Summary — October 1948 Dutch cinema news on the departure of the first Jewish ship – the SS Negbah – in Amsterdam, bound for Haifa, Israel, with immigrants, including the circa 500 Jewish Children from Eastern Europe after their one year stay in the Children’s Village Ilaniah in Holland, where they were trained for their future task in Palestine.
500 Jewish Children – Series
Episode #1 — In the first episode the arrival of 500 Jewish Children in Holland by steam train from the Dutch National Cinema newsreel of Sep 22, 1947 was reported. Displaced children from Eastern Europe, many of whom lost their parents in the Nazi camps. Travelling from Romania to their destination in the Netherlands, the Children’s Village “ILANIAH”, where they would stay for one to two years, to be trained for a mission in Palestine. The children were then between six and fourteen years old (Note 1).
Episode #2 — The second episode of this short series on these 500 Jewish Children, documented their stay and education in this Children’s Village Ilaniah in Apeldoorn (Netherlands), from their arrival Sep 1947 untill the closing of Ilaniah , October 6, 1948, the day the children started their journey to Israel (Note 2).
Episode #3 — Here the third , and final, episode , with the Dutch National Cinema Newsreel of October 1948, documenting the departure of the children of Ilaniah on the first Jewish ship – the SS Negbah (Hebrew for southbound) – in Amsterdam for their journey to Haifa, Israel. This was one of the first ships to transport legal immigrants to Israel.
The SS Negbah – at the quay in Amsterdam, Oktober 1948 (frame video 20250820). Miracles•Media • 20250820_2
In October 1948, in the port of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the ship Negbah is ceremonially handed over to the Israeli Shipping Company of Haifa. The Israeli national anthem is sung, the flag is raised, and the chairman of the Dutch Zionist League, Professor S. Kleerekoper, delivers a speech. A Torah scroll is carried on board on behalf of the board of the Netherlands – Israelite Main Synagogue and received by the captain.
The Ilaniah children embark on the Negbah in Amsterdam, 6 Oktober 1948. Source : Dutch National Archive (Photo by Ben Merk | Anefo) | Miracles•Media • 20250819_9
The SS NEGBAH starts its first voyage October 6, 1948 with about 600 passengers from Amsterdam to Haifa, including over 400 of the mainly Romanian Jewish children, after their one year stay in the Children’s Village Ilaniah in Holland, where they had been trained for their future task in Palestine.
The Ilaniah children embark on the Negbah (frame video 20250820). Miracles•Media • 20250820_1
Notes
1. 500 Jewish Children • Arrival in Holland • 20250811 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode 5c6e966b-5b45-47ef-ba01-17650007ae20 | URL https://settela.com/2025/08/11/
Now it has been purchased by the Israeli shipping company, and symbolically transferred in Amsterdam.
Professor Kleerekoper outlines the importance of this Jewish ship for immigration in Israel. And ends his speech with the assurance that he
‘wants to wish a safe journey. Not only the crew, also the passengers, but also the entire Jewish people, a safe journey in its path, through a difficult economy, in a threatened world , and a great struggle for independence of its own culture.
The board of the Netherlands – Israelite Main Synagogue donates a Torah, which will remain on board as long as the Negbah will transport Jewish emigrants.
The ship’s name is also a slogan: ‘Na Negev’ – To the Negev – a desert area in southern Palestine that Israel claims.
More than a million immigrants can settle here , once this area has been made fertile.
The NEGBAH takes about 600 emigrants on its first voyage, including a number of stateless people, and almost 500 mainly Romanian children, who were temporarily housed in Apeldoorn.
May the passengers find a happy home in their new fatherland. Shalom.
4. NL – Transcript (dutch , original)
Dit schip werd hier jaren geleden gebouwd. Het voer onder verschillende vlaggen.
Nu werd het aangekocht door de Israëlische scheepvaartmaatschappij en in Amsterdam symbolisch overgedragen.
Professor Kleerekoper schetst het belang van dit Joodse schip voor de immigratie in Israël. En eindigt zijn rede met de verzekering dat hij : ‘een behouden vaart wil wensen…niet alleen de bemanning, ook de passagiers, maar ook het gehele joodse volk, een behouden vaart in zijn weg de moeilijke economie in een bedreigde wereld en een grote strijd om zelfstandigheid van de eigen cultuur.’
Het bestuur van de Nederlands-Israelitische Hoofd Synagoge schenkt een wetsrol, die zo lang aan boord zal blijven als de Negbah joodse emigranten zal vervoeren.
De naam van het schip is tevens een leuze, ‘Na Negev’ – Naar de Negev – een woestijnstreek in het zuiden van Palestina, waarop Israël aanspraak maakt.
