Yad Vashem honors a Dutch woman who saved a Jewish baby during the Holocaust

According to an article by journalist Itamar Eichner published by Ynet, Ephraim Kochba learned, just a few days before his 83rd birthday, that Jacqueline Mintz, the Christian woman who had saved his life during the Holocaust in the Netherlands, was going to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

"It's the most moving gift I could receive," he said, praising the culmination of an effort undertaken to pay tribute to the woman who had protected him at the risk of her own life.

Born in the Netherlands during the Second World War, Ephraim Kochba belonged to the Jewish Van Coevorden family. As Nazi persecution intensified, his biological mother entrusted her baby to her Christian friend Jacqueline and her partner Max. The couple was to raise him if his parents did not return.

Later, Max would be detained in the transit camp of Westerbork; Jacqueline found herself alone to take care of the child. Despite the risks, she had given him a protective and loving home during the war.

Jacqueline Mintz, who did not yet have any children, had meticulously documented Ephraim’s development: his first smile, scenes from daily life, and various memories from his childhood. She had also kept photographs as well as a lock of his hair.

The biological parents of Ephraim Kochba were murdered toward the end of the war. After a legal battle over his custody, the child was entrusted to surviving members of his family. He later immigrated to Israel at the age of 4.

For much of his childhood, he had been unaware of the exact circumstances of his rescue and the fate of his parents. It was only much later that he discovered the whole story.

After his military service, Ephraim Kochba had met his adoptive father in the Netherlands. He had then received the diary written by Jacqueline, which was later translated into Hebrew. This document allowed him to rediscover his early years through the testimony of the woman who had raised him.

The Yad Vashem Commission responsible for designating the Righteous Among the Nations has now officially decided to grant this title to Jacqueline Mintz. Her name will be inscribed on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations in Jerusalem.

“Jacqueline fully deserves this recognition,” responded Ephraim Kochba, thanking Yad Vashem for its work and determination in bringing the case to fruition.

Since the creation of this program, more than 28,700 non-Jewish people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust have received this distinction. The Netherlands has 6,137 Righteous Among the Nations, behind Poland, which has 7,318.

Yad Vashem continues to examine stories dating from the Holocaust, as new documents and testimonies still make it possible, more than eight decades after the war, to recognize acts of rescue that have long remained in the shadows.