Hidden children and bisciuts

Photograph of Annegiene Roosevelt (nee Panneman) and baby Gerrie with a bicycle, 29 July 1944. Klartja and Feike Panneman, with their two children Annegiene and Gerrit (George), aided the Dutch resistance movement during the war, offering shelter to Jewish children. The children were hidden in plain sight, disguised as members of the Panneman family. Gerrie was with the family from 1943 through to the end of the German occupation of the Netherlands. Annegiene also remembered hiding a young girl named Tinneka. Tinneka was reunited with her mother, sister and two brothers in 1946.

On 10 May 1940, German troops invaded the Netherlands. Five days later, Dutch forces capitulated, and the German occupation of the Netherlands began. At this time, approximately 140,000 Jews resided in the Netherlands. By the time the war ended, the Nazis had deported 107,000 Jews to concentration and death camps. Of these, only 5,000 survived. The Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands was primarily organised by the Communist Party, churches and independent groups. A number of these groups specialised in saving Jewish children. Characterised by their non-violent actions, those working as part of the resistance hid over 300,000 people from German authorities.

Feike Panneman was recognised after the war as an active member of the resistance. Working in the Branbergen biscuit factory in Musselkanaal, Groningen, Feike hid stores of biscuits which were then smuggled into camps like Westerbork, some 30km from the factory.