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Memorial P.C. Hooftstraat 18

Text on the plaque:
ATIE AND NICO NOORDHOF HID MANY JEWS IN THIS HOUSE
DURING THE OCCUPATION YEARS.
FOURTEEN PERSONS IN HIDING WERE WERE FOUND HERE
DURING THE LIBERATION OF ZWOLLE
THE ILLEGAL PRES 'HOUDT MOED' AND THE
REGIONAL EDITION OF 'VRIJ NEDERLAND' WERE ALSO
MANUFACTURED HERE. [/ I]

Behind the cupboard with glass door you can read the following:

In May 1940, the house P.C. Hooftstraat 18:
Nico Noordhof, 40 years old and employed by the Provincial Water Management, Atie Noordhof, 36 years old, music teacher Johan Bartels, father of Atie and retired hairdresser.
Soon after the occupation, they offered space to Arie Brandon, a Jewish friend
adaptable radios for the ultra-short wave channel Radio Oranje. In October 1941 the first razzias were held in Zwolle, two Jewish residents of Zwolle went into hiding temporarily.
Atie and Nico Noordhof initially thought they had room for seven people in hiding, but that eventually became fourteen. In the meantime, four others were temporarily accommodated. They never said no when people in hiding were in trouble elsewhere.
Besides Jews from Zwolle, such as Gerhard, Meier and Mozes Caneel, there were
Amsterdam Jews like Dries van Loggen and Fred Diamant went into hiding.
The people in hiding were busy, among other things, with printing illegal magazines
"Houdt Courage" and "Vrij Nederland". Despite the extremely difficult circumstances under which they lived, the people in hiding managed to maintain a good relationship.

On April 14, 1945, Zwolle was liberated and the people in hiding came out, much to the surprise of the neighbors, who knew nothing about it.
In 1981 Atie Noordhof received the Resistance Memorial Cross.
In 1999 Atie and Nico were posthumously awarded the Yad Vashem award. This is kept in the Zwolle synagogue.

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Source

  • Text: Dick de Bruijne & Fedor de Vries
  • Photos: Dick de Bruijne