M. A. Geertruida Dijkstra-van Rijn |
08-12-2014 |
David van Rijn was a cousin of my great-grandfather. On 13 March 1929 David van Rijn married Judith Mol, a Jew, in Rotterdam. They had two children: Geertruida (1930) and Gerson David (1933). David van Rijn died in 1937. It is thought that Judith Mol was in poor health and had to be confined to a Jewish nursing home called Apeldoornse Bosch. Her children followed soon after, and they were housed in the Jewish orphanage on the same grounds in Apeldoorn. It may of course be the case that they thought they were safe there from the German occupiers. Alas, on a cold January night in 1943 they were deported to Poland, where they died.
Until recently I knew nothing about the Jewish branch of my family. The horrors that took place in Apeldoornse Bosch have touched my family and me deeply, and we want to commemorate them. That is why we are adopting the names of Judith, Geertruida and Gerson van Rijn.
M. A. Geertruida Dijkstra-van Rijn
Back to Overview