Johan van Huslt has died at the age of 107. He saved hundreds of Jewish children during WWII in his role as the administrator of a teaching college that was adjacent to a Jewish daycare in Amsterdam. This is a powerful story. His obit is a good read. The last paragraphs are particularly heart wrenching:
He was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.Quote:
For all the attention he later received for his success at saving lives, Dr. van Hulst said he was traumatized by memories of those he could not rescue. In September 1943, Dr. van Hulst recalled, he found out that the Jewish child-care center was about to be closed. He was asked how many of the remaining children he could smuggle to safety before they fell into the hands of the Germans.
"Now try to imagine 80, 90, perhaps 70 or 100 children standing there, and you have to decide which children to take with you," Dr. van Hulst said, according to Yad Vashem. "That was the most difficult day of my life. . . . You know for a fact that the children you leave behind are going to die. I took 12 with me. Later on I asked myself: 'Why not 13?' "