Meer dan 1 miljoen immigranten zal dit gebied kunnen opnemen, wanneer het eenmaal vruchtbaar zal zijn gemaakt.
De Negbah neemt op zijn eerste reis ongeveer 600 landverhuizers mee, onder wie een aantal statenlozen en bijna 500 in hoofdzaak Roemeense kinderen, die voorlopig in Apeldoorn waren ondergebracht.
Mogen de opvarenden in hun nieuwe vaderland een gelukkig tehuis vinden. Shalom.
Film source: Dutch cinema news Polygoon Hollands Nieuws (Producer | Oct 1948) courtesy of Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Open Images).
Citation info : 500 Jewish Children • SS Negbah to Israel • 20250820 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode 2b1da26e-a39c-4d9d-960a-c1ef669d1509 | URL https://settela.com/2025/08/20/
Sign in both Hebrew and Dutch at the entrance to Children’s Village Ilaniah in Apeldoorn, ca 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_3
Summary — After World War II, many Jewish children in Eastern Europe were left without parents and living in displaced persons (DP) camps. In 1947, the Dutch government, together with Jewish organizations, decided to temporarily take in 500 Jewish children from Romania. They were housed in a special Children’s Village called Ilaniah near Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. There, from September 1947, the children (aged 6–14) received schooling in Hebrew, history, and general subjects, as well as training in manual skills like woodworking and sewing, in preparation for life in Palestine. They lived in groups linked to different Zionist youth movements. Ilaniah also had cultural activities, including a choir that performed in Amsterdam in May 1948 during celebrations of the creation of the State of Israel. In October 1948, Ilaniah was closed, and most of the children departed on the ship Negbah to Haifa, Israel. The youngest children who couldn’t travel were cared for elsewhere in the Netherlands.
Displaced Persons (DP)
Two years after the end of World War II in Europe, still around a million people lived in displaced person (DP) camps across Europe, primarily refugees from Eastern Europe and former inmates of the Nazi German concentration camps.
Resettlement 500 Jewish Children
For the resettlement of DPs, the Dutch government had decided in 1947 to accept as many DPs as could find a place in the labor market.
In addition, on January 7, 1947, the Dutch government granted a request — a request from Dutch Jewish authorities , officially submitted on December 31, 1946) — to also accommodate 500 children from the camps in the Netherlands, for a period of up to 3 years (Note 1).
Foundation “Five Hundred Jewish Children”
In the first months of 1947, staff was recruited and trained, and the “Five Hundred Jewish Children” Foundation (dutch: Stichting “Vijfhonderd Joodse kinderen”) was established to organize a stay of five hundred Jewish children from Eastern Europe for 1 to 2 years, with an education focused on Palestine (Note 2).
Romania
When it became clear that only a few of the Jewish orphans in German DP camps wanted to come to the Netherlands, it was decided in consultation between the Jewish organizations and the Dutch government that 500 children from Romania would be allowed to come to the Netherlands temporarily. Displaced children from Eastern Europe, many of whom lost their parents in the Nazi camps.
Initially, in July 1947, temporary shelter was arranged in Barneveld (labour camp “De Biezen”) for a small group of 40 displaced children from Eastern Europe. For the eventual reception — also for a new transport of 450 children — work was still being done on the Children’s Village ‘ILANIAH’, specially set up for them, in the building complex “Het Apeldoornse bos” near Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
Through collaboration with the International Refugee Organization (IRO) and the Joint American Distribution Committee, the 500 children were selected in Romania from members of the eight Zionist youth organizations in Romania, from far-right to far-left: Aguda, B’nei Akiba, Gordonja, Dror Igoed, Dror Haboniem, Hanoar Hatzioni, Hashomer Hatzair, and Betar. For orphans who lost both parents, the political preference of the deceased parents was investigated. The children were first concentrated in Prague.
On Saturday evening, September 20, 1947, they finally left Prague (Prague-Bubny station) by steam train to the Netherlands.
Children’s Village ‘Ilaniah’
On Monday evening, September 22, 1947, the group of approximately 500 Jewish children arrived in Apeldoorn by steam train from Prague. Their destination was the Children’s Village “ILANIAH” (Hebrew for “My Tree/Wood”), where they would stay for one to two years, to be trained for a mission in Palestine. The children were then between six and fourteen years old.
Earlier that day, the Dutch cinema news made a report of their arrival in the Netherlands at a stopover at Nijmegen station just before Apeldoorn (4).
Play, Work and Learn in Ilaniah
Ilaniah is headed by a pedagogical leader, Benjamin Sussmann, who came over from Palestine. There is a dedicated school with teachers from Romania and the Holy Land, as well as a dedicated pediatrician and nurses.
