Vander Kamp (Van de Beld), Jenny

Righteous Gentile
Hillegom (Netherlands)

Vander Kamp, nee Jenny Van de Beld, is the youngest of nine children of a well-established Reformed Protestant family that, during World War II, lived in Hillegom, the Netherlands, about 20 miles southwest of Amsterdam. There were a few Jews living in her hometown, but she did not have contact with them. She was not aware of any anti-Semitism existing at home or with her friends.

Vander Kamp was twenty years old when the Netherlands were invaded by Germany. Her hometown was occupied by the German military and overall living conditions deteriorated, becoming extremely bad in late 1944 and 1945. Members of the Nazi Party, rather than the German forces, created most of the repressive acts.

Vander Kamp and her family became involved in the Dutch underground when they were asked to hide weapons. Subsequently they were asked to provide sanctuary for an eleven-year-old Jewish Dutch girl named Lisa. Instead of hiding her, they pretended she was a member of the family and permitted her normal activities. After a period of time, Lisa was taken by the underground to a different family in another town, and still later returned to a neighbor of the Vander Kamps. To avoid betrayal upon arrest each member of the underground, except for the leadership, knew only their own specific activities. No names or addresses were involved. Nevertheless, following the end of the war Vander Kamp found out that Lisa was returned to Amsterdam where she rejoined her family who was also hidden by the Dutch underground. They briefly stayed in touch with each other, but since moving to the United States she has lost trace of Lisa.

Interview Information:
Date: June 1, 1995
Interviewer: Hans R. Weinmann
Format: Video recording
Length: 36 minutes