Jaap Penraat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jaap Penraat
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| Born | April 11, 1918 Amsterdam, Netherlands
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| Died | June 25, 2006 (aged 88) |
| Known for | World War II resistance fighter, helped Jews to safety |
Jaap Penraat (born April 11, 1918 – died June 25, 2006) was a brave Dutch resistance fighter during the Second World War. He risked his life to help many Jewish people escape danger. He is remembered for his amazing courage and clever plans.
Contents
Jaap Penraat: A True Hero
Growing Up and First Acts of Kindness
Jaap Penraat was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Even as a child, he showed kindness to his Jewish neighbors. He would help them by turning lights on for them on Shabbat. This was something they were not allowed to do themselves.
When the Nazis took over the Netherlands, they started to harm Jewish people. Jaap was working as an interior designer, architect, and sculptor. He decided he had to do something to help.
Fighting Back: Forging Papers
Jaap began his fight against the Nazis by making fake identity papers. These papers helped Jewish people pretend to be someone else. This made it harder for the Nazis to find them.
However, Jaap was caught and put in jail for several months. Even after this, he did not give up.
A Daring Escape Plan
After his release, Jaap came up with an even bolder plan. He used his skills to create fake documents that said Jewish people were slave laborers. These "laborers" were supposedly working on the Atlantic Wall. This was a huge line of defenses built by the Nazis along the coast of France.
Jaap made more than 20 trips. He secretly moved 406 Jewish people from the Netherlands to Spain. They traveled through France, using his fake papers to trick the Nazis. Amazingly, he only lost one person during these dangerous journeys.
The Nazis caught Jaap again and tortured him. But he was incredibly strong. He did not tell them anything about his secret operations. After being released, he kept helping people until 1944. It became too dangerous to continue. He spent the rest of the war hiding in a village. He survived by eating sugar beets.
Life After the War
After the war ended, Jaap Penraat became a well-known designer in Amsterdam. In 1958, he moved to the United States. He even designed a Dutch mill cafe for the New York World's Fair in 1964.
For many years, Jaap did not talk about his wartime actions. His daughters eventually convinced him that his grandchildren should know his story. He then began sharing his experiences with school groups. He always said he had only "done the decent thing."
Honored for His Bravery
On June 11, 1988, Yad Vashem honored Jaap Penraat. Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to victims of the Holocaust. They gave him the title of Righteous Among the Nations. This special honor is given to non-Jewish people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
A friend of Jaap's, Hudson Talbott, wrote a children's book about his bravery. The book is called Forging Freedom: A True Story of Heroism During the Holocaust. Talbott said that Jaap "just loved the idea of putting one over on the Nazis."
Jaap Penraat passed away at his home in Catskill, New York. He was 88 years old. He is remembered as a true hero who saved many lives.
