The Sisters of Auschwitz

by Roxane van Iperen

  The way the house stood on that hill, majestic and timeless, its back towards the residential area that had been built around it, its gaze towards the forest and the water, unperturbed by the everyday hustle and bustle – I was speechless. A safe haven. A place inviting you to climb and laugh, or sit quietly on a bench, stoking a fire. The spontaneous plan to go looking for the grave on this Friday afternoon was inspired by procrastination and weariness from the heat. It was no indispensable step in my research, not really, but suddenly it makes perfect sense.

  The grave that I am looking for belongs to musical wunderkind Dirk Witte, a songwriter born in 1885 who wrote one of the best-known songs in the Netherlands, much loved in all sections of society and performed by voices from each generation: ‘Mensch, durf te leven’, ‘Remember: life is for living’. Dirk composed the song during his time in military service and although he never fights, he is a stretcher-bearer; the war and the massive influx of refugees make a deep impression on him. The song has a spirit of resistance, encourages critical thinking and is rendered brilliantly; it becomes a huge hit in post-war Holland.

  Shortly after its release, Dirk takes the plunge and quits his job to devote himself completely to his artistic life with his partner, Dutch cabaret artist Jean-Louis Pisuisse. He marries above himself with the beautiful, well-to-do Doralize ‘Jet’ Looman from Bussum, and in 1920 they commission an architect from Zaandam to build their dream house. On a fairy-tale site in the middle of a nature reserve in Naarden, where the heathland meets the forest, a robust country house emerges. Large windows offer unobstructed views in all directions, even as far as the Zuiderzee. Seen from the sky, the house flows into its surroundings; the large garden is enclosed by oak trees merging into the forest, and the roof is covered with the entwined stems of the same yellow reed growing along the nearby stream.

  On a bright summer day in 1921, Dirk and Jet, their newly born daughter Doralize in a pram, proudly pose in front of their new home: The High Nest. Witte had no way of knowing that twenty years later, when another World War puts humanity to the test and many people in the Netherlands wonder what to do, his battle cry will so literally come to live in his house, as if the soul of the song has been built into the walls.

  And so, I find myself looking for Dirk Witte’s grave – the final, but first, piece of my puzzle to reconstruct the history of The High Nest.

  Dirk’s wife, Jet Looman, had the first verse of his signature song ‘Remember; life is for living (memento vivere)’ engraved on his tombstone:

  Life’s full of beauty and wonderful things

  Don’t hide in a cage, but instead spread your wings

  Remember: life is for living!

  Keep your head high, stick your nose in the air

  What others are thinking, why would you care?

  Keep your heart warm, with love it will sing

  Wherever you go, you shall be king

  This gift to yourself keeps on giving

  Remember: life is for living!

  It is said that the grave was neglected to such an extent that the text was no longer legible in 1971. In 2005, Dirk Witte was buried in the Loomans’ family tomb, with the love of his life, Jet. I have been searching for this grave for over an hour, but without any luck.

  I sit down on a bench shaded by the trees and think about the long road that took me here. After we moved into The High Nest in 2012, I studied the persecution of the Jews, the concentration camps and the political situation of that era. I charted each individual war year and followed the route of the Brilleslijper family. I tried to make my own ‘dotted map’ of Dutch Nazis around Naarden, learned more about the role of the Dutch elite and looked for patterns in the resistance. Each year on 4 and 5 May, Remembrance and Liberation Day, I placed a table in front of The High Nest with a guest book, in which I briefly described the war history and put a request for information about that period.

  In Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation archives I found pictures of children hiding in The High Nest, playing in our garden. Via American universities I found anecdotes about the house and the underground activities. I contacted experts, biographers, relatives and friends, developed a close connection with the children of Janny and Lien, and was told stories no scriptwriter could ever imagine. I got access to Janny’s personal documents at the Anne Frank archives, where I found letters of the sisters and their loved ones, and Janny’s handwritten statement that Anne and Margot Frank had died with her in Bergen-Belsen.

  I travelled through Israel and found more information on The High Nest than in the Netherlands. But, above all, the people I met there had an urgent message for me: tell this story, because it is different from the many stories the world knows. The Jews did not go to their deaths willingly – indeed, there were Jewish resistance fighters. Female ones at that.

