An Amsterdam court today sentenced Mrs. G. van Langendyk-Moorst of Hilversum to a year’s term of imprisonment following her conviction on charges of hiding Rebecca Melhado, 14-year-old Dutch Jewish war orphan, whose surrender to the Jewish community had been ordered by the Dutch courts.
The court, however, acquitted Mrs. van Moorst of kidnapping charges. It ruled that the time she spent in jail awaiting trial, since last March, would be deducted from her sentence. Mrs. van Moorst, a Catholic, obtained custody of the child after the war. Her parents had left her with a Protestant woman when they were deported to their death by the Nazis.
Mrs. van Moorst has featured in another such case, that of Anneke Beekman, a war orphan whose Orthodox Jewish parents left her in Mrs. van Moorst’s care when they were deported. Subsequently, she was ordered to surrender the Beekman child to the Jewish community, but spirited her away. The Beekman girl, who was baptized by Mrs. van Moorst, has not yet been found.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
