Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Women of Resistance: Helena Kuipers-Rietberg




A woman of great faith, Helena Theodora Kuipers-Rietberg, was born May 26, 1893 into a Dutch Reformed family. Her parents were successful grain merchants and millers who were somewhat progressive in their belief system in that they allowed Helena to attend secondary school (unusual for girls at the time). After graduation she went to work in the family business. In 1921, she married Pieter Heijo Kuipers whom she’d met in school. The two had plans to move to the Dutch East Indies where Pieter had secured a job, but Helena’s father convinced Pieter to buy into the grain company as a partner.

Life was good. The couple had five children, and Helena was active in several women’s organizations, many associated with the church. In 1932, she cofounded Gereformeerde Vrouwenbeweging, an organization of Dutch Reformed women, in 1937 she joined the board of the Bond van Gereformeerde Vrouwenvereenigingen in Nederland, an organization which united all Dutch Reformed women's organizations in the country.

Despite the Netherlands declaration of neutrality, Germany invaded on May 10, 1940. Almost immediately Helena began to speak out against the Nazis during meetings and social gatherings stating that Nazi philosophies threatened Christian standards and values. According to one source her first resistance activities was to prevent Dutch young men from enlisting in the NAD, a national socialist organization which provided six months training for the men ages 18-23 to work in Eastern Europe. To avoid enlistment the young men had to go into hiding, and Helena used her extensive contacts throughout the country to find places for them.

Helena and Pieter then got involved in helping downed Allied pilots and escaped POWs get out of the country. Additionally, they distributed illegal newspapers. By early 1942 persecution of Jewish individuals had escalated, and the Kuipers began helping them to go into hiding.

At some point in the autumn of 1942, Helena and Pieter met Pastor Frederick Slomp who also opposed
the Nazis and spoke against them in his sermons. In an interview well after the war, Slomp shared a conversation he had with Helena during which she said, “We should establish and organization so that we can provided hiding places. My idea now is that you should do this. You should cross the country in order to make people enthusiastic about it.” When Slomp spoke of the danger, Helena’s response was: “Would it be so bad if you were killed while thousands of boys were rescued?”

Helena again used her extensive network to co-found Landelijke Organisatie voor Hulp aan Onderduikers (National Organization for Aid to People in Hiding – LO). She coordinated the implementation of local cells that held meetings that were supposedly Bible study groups. When laws changed in 1943 mandating that ration cards had to be picked up personally, the LO held raids on distribution offices to obtain the cards. The National Aid Fund was created, to which she personally contributed and ensured money was distributed fairly. She was also responsible for managing “de Beurs,” a central hub for exchanging intelligence on available hiding addresses, host families, urgent relocations, and matching onderduikers with safe havens.

In May 1944, Helena and Pieter received word they were under suspicion, and their house was to be raided. The couple took their children and escaped, then went into hiding. However, Helena was anxious to get back to her activities and arranged for a false identity card. The courier was arrested on the way to meet her, and under torture gave up their location. She and Pieter were arrested August 18, 1944. Thinking she would get off easier as a woman, they decided she would take all the blame, claiming he knew nothing of the activities. He was released, and Helena was sent to Camp Vught, then later transported to Ravensbruck where she passed away on December 27, 1944.

Known as the Mother of the LO, in 1946 Helena was posthumously awarded the Verzetskruis (Resistance Cross), and in 1954 a monument was erected in her hometown of Winterswijk.

___________________

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances

and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state, immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors, and drinks copious amounts of tea.

Dutch Dawn

Will they survive the 500-mile journey to freedom?

Isak Westgard is only six missions short to be rotated stateside. Then the unthinkable happens, and he crashes in the occupied Netherlands where the chances of him making it back to England are slim to none. The beautiful and tough-as-nails resistance courier begs to differ and claims she hasn’t lost anyone yet. The problem is the longer they’re together, the less he wants to escape.

Annaliese Claase has escorted her fair share of refugees and downed Allied pilots to safety - too numerous to remember. Until now. There’s something different about the Norwegian-American lieutenant, and it’s more than his good looks. Can she get him out of the country before losing her heart?
 
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/bMjoxV
 
___________________ 

Frederick Slomp: Beeldbank WO2
Ravensbruck: US Holocaust Museum


Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)