Aron Jedwab was born September 20, 1943, in a haystack in Lintelo, where his parents were hiding. His parents had gone into hiding with farmers in October 1942 to evade deportation. The boy’s mother Lena became pregnant in hiding. A medical student who had also gone underground helped with the difficult birth; mother and child survived.
Only twelve hours after his birth, Aron Jedwab had to be taken away from the farm. The risk of the family being discovered with a newborn was too great. The medical student took Aron secretly to the Wikkerink family in Aalten. The family told their neighbors he had been abandoned outside their home. They called him Willem Herfstink. Sometimes Mrs. Wikkerink-Epping took him to his parents so they could see him from time to time.
After liberation, Aron did not want to go to his parents, who were strangers to him. The Wikkerinks sent one of their daughters with him to help him settle in to his family. The Jedwabs emigrated to the United States in 1948.
Box in which the baby was left outside the Wikkerink family home, September 1943. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., Gift of Lennie Kropveld Jade
Entry on the birth of Aron Jan Willem Jedwab alias Willem Herstfink in the register of Aalten residents, dated September 21, 1943. Source: Nationaal Onderduikmuseum, Aalten
The Jedwabs and their rescuers after liberation. Left to right: Betsy, Bernard, Gerrit, and Cynthia Wevers, Aron Jedwab with his parents, and Aleida (Leidje) Wevers, Aalten, 1945. Source: Nationaal Onderduikmuseum, Aalten
The Jedwab family’s farewell photo, taken shortly before their emigration to the United States, 1948. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., Gift of Lennie Kropveld Jade