  The children who hid at The High Nest are now in their seventies. They came back to the house from various corners of the globe to see the places where they had played during war, and where my children now play in freedom. The desk where this book is written is right above the hatch where all the important papers were quickly hidden when Jew hunters surrounded the house.

  I realize that the true restoration of The High Nest was not about repairing its walls but about reconstructing the exceptional events that took place between them.

  The sun has almost gone now. The graves are sunk in dark shadows; warm air hangs between the trees. I get up and resume my search. A few miles from here the kestrel and a cold beer await me, but I am not leaving before I have found Dirk.

  Between the leaves I suddenly notice a shiny grey surface sticking out above the ground, not dilapidated, not overgrown; it is as if someone was expecting me and just gave it a quick wipe. I draw closer and there he is, in the Loomans’ family tomb: Dirk Witte, 1885–1932. The rest of the stone is empty – his famous battle cry is gone.

  It does not matter. I would have liked to tell Dirk how Janny and Lien have brought the house he built to life. The memory of the war seems to fade, but their fearlessness is carved into the stones of The High Nest for ever:

  What others are thinking, why would you care?

  Remember: life is for living!

  After The High Nest

  Joseph Brilleslijper, born 27 February 1891, arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 6 September 1944, almost certainly gassed immediately upon arrival.

  Fijtje ‘Fietje’ Brilleslijper-Gerritse, born 14 January 1891, arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 6 September 1944, almost certainly gassed immediately upon arrival.

  Rebekka ‘Lien’ Rebling-Brilleslijper, born 13 December 1912, died 31 August 1988. Moved to East Berlin in 1952 and therefore lost her Dutch nationality. When she came to the Netherlands for the wedding of her niece Liselotte in 1964, she was closed in by the Aliens Police. Janny was furious and called every influential person in her circle of friends to free her traumatized sister and let her have a Dutch passport – with success. Lien performed around the world with a repertoire of Yiddish and resistance songs her entire life, often accompanied by Eberhard and her daughters, Kathinka and Jalda.

  Marianne ‘Janny’ Brandes-Brilleslijper, born 24 October 1916, died 15 August 2003. Janny, Bob and the children stayed in the house at Amstel 101. After the war, Janny, with Bob, fiercely kept resisting the ongoing public anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, devoting her life to the recognition of war victims. She was involved with the Auschwitz Committee, the Anne Frank Foundation and the Foundation ’40–’45, among others. Each year during the commemoration of the February Strike, Janny had a large pan of lentil soup on the fire for people on their way back in the cold from around the corner of her house, where the dock worker monument still stands.

  Jacob ‘Jaap’ Brilleslijper, born 7 June 1921, arrived in Auschwitz on 6 September 1944, died there after 15 September 1944 but before 1 October 1944.

  Eberhard Rebling, born 4 December 1911, died on 2 August 2008. Eberhard was one of the first Germans to receive Dutch cit
izenship after the war. He became a musical editor at communist newspaper De Waarheid (The Truth). He moved to East Berlin in 1952, therefore losing his Dutch citizenship again, and became director of the conservatory there. Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

  Bob Brandes, born 20 February 1912, died 27 September 1998. Bob worked at the Municipal Giro Bank, among other places. Until his death, he was a great support to Janny in dealing with the lifelong effects of the war years and the loss of so many family members. Bob suffered from a severe form of epilepsy and needed a lot of medication. Janny often said: ‘If only Gerrit [Kastein] were alive; he would help him after the war.’

  Kathinka Rebling, born 8 August 1941. Kathinka moved to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with her parents as a child. She was given violin lessons from a very young age. She went to the conservatory in Moscow when she was eighteen and obtained her doctorate in Musicology, just like her father. Kathinka returned to Berlin to teach, giving concerts and master classes around the world.

  Jalda Rebling, born 13 February 1951 in Amsterdam, moved to the GDR with her parents and her sister, Kathinka, one year later. She went to the Berlin drama school, became an actress and singer, and specialized in European Jewish music. She is a chazzan and spiritual leader of the Ohel Hachidusch congregation in Berlin.

  Robert Brandes, born 10 October 1939. A visual artist, he lives in the Netherlands. A major theme of his aquarelle paintings and etchings is the city of Amsterdam and its canals, inspired by the view from his house at Amstel 101, where he has lived for most of his life.

