Johan Willem van Hulst (28 January 1911 – 22 March 2018) was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, politician, chess player and centenarian. In 1943, with the help of the
Dutch resistance and students of the nearby
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, he was instrumental in saving over 600
Jewish children from the nursery of the
Hollandsche Schouwburg
Hollandsche Schouwburg (; English: Hollandic Theatre) is a museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
History
Originally, the Hollandsche Schouwburg was a Dutch theatre, but it was deemed a Jewish theatre in 1941 by Nazi occupiers, and it was later ...
who were destined for deportation to
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
. For his
humanitarian
Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...
actions he received the
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 ...
distinction ''
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 ...
'' from the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1973.
Van Hulst served as
Senator of the Netherlands from July 1956 to June 1981. He was elected to be the
parliamentary leader
A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...
of the
Christian Historical Union
The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in ...
(CHU) in the Senate from December 1968 until June 1977, when the CHU merged into the
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...
(CDA). He then became the first CDA Leader in the Senate. Van Hulst previously served as the
party chair of the CHU from September 1969 until February 1972. He also was a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP) for the
Christian Democratic Group
The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...
from October 1961 until September 1968.
He later was an ''emeritus'' professor of pedagogy at the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...
and a prolific author with more than a hundred publications. He was also a noted chess player.
Early life
Van Hulst was born on 28 January 1911 in Amsterdam, the son of Gerrit van Hulst and Geertruida Hofman. He studied psychology and
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...
at the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...
.
In the meantime he worked as a teacher and mentor in
Oudewater
Oudewater () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands.
History
The origin of the town of Oudewater is obscure and no information has been found concerning the first settlement of citizens. It is also difficult to recover the name of Oud ...
,
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 ...
and
Purmerend
Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and in the region of West Friesland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the tra ...
.
Rescue of Jewish children
In 1942 van Hulst was the director of the Reformed Teacher Training College which educated elementary school teachers at Plantage Middenlaan 27, Amsterdam.
Across the street at Plantage Middenlaan 24 was the
Hollandse Schouwburg theatre, the main clearing site for the Jews living in Amsterdam who had been issued deportation notices by the Nazi government.
Children who arrived at the Schouwburg were separated from their families and sent to the neighbouring crèche at Plantage Middenlaan 31 run by
Henriëtte Pimentel.
The crèche shared a back garden with the college that van Hulst directed.
Starting in January 1943, Pimentel and
Walter Süskind
Walter Süskind (29 October 1906 – 28 February 1945) was a German Jew who helped about 600 Jewish children escape the Holocaust. He was a member of the ( or ) during the Second World War.
Biography
Süskind was born in Lüdenscheid in German ...
, a German Jew who had been appointed by the Nazis to run the Hollandsche Schouwburg operation,
began canvassing potential adoptive families for physical descriptions of children who could fit into their families without detection.
Once the children's parents had agreed, the names of the children to be rescued were removed from the Nazi's registry of Jews who had passed through the Schouwburg theatre.
Then, working with Pimentel, Süskind and dozens of other volunteers, Van Hulst arranged for the children to be spirited over the hedge separating the neighbouring back yards of the crèche and the teachers' college, often assisted by the teachers-in-training or local university students.
When the time came to move the rescued children and babies away from the school, they would be hidden in containers such as bags, sacks or laundry baskets.
Numerous methods were used to move the hidden children from the school. In one method, the operation's helpers would wait for the moment a tram passed, blocking the view of Nazi guards at the facing Hollandsche Schouwburg, to cycle away with the hidden child.
The operation came to a halt on 29 September 1943 when the Nazis sent Pimentel and 100 children from the crèche to
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
.
Decades later, Van Hulst described his experience: "Now try to imagine 80, 90, perhaps 70 or 100 children standing there, and you have to decide which children to take with you.
..That was the most difficult day of my life.
..You know for a fact that the children you leave behind are going to die. I took 12 with me. Later on I asked myself: ‘Why not 13?
Van Hulst thought twelve was the right number, otherwise the Germans would notice his plan and shut it down. In total, the operation had rescued between 500 and 1,000 Jewish babies and children.
Van Hulst received the Yad Vashem distinction in 1973. During a visit to the Netherlands in 2012, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
said of Van Hulst: "We say, those who save one life save a universe. You saved hundreds of universes. I want to thank you in the name of the Jewish people, but also in the name of humanity." Van Hulst replied, talking about the children he could not save: "I only can hope the angels may conduct them into paradise."
In 2016, the former Reformed Teacher Training College became the Dutch National Holocaust Museum.
Shortly before his 107th birthday in 2018, Van Hulst gave an interview on Dutch television, talking about his experiences during the war.
Political career
Senate
Van Hulst served a member of the Senate of the Netherlands from 1956 to 1981 and from 1961 until 1968 he was a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
. He also was Chairman of the CHU from 1969 until 1972.
From 1972 until 1981 Van Hulst was group leader in the Senate; first for the CHU and from 1977 on for the CDA.
Party chair
Van Hulst was elected as Chairman of the CHU on 5 October 1968 during the CHU party conference of 1968.
Van Hulst was tasked with preparing for the upcoming
general election of 1971.
Personal life
Van Hulst was an active chess player. In 2006, at the age of 95, he won the ''Corus Chess Tournament for former politicians''. He won it again in 2010.
According to
René van der Linden, who served as President of the Senate of the Netherlands, Van Hulst was the first former member of the Senate to reach the age of 100 since the establishment of the upper house in 1815.
On 22 March 2018, Van Hulst died at the age of 107. Amsterdam's bridge number 233 was dedicated to Van Hulst shortly after his death. The Johan van Hulstbrug is located in the
Hortus Botanicus in
Amsterdam-Centrum
Amsterdam-Centrum is the inner-most borough and historical city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands, containing the majority of the city's landmarks. Established in 2002, Amsterdam-Centrum was the last area in the city to be granted the status of s ...
, near the school he managed. U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands
Pete Hoekstra
Cornelis Piet "Pete" Hoekstra (; born October 30, 1953) is a Dutch-American politician who served as the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands from January 10, 2018, to January 17, 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously ser ...
stated after Van Hulst died: "Mister Van Hulst is truly an inspiration for how one person can make a real difference, even in the darkest of times." The Senate of the Netherlands commemorated Mr. Van Hulst in its plenary session of 17 April 2018.
Commemoration of former Senator Van Hulst
Eerste Kamer, 17 april 2018.
References
External links
*
Dr. J.W. (Johan) van Hulst
Parlement & Politiek
*
Dr. J.W. van Hulst (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal
Johan van Hulst
Yad Vashem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulst, Johan van
1911 births
2018 deaths
Christian Democratic Appeal politicians
Christian Historical Union MEPs
Christian Historical Union politicians
Chairmen of the Christian Historical Union
Dutch centenarians
Dutch chess players
Dutch chess writers
Dutch education writers
Dutch essayists
Dutch science writers
Dutch social scientists
Dutch political writers
Dutch resistance members
Dutch Righteous Among the Nations
Dutch educational theorists
Child refugees
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Members of the Senate (Netherlands)
Men centenarians
MEPs for the Netherlands 1958–1979
Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni
Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Writers from Amsterdam