At the risk of their own lives, the Heemskerk family saved the Jewish boy Loukie Israëls. They allowed him to go into hiding and gave him a home during World War II. A plaque will be unveiled today to commemorate that event.
There must have been many Heemskerkers who knew that Loukie Kan was a Jewish boy. Yet nobody spoke up and Loukie, who luckily escaped a raid, survived the war.
Memory alive
That is remarkable, because the family lived in the Maerelaan, right next to the school building. German soldiers gathered there every day and the office of the NSB mayor was a stone’s throw away. The Kan family is happy with the plaque that keeps the memory of this special rescue alive, we hear in the video below.