to The Hague. She had to write down what she was doing and stop her help. Otherwise it would be her end. Wijsmuller pretended ignorance and not understanding how serious the situation was. Wijsmuller later has praised German officers for helping her in dire situations.

1941 till June 1942 Help for French soldiers

From 1941 till June 1942 she arranged help for French soldiers who wanted to flee. At Nijkerks' request and for this purpose she made contact with a German just across the Dutch border. She provided with others civilian clothing, an escape route and a shelter in Nispen. There the soldiers had to say that they were from "Madame Odi": the alias of Wijsmuller.

May 1942 Wijsmuller arrested

In May 1942 Wijsmuller was arrested and put in custody in the prison on the Amstelveenseweg in Amsterdam. The

suspected she was helping Jewish refugees to flee the Netherlands to France and Switzerland. A group of Jews and their hiding people were arrested at their hiding place in Nispen. Wijsmuller had provided them with false identity papers and escape routes, which she smuggled from Brussels to the Netherlands. But the refugees only knew her pseudonym " Madame Odi". Her husband came to plead her innocence with the Nazis. Wijsmuller was released after a few days due to a lack of evidence. She kept in contact with Nijkerk. At the end 0f 1943 travelling abroad became impossible.

1942-1944 Food help

Since 1942 Mrs Wijsmuller was also a member of Group 2000, a resistance group led by

Jacoba van Tongeren Jacoba van Tongeren (14 October 1903, in Tjimahi near Bandung, Dutch East Indies – 15 September 1967, in Bergen, Netherlands) was a resistance fighter, the founder and leader of Group 2000, a resistance group during the Second World War. Jaco ...

. Her position was head of the Red Cross Services. She focused on sending food parcels. All children in

Westerbork Camp Westerbork ( nl, Kamp Westerbork, german: Durchgangslager Westerbork, Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk'' ), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, ...

received a package at Christmas 1943. After that Mrs Wijsmuller worked three days a week with others in the Nieuwe Kerk to prepare and send food parcels. First to people in Westerbork, and from February till September 1944 to people in the

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...

and

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

concentration camps. A total of 7000 parcels were sent by name. ".....but it is thanks to Mrs Wijsmuller that this work has taken such a flight". People also brought food to her house to distribute. An egg merchant from

Landsmeer Landsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Landsmeer consists of the three villages: Den Ilp, Landsmeer, Purmerland. Topography ''Dutch topographic ma ...

brought her about 1000 duck eggs every week. Mrs Wijsmuller then delivered them to elderly homes and hospitals in the city. She called this work the "foodbusiness".

September 1944 Children from Westerbork.

In September 1944 Wijsmuller discovered that 50 "orphans" (Jewish children taken up without their parents) from

would be deported. She regularly had brought food to a number of these children in the Amsterdam '' Huis van Bewaring'' (house of detention). Alarmed by this news, she went to the Nazis. She claimed that she knew these children were not Jewish, but born out of Dutch non-Jewish mothers and German soldiers. According to the law these children were Dutch. To prove her point she showed a Dutch bill which she had manufactured herself. She insisted on "special treatment" for the children. The children traveled on to Theresienstadt, stayed together as a group and returned after the war.

Hunger 1944-1945

Hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the ...

became a serious issue in the Dutch cities. When it was no longer possible to send food parcels to the camps, Wijsmuller, as a member of an interconfessional group, organized the evacuation of 6,649 famished children from Amsterdam across the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

to the countryside. The children were able to recuperate there. On 7 April 1945 the Amsterdam police informed Wijsmuller that 120 Allied soldiers were being held in a monastery in

Aalsmeer Aalsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (''aal'') and lake (''meer''). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of ...

. They were in a bad way. Wanting to help, Wijsmuller cycled to Aalsmeer, the first time with medication, and managed to get in. She threatened the Germans that they could be charged after the war. Immediately after the capitulation of Germany Wijsmuller sought contact with the Germans 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 ...

, who knew her by her nickname "die verrückte Frau Wijsmuller" ("the crazy Mrs. Wijsmuller") due to her help to Jews. They referred her to the Canadians in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

. The latter sent cars and Wijsmuller delivered the soldiers to them.

After World War II

After the war Wijsmuller traced displaced children in Germany, as member number 1 from the KVV and as a

UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...

(a precursor of the UN) employee. This was followed by the organisation of trips to England, Switzerland and Denmark of malnourished children from the Netherlands.Henriëtte Boas "Het begon in 1938" (engl. "It started in 1938") in NIW 06-02-1953 From 1945 until 1966, she was a member of the Amsterdam city council for the liberal party (VVD). She was involved in social work and many social projects in the Netherlands and abroad. Soon she was on about 12 boards and committees. For example, she was involved in the creation of workplaces for the disabled in Amsterdam and the founding of a hospital in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. She was one of the founders and a board member of the

Anne Frank House The Anne Frank House ( nl, Anne Frank Huis) is a writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in central Amsterdam ...