Children play in Children’s Village Ilaniah in Apeldoorn, ca 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_5
Hebrew, math, geography, physics, and both general and Jewish history are taught. The children are staying there in eight groups with their own leaders: Aguda, B’nei Akiba, Gordonja, Dror Igoed, Dror Haboniem, Hanoar Hatzioni, Hashomer Hatzair, and Betar, reflecting the future country’s political parties (Note 5).
Carpentry Room of Ilaniah Children’s Village: A boy shows the teacher his work, 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_6
Soon, manual labor training was started under the supervision of the Dutch branch of the O.R.T. Union (Organisation for Rehabilitation through Training) — the Jewish global education network.
Sewing room of Ilaniah Children’s Village, 1948 (Clip). Miracles•Media • 20250819_7
The ORT organization reported that as early as November 1947, the Dutch ORT was training approximately 400 of the 500 Jewish youth in the children’s village in new workshops for woodwork, cardboard work, bookbinding, and cutting and sewing (Note 9).
Children’s choir Ilaniah performs at the proclamation of the Jewish state
There are also music and singing lessons, and a choir has been formed.
On the occasion of the proclamation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the Dutch Zionist League organized a national meeting on May 16, 1948 in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with a performance by the choir of the Children’s Village “Ilaniah”.
Performance choir Ilaniah Children’s Village during National Meeting Dutch Zionist League – Proclamation of the Jewish State , Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sunday 16 May 1948 . Miracles•Media • 20250819_8
Closing Ilaniah and Departure to Israel
A year after the opening of the Children’s Village Ilaniah, Ilaniah was closed again, when on October 6, 1948 the children embarked on the first Jewish ship – the Negbah – in Amsterdam for the journey to Haifa, Israel.
Children embark for the journey to Haifa, Israel, on the first Jewish ship – the Negbah – at the quay in Amsterdam, 6 Oktober 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_9
The youngest children who could not travel were accommodated in Zandvoort in the Clara Foundation building on the North Sea coast.
Clara-Stichting, Zandvoort, c. 1921. Miracles•Media • 20250819_10
Notes
500 Jewish children from camps to the Netherlands. Letter (dutch) Jan 7, 1947 Dutch Government to Dutch Jewish Organizations. Miracles•Media • 20250819_1
1. 500 Jewish children from camps to the Netherlands. Letter (dutch) Jan 7, 1947 Dutch Government to Dutch Jewish Organizations. Miracles•Media • 20250819_1 | Source : Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad, Jan 17, 1947 / Delpher URL https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010873395:mpeg21:a0005
3. Sign in both Hebrew and Dutch at the entrance to Children’s Village Ilaniah in Apeldoorn, ca 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_3 | Source : United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Elinor Rosenstein Gabriel
4. Dutch cinema news reports the arrival of 500 Jewish children in Holland, Sep 22, 1947. Miracles•Media • 20250819_4. Source: 500 Jewish Children • Arrival in Holland • 20250811 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode 5c6e966b-5b45-47ef-ba01-17650007ae20 | URL https://settela.com/2025/08/11/
6. Children play in Children’s Village Ilaniah in Apeldoorn, ca 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_5 | Source : United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Elinor Rosenstein Gabriel
7. Carpentry Room of Ilaniah Children’s Village: A boy shows the teacher his work, 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_6 | Photo probably by Boris Kowadlo . Source : ORT and the Displaced Person Camps URL https://dpcamps.ort.org/photos/netherlands/
10. Performance choir Ilaniah Children’s Village during National Meeting Dutch Zionist League – Proclamation of the Jewish State , Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sunday 16 May 1948 . Miracles•Media • 20250819_8 . Source : Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, JHM 02368-02 | https://joodsecanon.nl/n4z/1948-Viering-Israel-in-Concertgebouw/
11. Children embark for the journey to Haifa, Israel, on the first Jewish ship – the Negbah – at the quay in Amsterdam, 6 Oktober 1948. Miracles•Media • 20250819_9 . Source : Dutch National Archive (Photo by Ben Merk | Anefo). URL http://hdl.handle.net/10648/a8be2e80-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84
Citation info : 500 Jewish Children • Ilaniah • 20250819 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | URL https://settela.com/2025/08/19/
Summary — September 1947 Dutch cinema news on circa 500 Jewish children , displaced children from East Europe, who many of them lost parents in the Nazi camps, arriving from Prague by train in the Netherlands, where they will stay for up to 3 years, and trained for their future task in Palestine.
