This month in “Dare to Believe,” we are featuring diverse heroes from the same time period.
Hans Moederzoon van Kuilenburg was a young girl in Holland who survived the German invasion and occupation of her country.
As a child, she saw the horrific cruelty of the occupation, but she also witnessed amazing acts of heroism by everyday people in her community. As an adult, she chose to write about these brave acts, so the world would remember the silent heroes of Holland. This makes her a person to celebrate.
Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War II was placed in the untenable position of remaining silent while the German allies of his country rounded up and murdered Jews in Europe. When his conscience would not allow him to sit idly by, he found a way to help.
Hans Moederzoon van Kuilenburg was 10 years old when German soldiers invaded Holland in the spring of 1940. The Dutch military was no match for the Nazi forces and Holland fully intended to stay neutral at the outbreak of the war. Within five days, Holland had fallen, and the German occupation was underway.
The next five years were among the darkest chapters in Dutch history. During the "hunger winter" of 1944, 30,000 Dutch citizens died of hunger and cold. The detrimental health effects of those years are still being observed in Dutch survivors who are more prone to heart attacks as a result of the physical stress they endured. The Dutch government may have fallen to the Germans, but many courageous citizens in Holland quietly found ways to thwart the plans of their tormentors. There were many of these quiet heroes in Holland during the occupation.
Hans’ father, a civilian supervisor of marine supplies, stole food and clothing from the Germans to give to Dutch people in need.
Eventually, his activities attracted the attention of the German authorities.
After he was imprisoned, Hans' mother was able to stage a dramatic escape with the help of the family doctor and saved him.
Hans immigrated to the United States in 1959. She had a distinguished career as a medical assistant before retiring. In addition to writing, she also does photography and sometimes exhibits her work. She wrote The Silent Heroes: A Memoir of Holland During World War II to share true stories of heroism, survival, and resistance during a time of fear, despair, and hardship. These are the stories of the brave resisters in Holland who performed these selfless acts of heroism in secret without fanfare or recognition.
Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania during World War II. He quietly disobeyed direct orders from Tokyo and personally wrote exit visas for around 6,000 Jews helping them to flee Europe and avoid the Holocaust.
The visas allowed them to safely travel through Japanese territory. Sugihara risked his job and the lives of his family to do the right thing.
In 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions.
He is the only Japanese national to receive this honor. The year 2020 was officially designated “The Year Chiune Sugihara” in Lithuania. It’s estimated that as many as 100,000 people alive today are descendants of the recipients of Sugihara’s visas.
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