. Most of the Jewish children found that their parents did not survive the Shoah, but some were reunited with their families. Until her death Wijsmuller kept in touch with children she saved, from Enkhuizen to England and Israel.L.C. Vrooland "Geen tijd voor tranen"(engl. "No time for tears") Uitgeverij P.C. van Kampen & Zonen, Amsterdam 1961, pag 185 and 189 Joop Wijsmuller died on December 31, 1964. Cietje Hackman lived together with Wijsmuller until her death on August 30, 1978. Wijsmuller left her body for scientific research. In an advertisement after her death she was described as the "Mother of 1001 children, who made her job of saving Jewish children ".

Memories of Wijsmuller

Wijsmuller has been described and remembered as an impressive personality, a lady with a powerful voice, and someone who radiated warmth and energy. She was a resolute, practical woman with a big heart for children. Very cheeky but never rude. She was able to convince people, even overwhelm them with her boldness. She could improvise in challenging situations and negotiate and bribe whenever necessary. She had a talent for networking and organising. It was her preference to work on her own, as she considered that safer. Wijsmuller never accepted money for her work. In the months and years following the outbreak of the war she never ceased to go wherever work needs to be done.Henriëtte Boas, "Het begon in 1938", (engl. "It started in 1938"), Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad 12-12--1952 In the postwar years she was also characterized as a headstrong and dominant woman, and, looking back, like an adventurer. In Amsterdam she was nicknamed both "tante Truus/Auntie Truus" and "stoomwals/steamroller".

Monuments

* A sculpture of her, made by , was unveiled in 1965 in the sanatorium "Beatrixoord" in Amsterdam. Into the plinth was carved: "G. Wijsmuller-Meijer, member of the Amsterdam City Council 1945-1966. Bellatrix, Vigilans, Beatrix". When "Beatrixoord" was closed, Wijsmuller took the statue home. After her death in 1978 it was reinstated on the Bachplein in Amsterdam. A plaque at the foot mentioned: "Mother of 1001 children, who made rescuing Jewish children her life's work". In 2019 a new plaque was placed with information about her rescuing work before and during the war and the medals she received. * On 30 November 2011, a monument in

was unveiled by Mayor Aboutaleb, commemorating the 10,000 Jewish children that left for England from there. The monument was designed by Frank Meisler, one of the children on the transports. He made four other monuments that are located in Gdańsk (2009), Berlin (2008), London (2006) and Hamburg (2015). * Streets have been named after her in

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Pijnacker Pijnacker () is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is bordered Zoetermeer to the north, by Nootdorp to the northwest, by Delfgauw to the southwest, by Rotterdam (specifically Overschie) to the south and by Berkel en Rodenrijs to th ...

Coevorden Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In Augu ...

and

. In

a tunnel bears her name. * In Amsterdam bridge number 793 is named after her. *

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

number 15296 is named "Tante Truus" ("Auntie Truus") after her. * On March 8, 2020 "Truus' Children" was released, a documentary by Pamela Sturhoofd and Jessica van Tijn from "Special Eyes". It is an ode to Wijsmuller, with interviews with more than 20 "children" she saved 80 years ago. * Hoek van Holland, Monument Kindertransporten

Hoek van Holland, Monument Kindertransporten

A statue of Truus Wijsmuller and the "1001 children" she helped saving was unveiled on 1 July 2020 in her hometown of

. The tribute was an initiative of the Historical Society of Alkmaar. The statue was made by Annet Terberg-Pompe and Lea Wijnhoven. File:Wijsmuller-Meyer.jpg, Statue Truus Wijsmuller in Amsterdam File:Truus Wijsmuller statue in Alkmaar.jpg, ''Truus Wijsmulller'' statue in Alkmaar

Distinctions

*Knight in the

order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, 21-04-1955 for social work in Amsterdam, *

Medal of French Gratitude The Medal of French Gratitude (french: "Médaille de la Reconnaissance française") was a French honour medal created on 13 July 1917 and solely awarded to civilians. The medal was created to express gratitude by the French government to all t ...

(Reconnaissance Francaise), silver medal for help to French soldiers *Medals from the Dutch and German

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

* in 1962, for assistance for Jewish children *

in 1966 *Truus Wijsmuller tree in

in 1966 *Officer in the

19-04-1971 as a treasurer of the Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds *

Honorary Citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Amsterdam (Silver Medal) April 1971, for her work for the city

References

Literature

NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Dutch: ''NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies'') is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out historical studies into the Second Wo ...