Dutch cinema news reports the arrival of a steam train carrying approximately 500 Jewish children in Holland, Monday, September 22, 1947 — filmed here during a stopover at Nijmegen station. Displaced children from Eastern Europe, many of whom lost their parents in the Nazi camps. Through collaboration with the International Refugee Organization (IRO) and the Joint American Distribution Committee, they were selected in Romania from members of the eight Zionist youth organizations in Romania: Aguda, B’nei Akiba, Gordonja, Dror Igoed, Dror Haboniem, Hanoar Hatzioni, Hashomer Hatzair, and Betar. For orphans who lost both parents, the political preference of the deceased parents was estimated. The children were first concentrated in Prague.
On Saturday evening, September 20, 1947, they began their train journey from Prague (Prague-Bubny), bound for the children’s village “Ilaniah” specially established for them in the “Het Apeldoornse Bos” building complex near Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. They arrived there on Monday evening, September 22, 1947.
Notes
1) Sign on train : Repatriation train • Prague Bubny Station (Repatriačni vlak • (Dílny Praha Bubny)
2) Transcript (translated from dutch)
This train arriving in Nijmegen [Netherlands], brings 450 Jewish children from Eastern Europe to our country, most of whose parents died in the gas chambers of the German concentration camps.
They also lived in camps after the war, together with thousands of others, and most of them show that.
Our government has allowed these children, all between the ages of 6 and 14, to stay in the Netherlands for 3 years, in Apeldoorn, where they will be trained for their future task in Palestine.
Jewish organizations ensure that the children get something to eat and drink after the tiring journey.
And that turns out to be well received.
3) NL – Transcript (dutch , original)
Deze trein die in Nijmegen arriveert, brengt naar ons land 450 Joodse kinderen uit Oost-Europa wier ouders voor het merendeel de dood vonden in de gaskamers der Duitse concentratiekampen.
Ze hebben ook na de oorlog tesamen met nog duizenden anderen in kampen geleefd, en de meesten van hen is dat wel aan te zien.
Onze regering heeft toegestaan dat deze kinderen, allen tussen 6 en 14 jaar, gedurende 3 jaar in Nederland verblijven, in Apeldoorn, waar ze opgeleid zullen worden voor hun toekomstige taak in Palestina.
Joodse organisaties zorgen ervoor, dat de kinderen na de vermoeiende reis wat te eten en te drinken krijgen.
20250818 Minor text edit , with addition : For orphans who lost both parents, the political preference of the deceased parents was estimated.
20250820 correction description text source date (45>47)
Credits
Source: Dutch cinema news Polygoon-Profilti (Producer | 22 September 1947) courtesy of Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Open Images).
Citation info : 500 Jewish Children • Arrival in Holland • 20250811 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode 5c6e966b-5b45-47ef-ba01-17650007ae20 | URL https://settela.com/2025/08/11/
Dutch cinema news reel from November 1945 reporting on Palestine soldiers of the Jewish Brigade, stationed in the Dutch port city of IJmuiden, and taking a course at the municipal fishing school there, where they learned to navigate and fish, practicing at the Dutch IJsselmeer lake, in order to settle in Palestine as fishermen after completing their service.
Notes
After the German surrender in 1945, soldiers of the Jewish Brigade, the “Jewish Fighting Unit”, a unit of around 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Mandatory Palestine serving in the British Army, were stationed in northwestern Europe, including the Netherlands.
Members of the Jewish Brigade in the Dutch port town IJmuiden (port to Amsterdam) and its surroundings were involved in: guarding German POWs , displaced persons support, and facilitating Jewish refugees’ clandestine departure to Palestine. Seafaring skills were directly relevant to both commercial livelihoods and the clandestine immigration (Aliyah Bet) efforts by sea. The British disbanded the brigade in July 1946.
Credits
Source: Dutch cinema news Polygoon-Profilti (Producer | Nov 1945) courtesy of Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Open Images).
Citation info : Jewish Brigade 1945 • Dutch Seamanship Training | 20250615 | Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode a24a6599-dd79-47e3-a106-51289a480995 | URL https://settela.com/2025/06/15/
Pilgrims on 50th year celebration pilgrimage at the Gaza wall visiting the bomb shelters, and the Path to Peace mosaic creation upon the border wall – that divides the Gaza Strip and Israel – adjacent to the homes of the settlement Netiv HaAsara, Friday Oct 6th, just hours before the attack Saturday morning Oct 7th 2023 by Hamas terrorists infiltrating Netiv HaAsara using paragliders, going from house to house, killing 15 people and injuring many more.
Today – Oct. 12, after days of waiting – the pilgrims are finally evacuated in Tel Aviv, getting a return flight safe back home.
Sally’s Invasion Star | 20230625 | Family Archive | Miracles.Media | Invasion Star on USA Army vehicle, with “lazy circle”
June 25, 2023 — Contact between the families of Sally and Nelly is re-established !
