A Christian woman who saved a Dutch Jewish child during the Holocaust has been named a Righteous Among Nations 83 years after the rescue, Yad Vashem told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Efraim Kochba (born Ernst Bernard Van Coevorden) was raised in the Netherlands during World War II by parents Ziegfried Fritz and Martha van Coevorden.
As life became more perilous for Jews, his parents made the difficult decision to entrust their newborn son to a friend, Jacqueline Meents-Lenstra, and her husband, Max.
Jacqueline Meents-Lenstra shelters Jewish baby during Holocaust
Yad Vashem said they were an interfaith couple. Max was Jewish, and Jacqueline was Christian, and they did not have children of their own.
At the time, Max was held in a transit camp, leaving Jacqueline alone with the baby. Despite the danger, she cared for Efraim devotedly, providing him with a warm and safe home.
Diary preserves childhood his parents would never see
Experiencing parenthood for the first time, Jacqueline decided to keep a diary, written from the perspective of a new mother.
Her aim was to document Efraim’s early development for his biological parents, who might never have the chance to see him grow up. She recorded the milestones of his childhood, from his first smile, as well as the small details of everyday life.
Her diary contains photographs, including one of Efraim smiling in the arms of a hospital nurse, along with a curl of his hair. The couple documented his development as though he were their own son.
Efraim’s biological parents were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ziegfried was killed on April 25, 1945, three days before his 29th birthday. Martha was killed on January 2, 1945, aged 26.
Efraim discovers the story of his Holocaust rescue
The boy initially remained with his adoptive family, but after Jacqueline’s death, he was sent to live with members of his biological family who had survived the war.
As a young child, Efraim came to Israel and grew up without knowing the full story of his rescue. Only later in life did he discover the circumstances of his childhood and the role Jacqueline had played in saving his life.
In his early 20s, after completing his service in the IDF, Efraim traveled to the Netherlands, where he met his adoptive father.
There, for the first time, he saw the childhood album Jacqueline had created for him. Years later, he was to receive the diary itself. It was a firsthand record of a child’s life during the Holocaust, and of the bond that developed between Efraim and the woman who had taken him in.
Yad Vashem recognizes rescuer 83 years later
This month, over eight decades after Efraim was rescued, Yad Vashem has now recognized Jacqueline Meents-Lenstra as a Righteous Among the Nations. Her name will be engraved in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations in Jerusalem.
The official title of Righteous Among the Nations is awarded by Yad Vashem on behalf of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The title is awarded by a special commission headed by a Supreme Court Justice according to a well-defined set of criteria and regulations.