Arie van Mansum fonds

Arie (Harry) Hendricks van Mansum was born at Utrecht, Holland, on March 5, 1920 to Gerrit and Neeltje van Mansum. As a travelling salesman, Arie had a rail pass which allowed him to travel freely after the German occupation of the Netherlands. Arie began helping Jewish refugees in the Netherlands in 1938 and in 1940 at the age of 20, he became involved in the Dutch Resistance Movement. He distributed the Dutch underground newspaper "Free Netherlands," found safe homes to hide Jews, and established an underground transportation network to move Jewish refugees. He was also involved in the distribution of food stamps and false identification cards for the Jews in hiding. In 1952 he married Doris van Diggele and the couple emigrated to Ottawa in 1958 where he started an insurance company. The couple had three children, Ria, Gerrit, and Margaret. Doris died in 1970 and Arie later remarried with Annette van Loenen. Van Mansum went on to receive awards from St. Lawrence University, Yad Vashem, and the Government of Israel. In 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Arie van Mansum as Righteous Among the Nations. He was also the subject of a biography, "A Friend Among Enemies" by Janet Keith, in 1991. He died in Ottawa in 1999.