Sally Frankenthal – Kalwary was living in Antwerp in the 90s when she requested Yad Vashem a Righteous medal posthumous for “Nelly Quintard” .. the lady that had been hiding Sally Frankenthal and her parents during World War II. However, Mrs. Sally Kalwary – Frankenthal was not able to find Nelly’s family …. and the medal went to the Kazerne Dossin museum in Mechelen.
This month contact was re-established with Sally’s family. Unfortunately, too late to meet Sally Frankenthal – Kalwary, who died three years ago. Sally’s family shared photo’s taken of Sally before and after her hiding — both with stars…posted in today’s update of the Story of Righteous Nelly • Quintart aka Quintard .
References
Story of Righteous Nelly • Quintart aka Quintard | 20230526 | Renée Cassin & Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | URL https://settela.com/2023/05/26
Nelly’s family name is ‘Quintart’ , and misspelt ‘Quintard’ on the Righteous MedaI (Ref 1) minted posthumous for Nelly by Yad Vashem in 1999 to honor Nelly for hiding and rescuing the Jewish Frankenthal family in her home in Brussels during the holocaust. Date of Recognition 30 Dec 1998 by Yad Vashem (Ref 2, 3).
Righteous Medal
Righteous Medal | 20200820 | Miracles•Media
August 2016, this Righteous Medal from Yad Vashem with the name ‘Nelly Quintard’ was presented to me by researcher Janiv Stamberger, during this interview I filmed at the Wiki Loves Art event in Kazerne Dossin , Mechelen , Belgium.
I posted that interview August 2020 at michelvanderburg.com with the following information (Ref 4) :
“Medal of the Righteous Among the Nations – from the Yad Vashem holocaust center in Israel for the Righteous helping Jews during the Holocaust – with the inscription in French ” The grateful Jewish people” and the French translation of the Jewish saying “Whoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe”. This medal was minted for Nelly Quintard, a widow in her fifties during the war, who hid the Frankenthal family (Abraham, Esther, and daughter Scheindel) in her home in Brussels, Belgium, from September ’42 until the end of the occupation.”
That information was based in part on the Yad Vashem database (Ref 2) and on a dossier in the Felix archive in Antwerp of correspondence by Mrs. Scheindel Frankenthal – Kalwary , ‘Sally’ the daughter of the Frankenthal family , who had requested Yad Vashem that honorific title Righteous Among the Nations (Juste parmi les nations) for Madame ‘Nelly Quintard’ (Ref 5).
Message from Nelly’s Godchild Renée Cassin
November 1, 2020, shortly after publishing that August 2020 post on the Righteous Medal, I got a message (via the contact form at michelvanderburg.com) from Nelly’s goddaughter ‘Renée’ – the granddaughter of Nelly’s brother René Quintart – who wrote me :
“What an extraordinary moment when we discovered totally by chance that you had some information about Nelly Quintart!! She is my great aunt as well as my godmother. We had found out about her name being on the Wall of Righteous, but despite our research, we could not find out thanks to who… My grand father, René Quintart had gone to London to join de Gaulle, and being single without children, Nelly moved into his big house in Brussels, where he also had his practice (he was a doctor), and stayed there during the whole war. I myself have , as a child in the 50’s, spent many years in that house and used to play in that attic where , we were told, so much had happened…. I would love to learn more, kind regards, Renée”
That same day, Renée and I started sharing more on Nelly Quintart …Renée handed me a short story she had written in 2015 on Nelly Quintart…and I shared the information I had on Nelly ‘Quintard’ , both from Yad Vashem , and the dossier in the Felix archive in Antwerp of correspondence by Mrs. Scheindel Frankenthal – Kalwary .
I further decided to do more research for this upcoming update of Nelly’s story…now knowing Nelly’s family name is actually spelled ‘Quintart’. Below first what is known from the letters of Scheindel – Sally – Frankenthal in the Felix archive.
Sally Frankenthal
Request 18 dec 1995 Sally Frankenthal | 20230526 | Miracles•Media | source Felix Archief
The Felix city archive of Antwerp, Belgium, has a dossier (Inventory number AJHA-SB#64) with the correspondence of the Frankenthal daughter Scheindel (Salomée , aka Sally) , who had requested the medal first december 1995 for Nelly in her letters to Yad Vashem via the Antwerp city council…my translation/paraphrasing :
“I have the honor to apply for the title of ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for Mrs. Nelly Quintard who hid us, my parents Abraham and Esthére Frankenthal, as well as myself Scheindel Frankenthal from September 1942 until the end of the occupation of Brussels. We were hiding in her brother’s house, 13 rue Marie-Thérèse in Brussels … Madame Nelly Quintard died without leaving any descendants, I would like to honor her memory posthumously. …S. Frankenthal – Kalwary … Antwerp” .
