A Dutch woman living in New Zealand was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations.
Hermina van der Schaaf, who risked her life by hiding three Jews during the Holocaust, received the Yad Vashem award from non-resident Ambassador Yuval Rotem at a dinner Sunday night in Auckland to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.
In 1943 van der Schaaf and her late husband hid Max Pollock, his wife Claude and his sister Esta Pollock in Holland. They stayed with the Schaafs for two months until they found the Pollock family a safe house on an isolated farm.
Van der Schaaf, who lives in Christchurch, received the award in the presence of her five children, Holocaust survivor Robert Narev and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Winnie Laban.
Her husband received the honor from Yad Vashem before he died.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
