How one Dutch family’s courage during the Holocaust changed generations forever
What does it look like when ordinary people risk everything to do what is right? During the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, one Dutch family opened their farmhouse to Jewish fugitives facing deportation and death. Their quiet acts of courage would ripple across generations, through loss, survival, faith, and ultimately restoration. They eventually revealed the enduring truth of God’s promise: “I will bless those who bless you.”
This was God’s promise to Abram (Gen. 12:3); it was reiterated to Jacob (Gen. 27:29); and proclaimed over the nation of Israel (Num. 24:9). God means it, and this eternal promise to the Jewish people endures today.
This is a true story, a family’s witness of how God kept His word through one of the most tragic periods in human history, the Holocaust, and gave beauty for ashes.
The Pre-War Dutch Society
For some countries during World War II, neutrality was the strategy. The Netherlands sat between two warring countries and aligning with either, they believed, would have invited invasion. To keep trade open and aggression at bay, they chose neutrality.
That policy had worked during World War I, and despite the aggressive expansion of Nazi Germany by 1939, the Dutch hoped their position of armed neutrality would hold again—unfortunately, it became a blinder more than a protection.
Pre-war Dutch society embraced a strong sense of cultural identity and religious diversity. For centuries, the Jewish community had helped shape the fabric of Dutch society through commerce and culture. They were Dutch Jews and devoted to their beloved country. About 150,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands at that time, and Amsterdam was home to half of them.
The Hendriks Family of Laren
Thirty-one kilometers east of Amsterdam’s bustling streets was the prosperous community of Laren, well-known for its artist colony, an attraction for Dutch painters, and its natural beauty with surrounding forest and calm rural farmlands.
Nestled within the rural landscape was a modest, sturdy, steep roofed, unassuming, stone farmhouse with nearby outbuildings for livestock and supplies. The warm home belonged to Adrianus and Rosa Hendriks and their five children. They were Catholic, good people, hardworking, and caring. To supplement the income from their small-scale farm, Mr. Hendriks also worked at the nearby railway, unloading coal from the trains. The youngest of their family was their daughter, Roos (pronounced, Rose).
Roos, a lively redhead, was two-years old in May 1940 when her and every Dutch citizen’s life dramatically changed.
The Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands
The Germans called it Case Yellow. Their surprise invasion into the Netherlands struck at 5:35 am on 10 May 1940. It was a highly coordinated offensive into an unprepared country. With overwhelming Luftwaffe air power, paratroopers, and infantry, the Germans devastated key cities. In Rotterdam, over 800 civilians were killed and the resulting firestorm left tens of thousands of citizens homeless. Dutch morale collapsed right alongside large portions of infrastructure in the first days of the invasion.
Defeat was inevitable and a devastated commander-in-chief of the Dutch military, signed surrender papers on 15 May. The swift capitulation of the Netherlands became known as “The Five Day War.” Almost immediately, the most visible modification to daily life was the sudden appearance of swastikas and soldiers.
Queen Wilhelmina and Dutch officials fled to London after the surrender and functioned as a government in exile. Using the BBC, the queen and officials communicated with Dutch citizenry throughout the war through the radio broadcast “Radio Oranje.” This was a lifeline for the people, and a source of critical information for what became the Dutch Resistance.
The Germans required the surrender of every radio, and harsh consequences awaited anyone who hid one. Nevertheless brave citizens in the country risked the consequences.
But it wasn’t only radios that were whisked out of sight.
The Jewish Experience
Horrific reports of Nazi policies regarding the Jews trickled out of Germany and occupied countries. Many Dutch Jews saw the writing on the wall and a dark sense of doom covered them.
By the summer of 1940, Nazis forced harsh policies and ideology upon the Dutch. Jews saw their freedoms erode and soon vanish. It wasn’t easy to flee the country. Jews’ finances were restricted, businesses were limited or closed, the sea hindered passage to the north and west, Germany laid to the east, and occupied countries bordered the south.
By early 1941, Jews experienced open beatings on the streets of Amsterdam. Their fellow Dutch citizens defended them at first and many took part in the general “February Strike” protesting the deportation of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. This marked one of the first public acts of resistance against Nazi policy regarding the Jewish people in occupied Europe. And yet, trouble worsened.
WW2 and the Dutch Jews
By May 1942, Nazis demanded Jews wore a yellow Star of David sewn to their clothing. Large raids, razzias, were conducted across the country to arrest Jews, resistance fighters, and young Dutchmen evading forced labor in Germany.
