During the Second World War, one out of every five residents in Aalten—a town in the Achterhoek, the “back corner” of the eastern Netherlands near the German border—was in hiding. The Nazi occupiers actively hunted for anyone on the run, particularly Jewish citizens and young men avoiding forced labor camps. Not even the local churches offered sanctuary.
On January 30, 1944, German forces raided two churches simultaneously: the Westerkerk and the Christian Reformed Church. The sweep resulted in forty-eight arrests. The captives were taken via Arnhem to the Amersfoort concentration camp or the notorious Oranjehotel prison in Scheveningen.
Only one person managed to escape from the Westerkerk: 19-year-old Gerrit Hoopman. His escape was made possible by Mrs. Visser-Taal, who had been evacuated to Aalten after German forces seized her coastal hometown of Scheveningen. She discreetly handed Hoopman her traditional overskirt, cape, and bonnet (pictured above). Disguised as a fisherman’s wife, Hoopman walked arm-in-arm with her out of the raided church—and rode away on a men’s bicycle.
(picture below Mrs Visser -Taal ,on the left, and her daughter,-Neeltje)
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