Dommelhuis

On the eve of the Second World War, the British government granted entry visas to ten thousand Jewish children from Germany, Austria and the occupied part of Czechoslovakia. To get them away, the 'Kindertransporte' were organised. Most of the children travelled directly to England. Their stay in one of the fifty Dutch shelters was sometimes limited to the duration of the transit but sometimes lasted longer. Some were unlucky enough to end up in Westerbork, which was initially a refugee camp in 1939, but after the German occupation became a transit or prison camp. In the spring of 1940, it became increasingly difficult to enter England and after the German invasion this was completely impossible.

The children were allowed to stay in the Dommelhuis in Eindhoven. The first refugee children arrived here on 4 January 1939. They were all boys. There were 150 beds available. On 1 March 1940, the shelter was closed: all the boys then went to the Westersingel in Rotterdam.

Philips executive secretary Laura Marks took the initiative to accommodate these Jewish boys and arranged for the Dommelhuis, which was vacant at the time, at Philips. Hilda Verwey-Jonker, a municipal councillor for the SDAP, immediately joined when an Eindhoven branch of the national Children's Committee was established.

The building itself was built by Philips in the 1920s to house unmarried male employees. Due to the economic crisis in the 1930s, the building became vacant and was temporarily used in 1935 to accommodate refugees from the Spanish Civil War.

It was rented by Philips for the symbolic price of one guilder to the local Children's Committee in Eindhoven, which was in contact with the national committee in Amsterdam.

The Philips canteen provided hot meals for the more than two hundred boys - between the ages of twelve and eighteen - who were accommodated in the Dommelhuis for longer or shorter periods from 4 January 1939 to February 1940. There were 150 sleeping places, the bunk beds and other furniture, which were supplied by the Ministry of Defence.

The board consisted of: Chairman Mr. J. J. A. van der Putt (Merellaan 16, formerly 10-c), secretary Hilda Verwey-Jonker (Leenderweg 194). Treasurer Mr. M.A. Adolfs (Dommelstraat 7). Van der Putt's wife was leader of the Aid Committee for Jewish Children in Eindhoven. Mr. Van Bunschot was called "Hauptmann" by the boys.

Miss Henny Peeks as head of the household. Henny Peeks was actually a nurse and was sent out by the "Commission Aid to Spain" as part of the International Brigade. After the German invasion, she joined the resistance in Amsterdam. Among other things, she helped Jewish people in hiding. She was arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst on October 13, 1943. She survived her captivity in Vught, Häftling 651 and Ravensbrück. On the way, she threw a note from the train addressed to Jaap Voogd. Before the war, Henny Peeks had lived in the Dommelhuis with the Voogd family, Petrus Dondersstraat 28 in Eindhoven, during her work. Jaap Voogd was one of the most important resistance fighters in the Witte Dorp. He was also involved in the Dommelhuis.

In July 1945, she returned to the Netherlands, severely weakened, and is once again taken in by the Voogd family. For her help to Jews during the war, Henny is included in the Yad Vashem database.

During the occupation, the Dommelhuis was used by the staff of Hauptmann Deunert, Stabshilferinnen and Flugsicherungskommando Mädel.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Martin Damen