Who is the person in this picture?

Johan Willem van Hulst (28 January 1911 - 22 March 2018) was born and died in the city of Amsterdam at the age of 107. He was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, chess player and politician. While these roles are representative of his career and life, he is best known for his efforts to save Jewish children in World War II.

In 1943, with the assistance of the Dutch resistance and students from the nearby University of Amsterdam, he was instrumental in saving over 600 Jewish children from the nursery of the ‘Hollandsche Schouwburg’ (HS), destined for deportation to Nazi concentration camps. For his humanitarian actions he received the ‘Yad Vashem’ distinction called ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ from the State of Israel in 1973.

The main clearing site for the Jewish children living in Amsterdam was the ‘Hollandsche Schouwburg’, a theatre. After being separated from their families, children were then sent to the neighboring nursery that shared a back garden with the college that van Hulst directed at the time. With assistance, he canvassed potential families for physical descriptions of children who could fit into their families without detection.When parents agreed, the names were deleted from the Nazi’s registry. Numerous methods were used to spirit the children to safety. One method included hiding them in containers, bags, sacks and laundry baskets.

The other individuals listed were each members of the Dutch Resistance in WW II.