Abraham Staal and Yad Vashem
This website is dedicated to the memory of Abraham (“Aby” or “Andy”) Staal (1928-2011) and the individuals who bravely helped save him during World War II. Born and raised in the Netherlands, Andy survived the Holocaust but his family perished in the Sobibor concentration camp. Andy escaped arrest by the Nazis and went into hiding. He could not have survived the war without the heroism of non-Jewish Dutch families who hid him at great personal peril.
On April 26, 2022, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, held a ceremony in Ermelo, the Netherlands, recognizing the following individuals as Righteous Among the Nations for their roles in saving the life of Abraham Staal during the Holocaust: Frederik and Sophia Martina Keijzer-Bink, Anton and Bernardina Wilhelmina Rook-Aal, Anton Rook Jr., Aalt Johannes van den Berg, and Barend & Willempje Aarts-Ravesloot.
Yad Vashem held a prior ceremony on January 27, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa honoring Rinske van den Brink-van Wier as Righteous Among the Nations; that ceremony resulted from the same application to Yad Vashem that concerned the above honorees. Pursuant to a separate application process, in 1979, Rinske's husband, Aart van den Brink, together with his brother, Herman and wife Marie, were honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.
For more information about the award ceremony and the honoree families' visit to Ermelo on April 26, 2022, and information about the installation of the Stumble Stones on April 22, 2024, please click here.
To learn more about Andy Staal, click on the "Learn More" button below.
