Rachel "Didi" Harel (née Roos; ; 13 April 1923,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

– 16 November 1989,

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

), was a member of the

Dutch Resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

against the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was awarded the American

Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

and the British King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom.

Biography

Rachel "Didi" Roos was born in

, the second child of the Roos family. When she was four years old her father died, and three years later her mother married Louis Strauss. The parents were convinced that after elementary school, she should financially contribute to the family's income. Rachel fought for her rights to an education with the support of her school's principal. She graduated and became a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

teacher, specializing in

Montessori education The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

. In August 1941 Rachel became engaged to the architect Marcel "Moshe" Hertz, taking the name Rachel Roos-Hertz. In July 1942, Marcel's family was called up for forced work in the East. They, including Rachel and her mother, were invited by Martha Nagtegaal a former employee of the Hertz family, to be hidden by different parts of the Nagtegaal family. In March 1943 Martha obtained forged identity documents and ration stamps for them. From that time, 1943–1945, Rachel was involved in the

, and so was her fiancé, Marcel, who went by the fictitious name of Rienus van Elck. On 9 May 1945 Rachel and Moshe got married in a civil ceremony at City Hall in Ede and in August 1945 - in a Jewish ceremony in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. Rachel gave birth to their first son in April 1946. In September the family moved to Rotterdam, where Moshe got a job and a residence permit.

Resistance

Pretending to be a Christian farmer, Rachel joined the Dutch Resistance as a courier of Bill Wildeboer, the leader of the resistance in the

Ederveen Ederveen is a village in the municipality of Ede in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territorie ...

–

Bennekom Bennekom is a village and parish in the Netherlands, which is part of the Municipality of Ede in the south-west of the Veluwe district of the Gelderland, Province of Gelderland. It adjoins the town of Wageningen on the Nederrijn, Lower-Rhine to th ...

region. In May 1943, they merged also with the branch of

Lunteren Lunteren is a town in Gelderland, the Netherlands. It has a railway station on the line between Amersfoort and Ede. It is well known for three conference centres in the vicinity, including ''Het Bosgoed'', which mostly hosts academic conferences ...

. Rachel was involved in hiding Jews and Dutch

conscientious objectors A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or freedom of religion, religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for ...

. In August 1944, the existing national organizations merged into the internal forces under the command of

Prince Bernhard Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana. They had four daughters to ...

. Rachel was involved in the sabotage of Germans' orders and in reaching and assisting the

Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Netherlands, Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Alli ...

's Allied Forces. On November 17 Rachel was arrested by the Germans. She managed to destroy her commander's letters before they were found by the wardens. While trying to escape she was shot and brought back to the main headquarters of the

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

, the German Security Forces. There she was severely tortured, but never disclosed the names of her comrades. Since her Jewish origin was not known, and her membership in the underground could not be proven, she was not executed. Three months later, as the Allies got closer to the

, she was transferred to the

Westerbork transit camp Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...

, and from there she was sent to the

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

, from which she escaped. She hid on a farm for two days until the Netherlands was freed. She moved to Lunteren where she met her fiancé, Moshe Hertz, and later on - her mother.

Awards

On 21 November 1946, in a ceremony that took place in

Tropenmuseum The Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (previously known as Tropenmuseum () between 1950 and 2023) is an ethnographic museum with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was originally founded in Haarlem, Netherlands in 1864 under the name ''Koloniaal ...

Amsterdam, Rachel was awarded the United States

. On 18 October 1948 in the British Embassy in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, she was awarded the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom.

Israel

In February 1950 Rachel, Moshe and their two children immigrated to Israel and lived for a while in Kibbutz Beit HaShita. Later, they moved to

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

, where their third son was born in 1954. In 1956 Rachel joined the

Women's International Zionist Organization The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diaspora. Histor ...

(Wizo). In 1980, after they moved to

, she was elected as the chairwoman of the local branch. She was also active in Rotary and in fund raising for sick children. Rachel died in 1989 after coming back home from a ceremony at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

in the Netherlands, in which the Nagtegaal family was recognized as

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

External links

"My Confession"
video of Harel's autobiographical talk at WIZO

Holocaust Museum, Washington DC
entry
Overview at joodsmonument.nl
(in Dutch)
Righteous Among The Nations: The Nagtegaal family
at yadvashem.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Harel, Rachel (Roos-Hertz) Recipients of the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom Dutch Jews Resistance members from Rotterdam Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust Recipients of the Medal of Freedom 1923 births 1989 deaths Female resistance members of World War II Dutch emigrants to Israel