Biography
Suse Schwarz (born Suse Grunbaum) was born in Schluchtern Germany May 3, 1931, the daughter of Max and Kate Kahn Grunbaum. In 1933 the family fled Nazi Germany with plans to relocate in England. Stopping in Holland on the way, Max decided that this would be a good place to reestablish his horse-trading business, and the family settled in the town of Dinxperlo. Max established a business selling horses for pleasure riding and farm work. On May 10, 1940 Germans invaded Holland, and the Grunbaum family was subjected to the array of German racial laws. After three years the family succeeded in going into hiding, finding places with the assistance of the local underground.
Max was hidden on the farm of Gerrit and Geertruida Jolink. Suse and Kate were hidden on the farm of Bernard and Mina Hartemink. Deeply religious members of the Dutch Reform church, they viewed saving Jews as a religious obligation despite their concerns raising a family of seven children. They initially hid the two women in a bedroom, then in an underground space, and finally in a hiding space that they built in a loft over the barn. The Harteminks brought food up to the women in a basket. The area was almost pitch dark and only high enough to sit, but the two women stayed there for two full years, leaving only on rare occasions. Once a week, Herman Migchelbrink, a school teacher and the fiance of the Hartemink's daughter Leida, came to teach Suse lessons. His family also sheltered Jews on their nearby farm. Once Dutch policemen came to the farm looking for hidden Jews. They interrogated Leida at length, but she insisted that there were no Jews at the farm. Refusing to believe her they hit her and threatened to kill her unless she disclosed the location of the hiding place. She insisted that no Jews were in hiding and refused to betray Suse and Kate even after the policeman shot at her between her legs.
The Harteminks, Migchelbrinks and Jolinks were all recognized by Yad Vashem for being "Righteous Among the Nations."