In a second letter (28 dec 1995) Sally Frankenthal details on her family, hiding and… “aunt Nelly” — here with my translation and paraphrasing :
“I was born on December 23, 1934. My parents and I lived in Antwerp, 19 rue Van Lerius. Early 1942 we left for Brussels, where we lived in the rue Cervantes for a few months, with false names and false papers. September 1942 we went to live with Madame Nelly Quintard who hid us until the liberation of Brussels. We stayed all the time without going out. Madame Quintard left every morning equipped with an attaché case and went each time to different merchants to do the shopping for food, so as not to arouse suspicion. She came back every day with her little suitcase filled, and no one could suspect that she was feeding four people instead of one.
Madame Nelly Quintard was a widow, childless, approaching her fifties, to my recollection no profession, receiving a pension from the Belgian state, because her husband had been a civil servant in the Belgian Congo. That period, when her brother had left his house, Madame Nelly Quintard lived in her brother’s house at 13 rue Marie-Thérese in Brussels – so, close to the Gestapo located rue de la Loi – and that’s where we hid without going out until the liberation of Brussels. This hiding place had been planned for my grandfather Frankenthal and his wife, but as he did not want to leave his house in Antwerp, we went there in his place. Mrs. Nelly Quintard did this out of greatness of soul and out of love for her neighbour, without any profit motive. We had the whole house at our disposal, but we had to be quiet, don’t turn on lights when Madame Quintard was away. In September 1942 I had not yet reached the age of eight, so I have a very vague memory of the events occuring at that time.
I would like to be able to quote you witnesses of this horrible time, but they are no longer alive, my parents died as well as all other people who could have given you details, they were all much older than me. I searched in Brussels for people with the same name, without any results, unfortunately there is no one from her family with whom we could have honored her memory and her bravery.
I remember very friendly relations between my parents and Madame Nelly Quintard whom I called ‘aunt Nelly’. From time to time we received a visit from her father, an old gentleman, who had been a station master, he cultivated the little garden which gave us extra vegetables. My parents were financially well-off, which allowed them to hold on throughout the war. There was also a foreman from my grandfather’s factory who brought us a little meat from the country every week. I remember that one day despite the prohibition to approach the windows, having done so, the neighbor opposite saw me and reported it to Madame Quintard. Despite the great risks she was taking, she bravely continued to hide us. It was thanks to her that my parents and I had survived this horrible war and that I had the happiness of being able to start a family. My daughter lives in Antwerp with her two sons, my son has made Aliyah, fourteen years ago, lives in Israel where he served in the army, married … and in turn founded a family with his two sons.
I sincerely hope that you will be able to help me fulfill a wish that is very dear to me to posthumously honor the memory of the person to whom, after my parents, I owe the happiness of being alive. In the hope that you will consider favorably my request, please accept Mr. Zal, the assurance of my respectful sentiments.”
In this picture above : Nelly Quintart & Esther Frankenthal (left to right) , as shown in The Album (Les Justes en Image) exposition by David Inowlocki / Hidden Child Association Belgium (Ref 6).
Nelly Quintart – Story by Renée Cassin
That same day Renée first contacted me, she sent me her short story on Nelly Quintart, her godmother …she wrote to leave a family trace… Below excerpts from that story (originally written in French, Feb. 2015) selected, and translated, by me:
A Righteous Among the Nations Nelly QUINTART August 24, 1894 – December 6, 1986
« Tante Nelly » (Aunt Nelly) was the older sister of René Quintart, the famous Doctor Quintart … Nelly, in addition to being Renée’s godmother, was everyone’s “Aunt” … in the family, we often referred to her as “my aunt”, for example, her brother could say “did my aunt call today?”
She had a very strong personality, and without doubt her main character trait was independence of character, opinion, speech. She didn’t mince her words and made as many enemies as friends. She was also infinitely generous with her time, her efforts, and also the means at her disposal, which varied according to the different periods of her life.
When she was young, she had gone to the Congo for a few years to teach [ local children ] . She had met there the one who would briefly become her husband, Jean Delgof … the couple never had children. After this period, she returns to live in Brussels (14 rue Rossini) in a large house in which her parents live with her (whom she takes care of)…
The war breaks out. It is the Appeal of General de Gaulle in June 1940. René Quintart decides to join him in London … He entrusts his house and his medical practice, located at 13 rue Marie-Thérese, to his sister Nelly. She remained there until his return in 1944.