Nazi officials orchestrated the systematic deportation of roughly 107,000 Dutch Jews. By July 1942, entire families were herded into train cars. The soldiers ignored wails of fear and protest and directed the separation: “The men go there and the women go there.” They often put babies into a separate van.
Westerbork and Vught were key transit camps, and from there the trains carried their human cargo to Germany and Poland. Extermination camps were at the end of the line. By the summer of 1943 the Nazis deported most of the country’s Jews.
Not wanting to be separated, and in fear of the reports from the east, about 30,000 Dutch Jews took their chances and became onderduikers—people in hiding, utterly dependent upon the help of brave fellow citizens.
Life in Hiding During the Holocaust
Carla Heijman was only twelve years old when she went into hiding. Trauma, fear, and profound grief were her constant companions.
Her family had been part of the thriving Jewish community in Groenlo, a quiet, historic town eight kilometers from the German border. Her parents, Jossef and Helene, and her brother, Henri, had been taken in the transports. Only because Carla had been with her cousins did she evade arrest and deportation. Her worst fears were later confirmed when she learned the fate of her parents in Auschwitz and Henri in Sobibor.
Carla became an orphan. Stripped of everything she’d known, she felt alone. Deeply alone.
Like other onderduikers, Carla was at the mercy of others for everything. She learned to keep silent, be still, dismiss hunger pangs, and stifle her tears. She learned to move in an instant. Oh, how she longed for the embrace of her family, her mother.
For two years, young Carla moved multiple times. Mindful of the risk complete strangers took in helping her, she was grateful, and simultaneously questioned, How can a person live with crushing sorrow?
Transform lives in Israel through Gospel-centered ministries.
FIRM is your trusted partner for Gospel impact in Israel.
A Dutch Family Who Hid Jews During WW2
The Dutch Resistance’s top-secret inquiry likely came through Mr. Hendrik’s contacts at the railroad. Would he join the LO—the national network of Dutch citizens helping those in hiding? Could their farm in Laren be used as temporary shelter for Jewish families? The risk to him and his family if discovered was certain death at the hands of the Gestapo (Germany’s secret police).
With deep conviction and despite the risks, the Henrikses believed helping the Jews was the right thing to do. For over three years, their farm became a haven to many families, six to eight onderduikers at a time.
Food supplies became critically low as the war dragged on and distribution stations for potatoes appeared. Young Roos Hendriks, then 5 years old, was tiny and feisty so her parents released her into the potato-wagon fray to worm her way through the adults and reach up into the potato supply. It registered as fun to her and she celebrated every success. In the nearby woods, Roos gathered bones and anything edible to boil into soup for the family and their guests.
Protected somewhat by the rural setting, the Jews at the Hendriks’s farm didn’t stay in constant hiding. They lived with the family, and Roos made friends with the children. Yet, everyone remained on high alert. When the Gestapo made their rounds, everyone went into action: the Jewish guests rushed to the basement and the family took up their assigned roles.
A Frightful Day and a Miracle
Gestapo fists pounded the door one afternoon. Fear shot through the veins of everyone in the home. Caught off guard, there was no time to execute the plan. The onderduikers bolted toward the basement. The wide-eyed family scurried to put things away. Roos quickly gathered what she could. Without a miracle they would certainly be discovered.
Mr. Hendriks sauntered to the door, buying precious time. Shouting, the Gestapo demanded an immediate search. Instinctively, ingeniously, Mr. Hendriks launched into an exaggerated coughing fit and confessed to the German intruders that he had tuberculosis. To solidify the ruse, he sank his teeth into his tongue, producing blood, a common symptom of TB.
The phony bout of coughing continued while he stepped aside, revealed his bloody handkerchief to the soldiers, and motioned for them to please enter. They didn’t budge. Alarmed by the threat of disease, the Gestapo retreated and moved to the next location.
Unbeknownst to them, this brave family became a target for God’s blessing: I will bless those who bless you, Israel.
Carla’s Scare
Wartime conditions created a rise in polio outbreaks and Carla was struck by the disease. Risking their own lives to save their young charge, Carla’s hosts secretly admit her into a hospital. Desperately ill, Carla forced herself to rehearse her identity story. To slip up would bring probable death to everyone associated with her.
