Roelofina Wisse-Borger, known within her family as Fiena, was one of the many ordinary Dutch citizens who demonstrated extraordinary courage during the Second World War. For her actions in hiding Jewish families during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, she was posthumously honoured with the title Righteous Among the Nations, awarded by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.
Her story is preserved today not only in the Netherlands but also within the Dutch-Australian community, through descendants who have carried this family history across generations and continents.
A family life in Hillegom
Roelofina Borger was born on 30 November 1891 in the Netherlands. She married Abraham Wisse in 1920. Abraham was a professional photographer, and together they built a family with three children: Adrie, Rika and Corrie.
Their life changed dramatically when Abraham died of tuberculosis in 1930 at the age of forty. Widowed with three young children, Roelofina supported the family by working as a seamstress and running a dressmaking business from her home in the town of Hillegom in South Holland. Copy of RAN Brisbane 2026 – Roe…
Hillegom was a small Dutch town where neighbours knew each other well. During the German occupation, however, fear and suspicion increasingly became part of daily life.
Choosing to help during the occupation
Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Anti-Jewish measures were rapidly introduced and deportations soon followed. Of the approximately 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands before the war, more than 100,000 were murdered — the highest proportional loss in Western Europe.
Within this climate of persecution, Roelofina Wisse-Borger chose to help.
Between 1941 and 1944 she hid three Jewish families in her home in Hillegom — ten people in total. All of them survived the war.
Her decision to offer refuge was influenced in part by family connections to the Dutch resistance movement. Through these networks she was asked whether she could shelter Jewish people who needed a safe hiding place.
The families she sheltered
The first people to arrive in August 1941 were Rosa and Izak Spetter, brother and sister. Rosa remained in hiding in the Wisse household for about a year, while Izak stayed for several months before being moved to another hiding place. Later their parents also joined them temporarily. After the war the family reunited and maintained contact with Roelofina and her daughter.
Another family who found refuge in the house were Cobus and Bertha Elion and their twelve-year-old daughter Lies. The Elions had lived in Amsterdam, where Cobus worked as a diamond merchant. After being arrested during a German raid and taken to the Westerbork transit camp, they were unexpectedly released and eventually went into hiding. Through the resistance network they were brought to Roelofina’s home.
Their elder daughter Selly had escaped earlier but was later betrayed and murdered in the Sobibór extermination camp together with her partner. The surviving members of the Elion family remained deeply marked by this loss.
A third family who found refuge in the house included Marianne Saphier-Adelaar, her daughter Saartje and son-in-law Herman Daniels. Their young daughter Irene had to be hidden elsewhere because it was considered too dangerous to hide very young children in the house.
Life in hiding
Hiding people required constant vigilance. Roelofina slept in the room closest to the street so that she could warn everyone if German raids or inspections were approaching. Her brothers constructed a concealed hiding place beneath the wooden floor, hidden under a trapdoor and rug, where the families could conceal themselves if necessary.
The Jewish families occupied the upstairs rooms while Roelofina and her children shared the remaining space. Food was scarce and ration cards were difficult to obtain, although resistance contacts sometimes helped with supplies.
By 1944 shortages had become so severe that bringing additional people into the house became impossible. Fuel for heating and cooking was scarce, and the family often had only a single candle for light.
Despite these hardships, the people she sheltered remained safe until the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945.
Recognition of courage
Roelofina Wisse-Borger died on 5 January 1983 at the age of ninety-one. Many decades later her actions were formally recognised.
On 2 June 2025 she was honoured with the title Righteous Among the Nations, a distinction awarded to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The recognition ensures that her courage is permanently recorded among those who chose humanity in a time of persecution.
A Dutch story with an Australian connection
The story of Roelofina Wisse-Borger is preserved today through her descendants, including members of the family who now live in Australia.
Through migration after the war, many Dutch families established new lives in Australia while carrying with them memories shaped by the events of the occupation. Within the Dutch-Australian community these personal histories form an important part of shared heritage.
The recognition of Roelofina’s actions therefore resonates not only in the Netherlands but also in Australia, where later generations continue to honour the courage of those who risked everything to save others.
Her story stands as a reminder that even in the darkest periods of history, individual choices could make the difference between life and death.