It was during this period that she showed courage, selflessness and inventiveness that saved many lives. In the family, we knew that she had been a very first-rate “resister” and had met this young Jewish man whom she had hidden for eighteen months in this big house. He was of Polish origin and was called “Bolek”. Unfortunately, we did not retain his surname. He often came back to see her from Antwerp where he had married Rachel. They had a daughter Claudine. He had become a diamond dealer, and one day, much later, he had brought her a ring with eighteen small diamonds, each symbolizing a month of hiding that Nelly had allowed him to take advantage of. And there were all the others, anonymous, whom she helped by hiding them, for a few days or a few months.
John Brown, Scottish pilot hidden by Nelly | 20230526 | Miracles•Media
We learned much later … that Nelly had also been very active within the “Comet” network which came to the aid of British pilots. This is how she hid a Scottish pilot, named John Brown, for several weeks, thus allowing him to escape the search that the Germans had launched against him. It is said that in order not to arouse suspicion, she shopped in several shops in the neighborhood, each time buying only the quantity of food that the hardened bachelor that she was could have needed! Extreme courage or recklessness, she maintained good relations with one of the colonels of the Commandery whom she happened to invite to lunch! She was a heroine for many, but we all experienced this as “normal”…
At the end of the war, she becomes again a respectable lady of a certain age, without history, and resumes her “before life”. .
Aunt Nelly ended her life in a retirement home in Ostend on December 6, 1986. …. She was neither buried nor cremated, having “donated her body to Science” She was definitely someone extraordinary.
More than thirty – five years later … we learned that in 1999, Nelly Quintart had been recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations”. Unfortunately, we do not know who took steps to have her acts of courage recognized. We think it may be the Scottish aviator John Brown, or the famous Bolek who never forgot her, visiting her several times a year. We knew that Bolek had lost his parents during the war, and that he was very attached to the one who had saved his life.
More research online …
Donald Duck | Comète | Andrée ‘Nelly’ QUINTART ….
After reading more on Nelly’s activities in Renée’s story, I understood that Nelly had been very active in the resistance , and I continued searching online (Nov 4, 2020) for more information on her work within the “Comète” network , and learned at cometeline.org that “QUINTART Andrée ‘Nelly’ participated in the ‘Escape’ service of William Halot” … called ‘Donald Duck’ … “evacuating soldiers to France and Switzerland through various routes.” ….”She lived at 13 Rue Marie-Thérèse, then at 14 Rue Rossini. She hosted a Scottish soldier named John Brown.” (Ref 7).
Actually – as described in Renée’s story, Nelly first lived at 14 Rue Rossini and then moves to 13 rue Marie-Thérese , the house with medical practice that her brother René Quintart entrusts to Nelly, when he leaves for England following the Appeal of General de Gaulle in June 1940. More research online and reading (later in Sep. 2021) the published war journals of Tinou Dutry-Soinne, I learned , that Doctor René Quintart arrived at the heart of the Belgian government in London during the Second World War , sharing the apartment building with Tinou Dutry-Soinne who worked at the Belgian Parliamentary Office ‘OPB’, and described him as a charming man, a good comrade with a heart of gold and a cheerful character… always ready to tell stories and be of service.” (Ref 8).
Nelly was known as a widow of Jean Delgof, who had been working in the Belgian Congo. The announcement in 1948 that Nelly received a 2nd Class Civic Medal 1940-1945 from the Belgian Ministry of the Interior in the Belgian official journal , also mentioned ‘widow of Delgof’ (Ref 10).
Not known, and fascinating to discover , when searching online for ‘Andrée’ and ‘Quintart’ , was the finding that Nelly had been married before , and actually, became a widow first at the age of 20 …when her first husband Georges Rimez was reported to probably have died as a soldier early in World War I on October 22, 1914 (Ref 12, 13).
Whether her first love was missing in action forever … is unknown …
Little boxes telling stories , made by Renée Cassin …. her niece and god daughter.
Many thanks to Sally Frankenthal for her persistence over years for Nelly Quintart to be recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” and … Renée Cassin and her family now hope for contact with the family of Sally (Scheindel / Salomée) Frankenthal – Kalwary , who in her correspondence with Yad Vashem mentioned her daughter and son … with grandchildren ! …..see below : Newsupdate | 20230625 *
You can contact Renée Cassin via Michel van der Burg using the contact form at this site — Michel van der Burg
License info : Story of Righteous Nelly • Quintart aka Quintard | 20230526 | Renée Cassin & Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313
* News update | 20230625
Contact Sally’s Family Re-established
June 25, 2023 — This month contact was re-established with Sally’s family. Unfortunately, too late to meet Sally Frankenthal – Kalwary (born December 23, 1934), who died three years ago, at the age of 85, on May 26, 2020.