One day, her nurse declared, “You could very well be a Jewish girl.” Terrified and weak, Carla held to her story. Was it luck or fate? Was God real? Carla didn’t know, but somehow the nurse kept her suspicion to herself.
It seemed a divine mercy when during her last year of hiding Carla stayed on a family farm in Aalten.
A farm not unlike the Hendriks’s.
The Dutch Resistance and Jewish Survival
After five brutal years, Germany forces surrendered to the allies on 5 May 1945.
As war statistics became clear, the world learned that 75-80% of Dutch Jews were killed during the Holocaust. It was the highest death rate per capita of all Western European nations. Only about 6,000 Dutch Jews survived the camps in Germany and Poland.
Surviving onderduikers cautiously resurfaced. Typical daily activities such as shopping, bus rides, gardening, meeting friends, and attending school, seemed almost foreign. They desperately searched for family members and sought to recover their homes and businesses.
There are many stories of courage and sacrifice from the Jewish community and the Dutch who protected them. As of January 2026, Israel had recognized 6,137 Dutch citizens as Righteous Among the Nations. This is the highest rate per capita among all nations; about 1 in 1,700 Dutch risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbors.
Many more were involved without official recognition. Good people like the Hendriks family in Laren, and the many people who helped young Carla Heijman make it through the war.
Post-War Rebuilding
Reconstruction was a monumental task. More complex than cities and infrastructure, however, was the restoration and healing of the human heart and mind.
Carla was almost 14 years old when the Netherlands was liberated. She was taken in by a cousin. She was unable to fully recover from the loss and trauma she suffered during the war. Years later, she expressed desire to live in Israel, but recurring depression and a struggle with alcohol severely limited her day-to-day abilities. Although unable to keep her marriage together, Carla was blessed with three children, Barbara being the youngest.
Part of the orthodox Jewish community, Barbara had a friend who shared about her new-found faith. The friend had had a dream in which Jesus revealed Himself to her as the Jewish Messiah. Barbara came to faith in Jesus through this witness and began attending church in Amersfoort. Her young son, Benjamin, also accepted Jesus, but it would be several years before her husband would come to faith.
Roos Hendriks eventually married and had seven children. Her mindset was shaped by the war years. The tiny, fiery redhead never lost her zeal to protect those who needed it, to work hard and sacrifice for family. She loved with open arms and was delighted when, over time, her family became multi-cultural. Into her old age, and especially to her granddaughter, Rebecca, Roos retold the stories of their family’s covert activity to help the onderduikers.
An Unexpected Connection
One of Roos’s sons, Rebecca’s father, Bart van Dijk, came to faith in Jesus through his wife, Esther. After moving to Amersfoot, the young family joined a church and met Carla’s daughter, Barbara and her son, Benjamin.
Carla’s and Roos’s grandchildren, Benjamin and Rebecca, were young when they first met. A Jewish boy and a spunky Dutch girl. They were in a band together and shared many childhood experiences. Benjamin had a unique way of reminding Rebecca that the Bible stories she loved and applied to herself so readily, were written first for the Jewish people. She found his clarifications annoying. But Benjamin didn’t share his Jewish identity with her for several more years.
In time, all childhood annoyances vanished and the two fell in love. In September 2013, they exchanged their wedding vows under the huppah, a Jewish wedding canopy. The two became one.
The two families were further connected when, after many years of his family praying for him, Benjamin’s father gave his life to Jesus at a ministry event hosted by Rebecca’s father.
Convinced by the testimony of faith and transformation she saw in her family, Roos finally welcomed Jesus into her life in her later years. The Dutch girl who welcomed God’s people into her young life, was welcomed into God’s greater family of faith through her new faith in Jesus.
Faith, Israel, and God’s Promise
Benjamin and Rebecca fulfilled a family dream and made aliyah to Israel in 2021. Carla was already gone, but Roos cheered the couple’s new adventure.
Today, Benjamin and Rebecca’s three young sons, Noach, Yosiah, and Ezra, are part of Israel’s promising future. Ezra is a sabra–a Jewish boy born in Israel. The couple work for FIRM as the directors of Communications and their gospel-centered work impacts Israel and nations across the globe.
I will bless those who bless you, the Lord promised to the Jewish people, and He is ever faithful to His word.
God’s Perfect Plan – From Israel to You: Free PDF Download
The Bible is full of God’s promises that can encourage our faith. Together, these promises make up one master plan of God.
You’re about to discover God’s perfect plan through the lens of 25+ references throughout Scripture.