In 1943, in the dark of night, Hendrik Drogt jumped on his motorcycle and raced to the hospital.
Left: Hendrick Drogt when he was 20; right: his son Henk Brink, when he was 20
A life or death task was in front of him, but Drogt was not a doctor,
but a member of the Dutch Resistance. His friend, Mr. Thalen, also a
member of the Resistance, had been captured by the Germans.
Thalen was handcuffed to his bed and certain death awaited him if left to his capturers. There was no time to waste. Drogt ran in the hospital, shot the two armed German soldiers guarding the door, raced in the room, uncuffed his friend and they both disappeared into the Dutch countryside.
Mark Bergman and his wife, Smadar, and son, Edden
Drogt, a Dutch citizen, was recently honoured as a Righteous Among The Nations through the dedicated work of Mark B., an ex-Israeli Air Force pilot born in South Africa.
In 2006, Mark took his 17-year-old son, Edden, back to Africa on a family hiking trip. They stayed at the Sikelela Country Lodge, located on a macadamia nut farm on the outskirts of Hazyview, a town on the edge of Krueger National Park.
One day, Edden wanted to e-mail his girlfriend. He asked the ranch owner, Henk Brink, about e-mail access and was promptly invited into his home to use his computer.
Mark came in with Edden and noticed photos of hot air balloons and airplanes, and his interest was piqued. Brink, a retired commercial pilot and flight instructor, had once broken a world record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. He then had taken the capsule of the balloon, turned it into a boat and again crossed the Atlantic in the other direction. After years of living in Holland, Brink and his family decided to take their retirement money and buy a farm in South Africa to spend more time in the wild open.
During the course of the conversation, Brink talked about something he never really discussed – his father, Hendrik Drogt’s, actions during the Second World War.
During the German occupation of Holland, Drogt was a Dutch Military Police officer in the village of Grijpskerk in North-East Holland. On May 5, 1943, the Nazis ordered him to arrest Jews in and around his village. He refused and joined the Dutch Resistance.
Drogt became a key-player in hiding Jewish families in and around the towns of Grijpskerk, Kommerzijl and Pieterzijl. He only travelled at night, bringing Jews to and from a variety of hiding places, mostly farmhouses. His bravery did not stop there. He also saved the lives of over 100 Allied pilots whose planes were shot down and had parachuted to safety. He helped them to escape at night and return to safety in Britain.
His heroism was cut short when the Gestapo captured him on Aug. 2, 1943. He and eight of his friends from the Resistance received death sentences. The night before Drogt was to be executed, he wrote his parents and wife his last letter.
At 5 a.m. on April 14 1944, Drogt was executed. He never had the chance to see and hold his six-month-old baby son.
Brink is still haunted by the loss of his father. “My father and I never had the opportunity to meet, to talk and be friends. This is still a trauma for me. Even my children have that feeling. They only know him from the newspaper articles, decorations and his final letter, one day before he was executed. They also miss their grandfather very much. It fills them with sadness.”
Drogt’s heroic actions did not go unnoticed. After the war, he was officially decorated by president Dwight Eisenhower, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and prime minister Winston Churchill.
However, the one country which never honoured him was Israel. In the early 1990s Brink told his story to the Israeli ambassador in Holland because, as he told Mark, “the only thing missing for my family is to get recognition from the State of Israel.” The Israeli ambassador promised to get back to him, but never did, and Brink did not pursue him.
Upon returning to Israel, Mark looked into how Israel could honour Drogt and got in touch with Yad Vashem to see if Drogt qualifed for a Righteous Among the Nations award.
Mark was told he would have to find people who would verify Brink’s story; especially witnesses.
Mark touched base with the Dutch Federation of Israel and spread the word. Mark’s wife, Smadar and friends, David Sadot and Galai Sharir, took action. Through their tireless work, many other people became involved; some even put ads in Dutch newspapers asking for help in finding people who could corroborate the story.
Eventually they were able to find the widow of a man who had been saved by Drogt. Through her, two more people were found who could testify to Drogt’s heroic actions in the Resistance.
Mark had the statements translated from Dutch to Hebrew and sent it to a committee at Yad Vashem, who also do their own research . Months went by and one day the phone rang. The voice on the other end told him that Henk’s father had been approved to be honoured as a Righteous Among the Nations.
“It was an unbelievable moment,” Mark explained. He immediately called his wife Smadar, and they were both in tears. Moments later he called Brink to tell him the news.
Brink was in disbelief and in a follow up email to Mark he explained: “Your phone call is still resonating in my mind. It was a very emotional moment for me. I have informed my mother straight away and together we felt very close for a brief moment. Mark, it is your personal achievement to make this happen. This remarkable story tells exactly who is Mark B.”
Tears were streaming down my face as I asked Mark, who is extremely low key and a reluctant story teller, “Do you think this was a mere coincidence?”
“I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to be able to try and even luckier to have succeeded. It’s very seldom do you feel you can do something like this and to have it happen by chance.” he replied.
Yad Vashem’s ceremonies honouring Drogt took place on Sept. 22 at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. With the generosity of El Al airlines, Brink flew to Israel with a discount and was hosted by Mark’s family and friends. Interestingly enough, Sept 22 was Brink’s’ 65th Birthday.
Masada Siegel, otherwise known as Fun Girl Correspondent, is a freelance writer in Scottsdale, Ariz. and can be reached at [email protected]
