Max Gurfein was born in Poland in 1913. On his father's advice, he went to Holland in 1931. After working for some time in a factory in Eindhoven, he started a hosiery merchandise business, which soon became successful. On a business trip to Leipzig, Germany, he met Zilla (née Miodezky), originally from Chemnitz, Germany, and in 1938 they married.
Markus and Zilla settled in Eindhoven, where in the summer of 1942, during the German occupation of Holland, Zilla gave birth to premature twins: Robert (Robby) and his sister Ria. Immediately after giving birth, Zilla went into hiding with her parents. Nuns cared for the twin babies in the hospital in Eindhoven. When they were strong enough, the twins were hidden separately by the resistance in January 1943. Ria was taken in by Cornelis (Kees) de Groot (b. 1894) and his wife Hendrieka (Riek) de Groot (née Barelds, b. 1898). The de Groot couple had a fifteen-year-old daughter, Coby. Riek de Groot's sister was active in the resistance and also hid Jews from their German persecutors. She was the one who asked Riek and Kees de Groot to hide baby Ria.
It was not easy to bring up a baby during the war years, and the danger of betrayal made it very dangerous as well. During the war, Coby de Groot kept a moving diary for Ria's parents, as a souvenir of the time their precious daughter had spent in hiding. The de Groot family called Ria "Moeke." The diary contains many pictures and anecdotes about Moeke and her development as a baby and toddler. Coby took much of Moeke's care upon herself, regarding her as her little sister. Moeke grew up in a warm and loving family, unaware of the war that was raging around her, or of her biological parents, who were in hiding far away.
Coby's diary is full of anecdotes and loving descriptions of the development of baby "Moekie," such as the following:
"She is a little rascal, who can say 'Pappa' (Daddy), 'Mamma' (Mommy), 'Tate' (Aunt) and 'Co' (Coby) if she is in the mood for it. And when she sees the dog of my aunt she shouts 'Sakka!' (instead of Saska). She repeats everything. She climbs on everything, even on the table. She walks holding only one hand. And her slice of bread in the morning – she eats all by herself. If she gets cheese on it, she first eats the cheese and then the bread."
Liberation came in May 1945, and the de Groot couple learned that Moeke's parents had survived the war in hiding, as had her twin brother, Robby. Ria was returned to her parents. In order to make the transition a little easier for the infant, Coby lived with the Gurfeins for a while. Later, Ria and Robby, who due to their premature birth were incapacitated, went to live in an institute. Markus and Zilla had two more children after the war: Murry in 1947, and Sonja in 1949. The diary Coby wrote for Ria remained in the Gurfein family. Ria died at the young age of 27 years, and the diary came into possession of her sister Sonja, who cherished it her whole life.
In 2017, Sonja Hemple restored contact with Coby de Groot and applied for the de Groot family to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for saving her sister's life.
"That precious diary confirmed for me that Ria was not only provided food, shelter and protection, but in the arms of Cornelis, Hendrieka and Coby, was deeply loved," said Sonja Hemple in a recent correspondence with Yad Vashem.
"In the midst of darkness and chaos, we see that some people can rise up, and show true humanity from within their core… Despite the grave danger of their altruistic acts, they are steadily driven to do what they believe is simply right. Cornelis and Hendrieka Blom, and their daughter Coby Blom-de Groot, belong to that extraordinary group of human beings and for that, my family is eternally grateful."
On 18 June 2019, Yad Vashem recognized the late Cornelis and Hendrieka de Groot (Barelds) and their daughter Coby as Righteous Among the Nations. Nonagenarian Coby Blom-de Groot received the certificates and medals in March 2020 in Drenthe, the Netherlands, in the presence of Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands H.E. Mr. Naor Gilon and Chairman of the Friends of Yad Vashem in the Netherlands David Simon.
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 92.
