On Mummies & People in hiding
- 3 jan 2020
- 3 minuten om te lezen
Discovery at the Dutch Institute for War Documentation
Our niece Ilse Voorhoeve discovered at the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) as a "by-catch" a war diary by Hermanus Cornelis Voorhoeve. The NIOD has summarized this diary as follows:
“The Jewish author (a doctor) has gone into hiding. He gives an ironic narrative description of the activities of the family where he was hiding. He also talks about the design of their house, the environment in which they live and the pets that are there. People are religious. His place is the alcove, where he can hide if needed. He must then be dead silent. He reads a lot and puts his reflections on paper. For him, going into hiding is not monotonous, he sees a lot in his "aloof" existence, as he calls it. He continues to be amazed about the relationship between humans and animals, the behavior of people and habits other than his own. He has already gone into hiding at four other addresses and made the journeys to it. He tells about it in a long story, in which he puts his thoughts on paper. Every now and then there is a date when he starts a new section.”
So far the NIOD. But who was this doctor?
The answer could be found in the Blue Book (Nederlands Patriciaat). Although there are a few dozen Voorhoeves with the name Hermanus Cornelis, the combination with "doctor" brought us to Dr. Hermanus Cornelis Voorhoeve, b. Kediri June 30, 1901, med. Dr. Tebing Tinggi (Sumatra's West Coast) doctor, anaesthesiologist, scientific chief assistant department of medical surgery University of Utrecht, died Alicante 31 Aug. 1984.
And then a light went on with us. Because at a previous family reunion, Truus Suermondt-Voorhoeve told a special story from her childhood.
One day in the war the doorbell rang. Her father opened the door and the door closed very quickly after letting the visitor in. He was wanted. It was Herman Voorhoeve, anesthesiologist. The story does not state why exactly he was wanted. But as a person in hiding he did help many with a tricky problem: what do you do with a person in hiding who dies? An official funeral was then too dangerous. And trying to bury such a person unseen in the garden or neighborhood park also posed a great risk. And there was not much time for finding a solution in such a situation, dissolution occurs quickly.
Well, said Herman then embalmed the corpse by injecting certain liquids into the veins. Although liquids other than an anesthesiologist normally inject into your veins. And then you had a little more time to get rid of the problem, it saved a lot of time (as the ancient Egyptians already taught us).
If ever a mummy is dug up in the Netherlands, we now know why.
But now the following mystery: that he was Jewish - according to the NIOD. You are Jewish through your mother. Well, his mother was Maria Theresia Boender, b. Ambon Oct. 8 1868, deceased Voorburg Jan 8. 1956. Boender is not a typical Jewish name, but many assimilated Jews had adopted an "ordinary" name. And indeed, googling the name Boender + jewish yielded "family trees of Dutch Jewish families", with the name Boender.
And so another piece of the puzzle falls into place. Because in the above story of Truus Suermondt-Voorhoeve she talks about him being "wanted" but not why. So we now also know the "why".
Reactions
Driekje Lawson: How incredibly fun and interesting. I would like to read that war diary but can this only be done on the archive !? Greetings, Driekje
Alex Voorhoeve, London: Thanks. Very interesting. Kind regards, Alex
Vincent Voorhoeve: Many thanks, Special story! Vincent
Debora Visser-Voorhoeve: Thank you for your message. The famous psychiatrist and writer Hans Keilson has written a short novel about the problems of the deceased in hiding. title: Comedy in Mineur. Highly recommended. Love, Debora
Joris Voorhoeve: Fascinating, good to keep up with this!
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