A Dutch-Canadian couple, Wemart and Johanna van Deventer, who hid Jews from Nazis during the occupation of Hol- land, were honored last week by Israel in Victoria British Columbia. The couple obtained stolen food coupons and false identity papers and provided a hiding place in their attic until 1944 when Wemart van Deventer was arrested and sent to a concentration comp. He was released later that year.
David Ariel, Israel’s Consul General for Ontario and Western Canada, came to Victoria to give the couple the Yad Vashem Righteous Gentile Medal which is awarded to people who risked their lives to save Jews. The van Deventers came to Canada with their two children after the war and opened a bicycle shop in Victoria.
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