“A hero is someone who risks his life, while he doesn’t ask for anything for it.”

Joop Levy

Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Former Chairman of Yad Vashem Netherlands

21.10.1935 Wisch (Varsseveld) – 23.12.2025 Amsterdam

Joop Levy told with unwavering dedication about the years of selfless help to his family in hiding during the Second World War. He preferred to do that in the classroom. Always cheerful and modest, and the attention for those who had the courage to help others at the risk of their own lives. Joop Levy always said that he was ‘a very lucky guy’, he added: “A hero is someone who risks his life, while he doesn’t ask for anything.”

Hiding during the Second World War

From September 1942, Joop Levy, together with his parents Philip and Elwine Levy-Meyer, went into hiding with the Ebbers family in Lintelo. On his eighth birthday in October 1943, Joop received a big surprise: a courier from the resistance brought him a beautiful wooden toy plane. It was made by cousin Jonny Levy and the Russian pilot Alex Sidorov who were in hiding with the Geurink family in Lichtenvoorde. They made the plane out of an old toilet seat. Three weeks before the liberation, there was a dangerous situation: 70 German soldiers stayed on the farm for two weeks. At night they slept above the hiding place. It ended well. A year after the liberation, there was a liberation parade in Varsseveld. Joop walked dressed as a pilot, with the plane proudly under his arm. He did not receive a prize but his pleasure was no less.

Handing over to the National Hiding Museum

After years of ‘sightseeing flight’ along various museums in the country, Joop Levy’s plane finally landed in the National Hiding Museum in 2016. In the presence of Joop Levy and the descendants of Jonny and the Geurink family from Lichtenvoorde, the plane was officially handed over to the museum. It has a prominent place in the museum as a core object in the collection.

Thinkbook National Committee 4 and 5 May

In the spring of 2025, the class came to him. Then on March 5, the Denkboek of the National Committee was presented to him. Even then, Joop spoke about his hiding with students from group 8B Public Primary School Piet Hein from Amstelveen. Joop Levy: “Until about three years ago, I went to the schools to tell my story, from Kampen to Zierikzee. I think I have given more than 100 guest lectures. Now that is no longer possible due to my struggles with my health. So I think it’s very special that a school class is visiting me today!”

Joop with his father and mother Philip Levy and Elwine Meijer after the liberation and the years of hiding with the Ebbers family in Lintelo where they survived the war. Photo: pr National Hiding Museum

The wooden toy plane that Joop received for his^8th birthday in 1943 while in hiding with the Ebbers family. It was made from an old wooden toilet seat by his cousin Jonny Levy and a Russian pilot Alex Sidorov, who were both in hiding with the Geurink family in Lichtenvoorde. It was a bomber as Joop heard it from his hiding place above the horse stable. Photo: pr National Hiding Museum

Transfer toy plane on 23 March 2016
From left to right: Soraya Levy, daughter of Jonny Levy, Lini Rooimans-Geurink, Joop Levy, Johanna Geurink, (daughters of the Geurink family in hiding) Gerda Brethouwer, director of the National Museum of Hiding. Photo: pr National Hiding Museum

March 5, 2025, the class came to him for a change, when the Denkboek National Committee 4 and 5 May was presented to him in the presence of group 8B OBS Piet Hein from. Photo Amerens Hedwich National Committee 4 and 5 May.