  Liselotte Brandes, born 6 September 1941, lives in the Netherlands.

  Jetty Druijf, born 16 January 1919, was deported to Theresienstadt on 31 July 1944 and Auschwitz on 28 September 1944, where she died on 3 October 1944.

  Simon Isidoor van Kreveld, born 27 January 1921, was deported to Theresienstadt on 31 July 1944 and Auschwitz on 28 September 1944, where he died on 3 October 1944.

  Pauline (Puck) van den Berg-Walvisch (sometimes spelt as Paulina or Walvis), born 26 May 1924, was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 3 September 1944 and on 27 October 1944 to Libau Camp, which was liberated by the Russians on 8 May 1945. She returned to the Netherlands on 11 June 1945. Present situation unknown.

  Abraham ‘Bram’ Teixeira de Mattos, born 31 May 1888, arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on or around 6 September 1944, almost certainly gassed immediately upon arrival.

  Louise ‘Loes’ Teixeira de Mattos-Gompes, born 12 August 1890, arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on or around 6 September 1944, almost certainly gassed immediately upon arrival.

  Rita (Grietje) Jaeger, born in 1920, stayed in Westerbork as cleaner until the camp was liberated in April 1945. Died 30 November 2015.

  Chaim Wolf (Willi) Jaeger, born 17 March 1914, stayed in Westerbork as a baker until the camp was liberated in April 1945. Died in 2006.

  Jan Hemelrijk, born 28 May 1918, died 16 March 2005, was a professor of Statistics at the University of Amsterdam after the war. The characters of Herman and Lidia in The Evenings by Gerard Reve are based on Jan and Aleid Hemelrijk. Together with Bob van Amerongen, Jan founded the famous ‘PP resistance group’, named after the fantastical beasts Porgel and Porulan from the ‘Blauwbilgorgel’ poem by Cees Buddingh. Loes Gompes and Sander Snoep made the documentary Fatsoenlijk land (Decent Land) about this group. At the death of Jan’s father, Jaap Hemelrijk, in 1973, the forest path leading to the Buerweg – where Janny and the rest of the family were hiding – was renamed: het Hemelrijklaantje, Hemelrijk’s Lane.

  Aleid Hemelrijk-Brandes, born 16 December 1914, died 28 November 1999.

  Leo Fuks, born 29 December 1908, died 12 July 1990. Leo taught Modern Hebrew and Yiddish at university after the war.

  Louise Christine ‘Loes’ Fuks-de Betue, born in 1905, died in 1962.

  Maarten ‘Mik’ van Gilse, born 2 June 1916, was executed by firing squad on 1 October 1943.

  Jan Hendrik ‘Janrik’ van Gilse, born 5 June 1912, was shot by SD officers as he attempted to flee them on 28 March 1944.

  Jan van Gilse, born 11 May 1881, died 8 September 1944.

  Gerrit van der Veen, born 26 November 1902, was executed by firing squad on 10 June 1944. After the war the SD headquarters and Euterpestraat in Amsterdam were named after him: the Gerrit van der Veen School (now Gerrit van der Veen College) and Gerrit van der Veenstraat.

  Dirk Uipko Stikker, born 5 February 1897, died 23 December 1979. He was a director of Heineken from 1935 to 1948. After the war, among others, he became the first chairman of the conserva-tive-liberal political party VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy).

  Frits Reuter, born 19 February 1912, died 8 November 1985. After the war he was a member of the Lower House for the Dutch Communist Party and a union leader.

  Rhijnvis Feith, a neurologist in The Hague, his date of birth and death are unknown.

  Gerrit Kastein, born 25 June 1910, died 21 February 1943. The room at Parliament Square (Binnenhof, The Hague) where Gerrit jumped out of the window was named after him on 20 June 2017: the Gerrit Kastein room.

  Karel Emanuel Poons, born 14 August 1912, died 12 March 1992. After the war he was a co-founder of the National Ballet and a director of the Scapino Dance Academy.

  Marion Pritchard-van Binsbergen, born 7 November 1920, died 11 December 2016. After the war she worked for the (predecessor of the) UN in the United States of America, where she continued to live, had a psychology practice and gave lectures on the Holocaust until her death. Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

  Fred Lodewijk Polak, born 21 May 1907, died 17 September 1985. After the war he became a director of the Centraal Planbureau (Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis), a member of the Dutch Senate, a university professor and the founder of educational broadcasting company Teleac.