, archiefcollectie 299, 1934 A, Documentatie I, G. (Truus) Wijsmuller-Meijer, "Archieven Yad Vashem, Copie," Verslag van een op grammofoonplaten opgenomen gesprek van mw Wijsmuller-Meijer", 114 pagina's, ongedateerd/ (engl. Archives Yad Vashem "Report of a conversation recorded on gramophone records from Mrs Wijsmuller -Meijer", undated, 114 pages), and : Documentatie 2 G. Wijsmuller -Meijer, Artikelen 42, 1957–1971, e.g. "Tante Truus een reuze vrouw", (engl. "Aunt Truus a giant woman") Rogier van Aerde, "Margriet" 04-05-1979 *NIOD Library, D 'Aulnis, Madelon, "''Joodse kinderen op reis naar de vrijheid 1938-1943",- Truus Wijsmullers' werkzaamheden voor gezinsvereniging in en emigratie uit West-Europa''- (ongepubliceerde) afstudeerscriptie nieuwe geschiedenis UvA, 1987 (engl. "Jewish children on a journey to freedom 1938-1943"- Truus Wijsmullers' work for family reunification in and emigration from Western Europe- Unpublished graduation thesis University of Amsterdam, New History, 1987) *Archief Raadsgriffie Gemeente Amsterdam, enkele artikelen/verslagen (engl Archives Council registry of the municipality of Amsterdam/ some articles and reports) * 934, Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer, 1 (trouwboekje 1899 en 1922), 2,3,19 (engl City Archives of Amsterdam, marriage certificate 1899 and 1922) *, geboorteakte Geertruida Meijer, gezinskaart Jacob Meijer, Archief Handelsschool (Hogere) HBS-A 1911-1912 en 1912–1913, (engl. Regional Archive of Alkmaar, birth certificate and family card, and Trade School Archives, Records 1911-1912 and 1912–1913) *Barley, Ann, "Patrick calls me mother", 1948, Harper & Brothers, New York *Boas, Henriëtte, "Het begon in november 1938", - Een interview met mw. Wijsmuller in vijf afleveringen- , Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad 12-12-1952, 02-01-1953,16-01-1953, 30-01-1953, 06-02-1953 (engl. It started in 1938 - An interview with mrs Wijsmuller in 5 episodes- Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad 12-12-1952, 02-01-1953, 16-01-1953, 30-01-1953, 06-02-1953) *By the journalist L..C.Vrooland, Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer: "''Geen tijd voor tranen" (No time for tears ),''. Amsterdam 1961 (auto)(biography), and Tweede druk 1963 Emmanuel Querido Uitgeverij NV Amsterdam *Presser, J. "De ondergang", deel I, Staatsuitgeverij 's Gravenhage 1977, pag. 12 (engl "The downfall", part I) *Madelon d'Aulnis, 'So reinarisch und dann so verrückt', ''Ons Amsterdam'', mei 1993, page 121-124 (engl "So pure Aryan and then so crazy") *Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer, 2000 "''Into the arms of strangers"'' , Warner Bros, *Miriam Keesing, "De kinderen van tante Truus", Dagblad Het Parool, 1 mei 2010
http://www.dokin.nl/publications/het-parool-children-of-tante-truus
*Bernard Wasserstein, 2013 "Gertrude van Tijn en het lot van de Nederlandse Joden", Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers , (engl Bernard Wasserstein "The ambiguity of virtue"- Gertrude van Tijn and the fate of the Dutch Jews, 2014. Harvard University Press, *Lida Boukris-Jong "Truus Wijsmuller - een vrouw uit duizenden- ",(engl "A woman in a thousand") Tijdschrift "Oud Alkmaar", jaargang 39, nr 2 2015, pag. 39-45 *Paul van Tongeren "Jacoba van Tongeren en de onbekende verzetshelden van groep 2000" Uitgeverij Aspekt, Amsterdam 2015 9 (engl "Jacoba van Tongeren and the unknown resistance heroes of group 2000") *Megan Koreman, "Gewone helden" - De Dutch Paris ontsnappingslijn 1942–1945, (engl "Ordinairy heroes"-The Dutch-Paris escape line- , Uitgeverij Boom, Amsterdam 2016 ) *David de Leeuw: 'De kinderen van Truus',(engl "Truus'children", In: '' Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad 04-08 2017'' nr 39, page 20–25 *"Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer, a forgotten heroine", www.dokin.nl (2017) *Kanselarij der Nederlandse Orden (engl Chancery of the Dutch Orders)