Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan and Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands Amb honored three Dutch Righteous Among the Nations recognized by Yad Vashem the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem The title Righteous Among the Nations is presented to those few non-Jews who risked their lives to help rescue Jews during the Holocaust The descendants of Righteous Among the Nations Johannes Martinus and Rolina Oelen Jan Hendriks and Johannes Jozephus and Wilhelmina Regina Bros were presented with the certificate and medal of appreciation on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel for their selfless acts of kindness and bravery The ceremony was part of Chairman Dayan's historic visit to the Netherlands which included participation in the inaugural ceremonies for the new Dutch National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam The opening of the museum was attended by the King of the Netherlands as well as the President of the State of Israel Dayan also visited the Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names and met with heads of institutions dealing with Holocaust remembrance and the fight against antisemitism I feel the heavy burden on my shoulders and the great responsibility to pass on the story of the Holocaust and the duty the world has in preventing such events from happening again I work towards this goal each and every day as I stand before families of people who chose to stand up in the face of pure evil and act as beacons of light amid the great darkness I am filled with hope for our shared future The Jewish people as a whole owe these individuals a debt of gratitude for their courage and inner morality." Johannes Martinus and Rolina Oelen-ter Steege Rolina (Oelen-ter Steege) and Johannes Martinus Oelen lived in a small village near Leeuwarden and Esther and Nathan Cohen whose two sons and granddaughters had already been murdered by the Nazis moved in with Rolina and Johannes in late 1942 the Cohen's hid in a small house belonging to the Oelen family where Johannes built a special hiding place where Esther and Nathan were able to avoid detection the Cohen's returned to their home and stayed in touch with their rescuers Johan Oelen received the coveted title on behalf of his grandparents Jan Hendriks Jan and his wife Abeltje Hendriks-Aardema (previously recognized by Yad Vashem in 1979) lived in Emmer-Compascuum with their daughter The couple owned a grocery store where Abeltje worked The couple were central figures in the Dutch resistance group Zefat They hid Jews in their home and also helped hide a large group of Jews in the forests near Valthe Jan was arrested in 1944 and deported to the Amersfoort camp Jan died from exhaustion in Husum-Schwesing a subcamp of Neugengamme in Germany on 18 November 1944 Albertje continued her resistance activities until the end of the war Jan Hendriks's Righteous Among the Nations award presented to the couple's granddaughter Johannes Jozephus and Wilhelmina Regina (van Tongeren) Bros The Bros' hesitated due to the great risk to their family and the small size of their home and Henriette stayed with them for two months where she had to hide in a pigsty to avoid being discovered The risk of being discovered was so great that the priest decided to move Henriëtte back to the Bros family who took her back into their home for six more months until liberation Henriëtte maintained a close relationship with the Bros family and their descendants Yad Vashem recognized the Bros couple and Father Petrus van Heijst as Righteous Among the Nations The certificate and medal were received jointly by Henriette's daughter together with the lifelong friend of Betty Strijbos-Bros The Yad Vashem website had recently undergone a major upgrade The page you are looking for has apparently been moved We are therefore redirecting you to what we hope will be a useful landing page For any questions/clarifications/problems, please contact: webmaster@yadvashem.org.il Easter bonfires are causing an increased concentration in particulate matter in the air in some parts of the Netherlands "Especially people with lung diseases such as asthma and COPD and (older) people with cardiovascular disease may suffer" the problem lies in the calm weather with not much wind smoke and particulate matter can remain in place for a long time The institute warns people to avoid the smoke as much as possible resulted in complaints predominately in the west of the country the environmental department in Rijnmond already received 250 complaints about odor the fire brigade put an early end to an Easter bonfire after local residents complained about the smoke Monday night will also see some Easter bonfires lit Whether these fires will again lead to increased particulate matter concentrations remains to be seen