Ytske Hana (Ytha) Bijlstra (* 1943) was born in the Netherlands, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Protestant father. Ytha’s father was involved in the Dutch resistance movement, easing Ytske’s mother’s procurement of a passport omitting the “J” (Jew) stamp. This made it possible for Ytske’s mother to move freely and look after her children without fear of deportation. The family created a hiding place in their house, where endangered family members and friends found shelter for days, weeks or even months, saving them from the Nazis. On March 3, 1945, very shortly before liberation, Allied bombs – intended to deactivate the V2 rockets in a neighboring village – mistakenly demolished much of their neighborhood, Haagse Bos. Ytha’s mother fled to Voorburg with her two small daughters and seven-year-old nephew, Hein. Among the two hundred relatives of the family who were murdered in concentration camps were Hein’s parents. As an adult, Ytha first made a career working as a social worker in Jerusalem, then later as a psychotherapist in Amsterdam.
