Biography
Bep Zion-Meyer (born Bep Meijer) is the daughter of Joseph and Hennie (Meyer) Meijer. Bep was born October 10, 1920 in Boekelo, a small town in eastern Holland, where her father earned a living as a cattle dealer. Bep had two older siblings: Renee (known as Sara, b.1915) and Richard (b.1917). On May 1, 1940, at the age of nineteen, Bep left home and took a job as a sales clerk in a retail textile business in nearby Eibergen. The business was owned by the three Zion brothers, Julius, Salomon (Sallie) and Zadok. Soon after she began her employment, Bep became romantically involved with Sallie. As the political situation deteriorated, the Zion brothers began to secret away their inventory and other property. In this effort they were aided by members of the Dutch Reformed Church underground, who later also found hiding places for their extended family. In September 1942 after Zadok was called up for forced labor in Germany, all of the Zions went into hiding in the surrounding countryside. (Zadok did not comply with the German order.) Their business then came under German management. Bep continued to work in the store for several more weeks before going into hiding herself. For the next two-and-a-half years she moved from farm to farm, with the help of the Dutch resistance, until the Allies liberated eastern Holland in April 1945. After the war Bep was reunited with Sallie, who quickly reestablished his business. On June 17, 1948 the couple married and settled in Eibergen.