Sally’s Stars
Sally’s family shared photo’s taken of Sally before and after her hiding — both with stars…at the age of 7 with the Star of David badge…and after the liberation of Brussels, on a USA Army vehicle with the Invasion Star symbol.
Sally Frankenthal , Star of David badge, 1942 | 20230625 | Family Archive | Miracles.MediaSally Frankenthal , Invasion Star, Liberation | 20230625 | Family Archive | Miracles.Media
Pictured below – in a cropped image of Sally’s liberation photo : the invasion star stenciled onto the USA Army vehicle . The invasion star symbol has the circle interrupted by lines at the points of the star. This is because the painting of the circle would often be done with a stencil on the field. It was meant to be filled in to create a full circle, but these “lazy circles” were often left (Ref. 13).
Sally’s Invasion Star | 20230625 | Family Archive | Miracles.Media | Invasion Star on USA Army vehicle, with “lazy circle”
6. Nelly Quintart & Esther Frankenthal (left to right). Photo source : Sally Frankenthal-Kalwary | The Album (Les Justes en Image) exposition by David Inowlocki / Hidden Child Association Belgium (L’Enfant Caché). URL : http://www.enfant-cache.be/sites/default/files/exposition-site-ec.pdf . Photo edit : Michel van der Burg, Miracles•Media. Note : Original caption in The Album : Madame Nelly Quintard avec, à sa droite, Madame Esther Frankenthal. Madame Nelly Quintard a caché et sauvé les époux Adolphe et Esther Frankenthal avec leur fille Sally. Photo : Sally Kalwary-Frankenthal
7. List of people who have helped airmen who have passed through Comète. ABC HELPERS – Site COMETE NETWORK | Association “LIGNE COMETE LINE – REMEMBRANCE” / Comète Kinship belgium . URL http://www.cometeline.org
8. Les méconnus de Londres: Journal de guerre d’une Belge, 1940-1945, by Tinou Dutry-Soinne. Volume I (2006, Éditions Racine, ISBN 9782873864835) & Volume II (2008, Éditions Racine, ISBN 9782873865047). | Note : In her war journal, Tinou Dutry-Soinne describes how almost a year later , in 1941, she and others felt , when they accompanied René Quintart to Kings Cross Station in London before leaving for the Dominican Republic (my translation) : “All very moved. His departure really saddens us, because he is a charming man, a good comrade with a heart of gold and a cheerful character… always ready to tell stories and be of service.” After the liberation, René Quintart returns via London to Belgium, were he received the official authorization in 1946 to exercise the functions of Consul General of the Dominican Republic in Brussels (Ref 9).
9. Moniteur Belge | Belgisch staatsblad , Nov 24, 1946 – p9601 – Consulats Étrangers en Belgique .. | A la date du 5 novembre 1946, M le Dr R. Quintart a reçu l’exequatur nécessaire pour exercer les fonctions de Consul Général de la République Dominicaine à Bruxelles
10. Belgian official journal (Belgisch Staatsblad | Moniteur Belge) of Nov 18, 1948 page 9211 was announced Quintart, Nelly-C-A-G, widow Delgof, in Anderlecht [Brussels] received a 2nd Class Civic Medal 1940-1945 from the Belgian Ministry of the Interior. https://books.google.nl/books?id=E6chEqWzOuwC&pg=PA9211&lpg=PA9211 | Note : The name Delgof J. is listed as european personnel (situation in the year 1904) working there at station Ibali in the district Lac Léopold II – in the publication Mai Ndombe (Ref 11)
12. Searching online for ‘Nelly’ as Andrée QUINTART , I discovered she had been married before , reading in the 22 June 1922 Belgian official journal (Belgisch Staatsblad | Moniteur Belge) the following announcement by the Ministry of Defense – Military Graves Service – on her husband : Georges Rimez – soldier, 8th line regiment, born in Monceau-sur-Sambre, July 3, 1891, domiciled there, son of Vital and Copin, Marie-Sidonie, husband of Quintart, Nelly-Cécile- Andrée-Ghislaine, presumed dead in Stuyvekenskerke (Tervaetehoek, October 22, 1914. | Note : Georges Rimez is also listed as : RIMEZ Georges Gédéon Ghislain | birth place : Monceau sur Sambre | birth date : 03/07/1891 | place died : Stuivekenskerke -Tervatebocht | date died : 22/10/1914 at the Pervijze.be website in the pdf : “In Gesneuvelden op het grondgebied van Pervijze, Stuivekenskerke, Oostkerke en Lampernisse” URL http://www.pervijze.be/gesn/lijstgesneuveld.pdf
