A woman sentenced to eight months imprisonment following her refusal to surrender custody of a Jewish war orphan, has fled from Holland across the frontier to Belgium, it was disclosed today.
Gertrude van Moorst, who with her sister Elisabeth had cared for Anneke Beekman and sought to rear the Jewish child in the Catholic faith, had been left free pending appeal from her conviction earlier this week despite the plea of the plea of the public prosecutor for her immediate detention. Her attorney had filed notice of appeal and the trial court rejected the prosecutor’s demand. Miss van Moorst has steadfastly refused to surrender Anneke, now 14 years old, and the combined efforts of the Dutch and Belgian authorities have so far failed to locate the child.
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