Throughout Europe, in attics and basements, in secret cupboards so small they could barely crouch, Jews struggled to hide themselves from their Nazi persecutors. Sometimes they were hidden by gentile friends; sometimes by complete strangers.

In Amsterdam, the Frank family, along with several others, hid for months in a secret annex, supplied with the essentials of life by Miep Gies. Dutch woman Dieuwke Hofstede (pictured) opened her doors to Henny Kalkstein (right). Convents and monasteries also hid Jewish children. In the northern Italian town of Assisi, Father Rufino Niccacci supplied Jews with forged identity papers and helped them to find homes and work. In France, the entire village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, guided by its pastor, André Trocmé, was committed to hiding/protecting Jewish refugees.

In Eastern Europe, finding a hiding place was extremely difficult. Although many Poles were antisemitic and many others feared the consequences of aiding Jews, some Poles responded to the cries for help. Irene Gut Opdyke hid 12 Jews in the house of a German officer for whom she worked as a housekeeper. In Wlodawa, Poland, a Jewish man named Yankel lived for a year in a hole in the floor of a barn. The farm itself was occupied by German soldiers.
Photo: Henny Kalkstein Reemy / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archive