On April 26, 2022, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, held a ceremony recognizing eight individuals as Righteous Among the Nations, for their roles in saving the life of Abraham Staal during the Holocaust: Frederik & Sophia Martina Keijzer-Bink, Anton & Bernardina Wilhelmina Rook-Aal, Anton Rook Jr., Aalt Johannes van den Berg, and Barend & Willempje Aarts-Ravesloot.

The ceremony was held in Ermelo, the Netherlands, one of the towns where Andy was hidden from 1943-1945.  The ceremony was officiated by the Israeli Embassy in The Hague, as well as the Mayor of Ermelo, and was attended by nearly 90 relatives of the honorees, from seven countries.  A video of the ceremony is posted on this website, as well as a news article about the ceremony.

A previous ceremony was held by Yad Vashem on January 27, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa honoring Rinske van den Brink-van Wier as Righteous Among the Nations.

Brem en Den Visit and Background

Prior to the Yad Vashem ceremony, relatives of the honorees were invited to meet at Brem en Den, where Aby Staal’s family hid from 1942-March 1943.  

In the summer of 1942, when danger from the Nazis was growing, the Staal family moved underground to Brem en Den, a home owned by Frederik Keijzer and Sophia Martina Keijzer-Bink. Despite grave personal risk, the Keijzer family provided shelter for Aby Staal and five other family members: Aby’s mother, Elisabeth (“Leisje”), his father Louis, his sister Betje, his brother Jaapje and his grandmother Betje Staal-Morpurgo.  

The Staal family stayed in the Keijzers’ home for nine months, until the family was arrested by the Dutch police from a neighboring town in mid-March, 1943.  Frederik and Sophia Martina Keijzer were also arrested, along with Hugo Hirsch, a Jewish man who was in the home at that time.

During the arrest, Aby hid under a bed and ran out the back into the woods, as the Nazis fired their guns at him. Aby was 15 years old and never saw his family again.  They were deported to Westerbork and then murdered in the Sobibor concentration camp on April 2, 1943.  Thankfully, the Keijzers were released from prison, but their home was ransacked by the Nazi police, who stole most of their possessions. 

One of the few items that was not stolen was a small crystal candlestick, which had belonged to Aby’s grandmother, Betje Staal-Morpurgo. Mrs. Keijzer safeguarded the candlestick and later gave it to her daughter, Catharina, saying that the candlestick belonged to the Family Staal. Catharina passed the candlestick to her daughter, Martine, with the same message. And at the end of July, 2016, Martine gave it to her brother, Dr. Andreas Siraa, who gave it to Lorri Staal. 

In March 2021, relatives of the Keijzer family discovered two letters written shortly after the Staals were arrested in 1943. The letters were written by Miek Keijzer, daughter of Frederik and Sophia, and by Frederik Keijzer. The letters provide a detailed and eye-witness account of the arrest. You can view the original letter from Miek Keijzer, the original letter from Frederik Keijzer, a Dutch typed transcription of both letters and a rough English translation of both letters.

Brem en Den is now a campground.  In April 2022, a plaque was installed on the property memorializing the bravery of the Keijzers and their role in trying to save the Staal family.

Lunch at the Former Post Office

After the meeting at Brem en Den, all involved in the Yad Vashem ceremony were invited to join a luncheon at an Ermelo restaurant called Het Postkantoor.  The restaurant was located in the building of the former Ermelo post office building, a particularly meaningful location because Andy Staal was hidden there during the war by the postmaster and his wife, Anton and Bernardina Wilhelmina Rook-Aal. Andy was friendly with their son, Anton Rook, Jr., who hid Andy under his bed.

While there, Ben Rook (son of Anton and Wilhelmina Rook) had a surprising and incredible gift. He gave Aby’s children, Lorri and Leivi, silver that had belonged to the Staal family, including a silver ladle with Betje’s initial, and a silver napkin ring with engravings of the initials of Aby’s brother, Jaapje, as well as Jaapje’s birth dates on the Gregorian calendar and on the Hebrew calendar. The Rook family had safeguarded this silver since the end of World War II.

The Yad Vashem Ceremony

The ceremony presenting the “Righteous among the Nations” awards was held in Ermelo at Museum Het Pakhuis. 

Welcoming remarks were provided by Andre Diepenbroek, from the Israeli Embassy, Dorine Burmanje, the Mayor of Ermelo, and Germa Greving, Director of the Museum.  Speeches were made by Andre Siraa (grandson of Frederik and Sophia Martina Keijzer-Bink), Arnoud Rook (grandson of Anton and Wilelmina Rook-Aal), Lorri Staal (daughter of Andy Staal) and Leivi Staal (son of Andy Staal).  

The certificates and medals were handed out by Avigail Frisch Ben Avraham, Legal Attaché of the Embassy of Israel.  

Representing the families and receiving the awards were: Andre Siraa, Ben Rook, and Arie van den Berg, grandson of Aalt Johannes van den Berg.

A video of the entire ceremony is posted on ths website. You can view copies of Arnoud’s speech, Lorri’s speech and the previous speech given by Aart van den Brink in Johannesburg in 2020. You can also view the speech of Andre Diepenbroek of the Israeli Embassy.

The names of the recipients of the award are engraved on the Wall of Honor at the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Israel. They are listed under the year 2018, the year the application was officially granted.

For more information about Andy and the honorees’ roles in saving him, a detailed account is provided in the application submitted to Yad Vashem in 2016.

Installation of Stumble Stones at Brem en Den in Ermelo

On April 22, 2024, we went back to Brem en Den for the installation of Stolpersteine (“Stumble Stones”), which include the engraved names, birth dates and death dates of Holocaust victims and are installed in front of their prewar homes. The installation by Gunter Demnig was generously initiated by the town of Ermelo. The six stumble stones bear the names of Abraham Staal, his grandmother, parents, sister and brother. May their memory be a blessing.

We are indebted to the town of Ermelo and the many brave people who during the war risked everything to save individual lives.  We are also indebted to everyone in Ermelo today who is committed to preserving the memory of the Holocaust so that we learn its lessons and never forget.