Barend was engaged to my mother, Heintje Theeboom at the time that Holland was invaded by the Nazis. In 1942, he assisted my mother and her sister Celine to go into hiding in Beverwijk with the family of Gerrit Sluis. From there, my mother was brought to Tilburg, to stay with the Berkelmans family. A wedding between he and my mother was falsely registered in the population register (bevolkingsregister) and the Roman Catholic Church in Tilburg in an attempt to protect my mother. This was discovered and those involved were captured. Barend managed to escape but was taken prisoner in May 1944 and the whole group were subsequently executed.
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