An all-male committee sent Truus Wijsmuller to Vienna to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann whether 1000 Jewish children would be allowed to leave Vienna. Believing her to be a “Crazy Dutch woman” who would never succeed, Eichmann challenged her to organize the transportation of 600 Jewish children within a few days. She moved heaven and earth, and succeeded by the imposed deadline. After this, “Tante Truus” (/tantah Truce/), as the children called her, organized as many as three large “Kindertransports” all over Europe until the borders were closed and war broke out in Holland as well.

Despite the fact that Mrs. Wijsmuller saved far more Jewish people than Oskar Schindler and Sir Nicholas Winton combined, her work remained practically unknown even in the Netherlands until about 2010. Ironically, she received some awards for her contributions to the City of Amsterdam and her charity work, but never for the many people she rescued and helped during WWII.

Potential reasons for this lack of (inter)national recognition may have been her outspoken political ideas and her socializing with the enemy to reach her goals. However, the most likely explanation is that her story exposed the then all-male Dutch politicians as cowards; Holland closed its borders to refugees and the children of the Kindertransports were not allowed to remain in Holland. It was easy to sweep these shameful facts under the carpet because Mrs. Wijsmuller was merely, as she put it herself, a “loud-mouthed woman” doing committee work, instead of a militant male hero.

For the Netflix trailer of the documentary Truus’ Children about Mrs. Truus Wijsmuller’s Kindertransports, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_R3fUvRxwg&t=48s

Also see: https://jewishcurrents.org/kindertransport-reunion

These were all the children of the Amsterdam Orphanage before Mrs. Wijsmuller arranged for their transportation to England when Holland had surrendered as well.