  Grietje Kots, born 7 January 1905, died 13 May 1993. She worked as mask, puppet and marionette maker, painter and sculptor after the war.

  Anton Mussert, born 11 May 1894, was sentenced to death on 12 December 1945 and executed on 7 May 1946 on Waalsdorpervlakte.

  Eduard ‘Eddy’ Moesbergen, born 26 June 1902. He was prosecuted after the war and sentenced to death in November 1948. Later pardoned by Queen Juliana in 1949; punishment turned into life sentence. Pardoned again in 1959; punishment shortened to twenty-three years (the longest punishment of all members of the Henneicke Column). Released in 1961, he emigrated to New Zealand, to his wife and four children. Died 8 November 1980.

  Willi Lages, born 5 October 1901, died 2 April 1971. He was prosecuted after the war and sentenced to death, later granted a pardon, which was turned into a life sentence. His sentence was deferred for a maximum of three months in 1966 on ‘humanitarian grounds’ (he had bowel complaints). He departed to Germany, underwent surgery and from that moment on lived as a free man because he could not be extradited.

  Harm Krikke, born in 1896, was prosecuted after the war and sentenced to death, later granted a pardon, which was turned into a life sentence. Date of death unknown; a family announcement in the Friese Koerier newspaper on 15 July 1969 mentions the death of one Harm Krikke on 12 July 1969.

  Willem Punt. A detective at the Amsterdam Police during the war, he was subsequently charged after the war. Date of birth and death unknown.

  Annie Bochove, born 9 July 1913. Immediately after the war, in early 1946, the Bochove couple applied for emigration; they intended to move to the United States of America. Their papers did not arrive until 16 July 1949 and Annie died on the same day. She was posthumously recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

  Bert Bochove, born 1 October 1910, emigrated to the United States of America after the war, where he died in California on 13 August 1991. Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

  Eva Besnyö, born 29 April 1910, died 12 December 2003. She made her name as a photographer after the war.

  Mieke Stotijn-Lindeman, later Riezouw-Lindeman, born 15 December 1914,
died 23 April 2009. She was politically active after the war (Communist Party Holland and later PvdA, the Dutch Labour Party) and a founder of the Vondelpark-Concertgebouw area community centre in Amsterdam.

  Haakon Stotijn, born 11 February 1915, died 3 November 1964. He was a solo oboist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra after the war.

  Kurt Kahle, born 18 October 1897, died in a car crash in 1953. He was a film- and documentary maker after the war.

  Marianne Gerritse-Lootsteen (mother of Fijtje), born 28 May 1858, died 23 December 1916.

  Jacob Gerritse (father of Fijtje), born 19 August 1858, died 27 December 1936.

  Isaäc Gerritse (brother of Fijtje), born 5 May 1882, died in Auschwitz 27 August 1943; five of his six children died in concentration camps.

  Mozes Gerritse (brother of Fijtje), born 15 August 1895, died in Jawischowitz labour camp (coal mine), near Auschwitz, 1 January 1944. His wife and both of his children died in concentration camps.

  Debora Beesemer-Gerritse (sister of Fijtje), born 7 January 1898, died in Sobibor on 21 May 1943. Her husband and three of her four children died in concentration camps.

  Alexander Gerritse (brother of Fijtje), born 10 November 1900, died in Auschwitz in 1942 or 1943. His wife and three children died in concentration camps.

  Trees Lemaire, born 15 January 1919, died 10 December 1998. After the war she ran her own art gallery in Amsterdam, was head of the documentary department of the socialist broadcasting as-sociation VARA and a member of the Lower House for the Dutch Labour Party, PvdA. Trees and Janny were best friends for as long as they lived.

  Carolina ‘Lily’ Biet-Gassan, born 20 July 1913, died 14 October 1975.

  Anita Leeser-Gassan, born 17 September 1935, was a lawyer and juvenile judge after the war, and the vice president of the district court, Amsterdam.

  Edith Frank-Hollander, born 16 January 1900, died 6 January 1945. When Anne and Margot are sent to Bergen-Belsen by the end of October 1944, they mistakenly believe that their mother was sent to the gas chambers. Shortly thereafter Edith dies of sickness and exhaustion in Auschwitz, after all.