Henrica Maria Paré (Druten, 14 July 1896 — The Hague, 25 February 1972) was a

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 ...

member, and visual artist. Ru Paré found shelter and took care of 52

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

children, who all survived

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 ...

Biography

Henrica Maria Paré was born as the youngest of three children by Nicolaas Paré who owned a

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or Yard (land), yard where bricks are made, pottery firing, fired, and stored, or sometimes Commerce, sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed ...

. She was usually called by her nickname ''Zus'' (sister). Paré had a talent for

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

from an early age, and when she moved to The Hague in 1919, she was instructed by the painter . The next year, she met the female singer Do Versteegh whom she befriended for life. She also participated in the painting classes at the

Royal Academy of Art The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

without enrolling, and was taught by

Jan Toorop Johannes Theodorus "Jan" TooropJan Toorop
Netherlands Institute for Art History, 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 201 ...

. From 1930 onwards, she signed her painting as ''Ru Paré''. Paré exhibited her work in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and The Hague. She quickly became a known figure in the artistic circles of The Hague, and became a member of the

Haagse Kunstkring The Haagse Kunstkring (English The Hague Art Circle) is an association in The Hague for artists and art lovers. Among the members are visual artists, architects, writers, recitation artists, photographers, musicians and designers. The association ...

. Paré's work was included in the 1939 exhibition and sale ''

Onze Kunst van Heden Onze Kunst van Heden (Contemporary Artists/Our Art of Today) was an exhibition held in the winter of 1939 through 1940 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Due to the threat of invasion in the years leading up to World War II, the Netherlands' g ...

'' (Our Art of Today) at the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

in Amsterdam.

World War II

On 20 June 1942, the Haagse Kunstkring sent a request to register at the

Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer The Netherlands Chamber of Culture () was an institution established by Nazi Germany in the occupied Netherlands to regulate the production and distribution of art. Officially established on 25 November 1941, the chamber followed the model ...

nazi 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 ...

organisation to which artists had to belong). She immediately revoked her membership. She had befriended Nico van der Veen who was in contact with the Utrecht Children’s Committee. Paré first started to find shelter for the two children of F.H. Lankhout, a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

from The Hague. Ultimately she managed to find shelter for 52

children. She used friends and acquaintances to find safe hiding places. Sometimes she had to travel as far as

Boornbergum Boornbergum () is a village in Smallingerland municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,681 in January 2017. The village was first mentioned in 1543 as Berghum, and means hill by river . The Dutch ...

to find a hiding place for a child. She had created a

false bottom A false bottom (or false back) is an internal partition in a container, typically at the bottom of a drawer, suitcase or similar item, enabling the concealment of objects from a cursory examination of the item's contents. A false bottom may be pr ...

in her painters box, and spend her days going back and forth with food, presents, money, and false papers. Paré had some contacts with the resistance, but mainly worked independently. All 52 children who knew her as Tante Zus (Aunt sister) survived

After the war

After the war Paré moved into her parents' house together with Do Versteegh, and started painting again. She made sure that all children were taken care over. Nine children who had been orphaned were adopted by the Levin family who emigrated to

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 ...

. Paré kept into contact with most of the children. She avoided publicity, and rarely talked about the past in the letters to the children. In 1968,

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 ...

honoured Paré 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, ...

at the nomination of the Levin family. She testified in 1970 at the Weinreb investigation of the

NIOD The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Dutch language, Dutch: ''NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies'') is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out history, historical ...

that she had saved 52 children. Do Versteegh died in 1970. On 25 February 1972, a friend discovered Ru Paré's body in the bathroom.

Aftermath

In 1988, The Hague named a street Ru-Paréstraat. In Amsterdam, the Ru Paré Community, a school and neighbourhood centre has been named after her. In 2020, The Hague named a school after Ru Paré. The renaming was a request of the politician Hanneke Gelderblom who - as a child - was taken from The Hague to

Eerde Eerde is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is part of the municipality of Meierijstad, located about 500 m west of the built-up area of Veghel and 3 km southwest of the town centre of Veghel.''ANWB Topografische Atla ...

by Ru Paré.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paré, Ru 1896 births 1972 deaths Dutch resistance members Dutch women painters People from Druten Dutch Righteous Among the Nations 20th-century Dutch women