Introduction to Leesha Rose
Leesha Rose (1922 – 2016) was born Leesha Bornstijn in the Netherlands in 1922. She was 17 years old, and just finishing high school when the Germans invaded on May 10, 1940. As Jewish girl, she had to wear a yellow star on her clothing. Her whole family was deported and they were all killed in the Nazi concentration camps. Leesha avoided deportation by working as a nurse in Amsterdam. She survived by hiding her yellow star. She decided to join the Dutch resistance network and took on a new identity as Elizabeth Bos. She was awarded a special medal by the Queen of Holland for her work with the Dutch Resistance.
Leesha Rose (1922 – 2016) was born Leesha Bornstijn in the Netherlands in 1922. She was 17 years old, and just finishing high school when the Germans invaded on May 10, 1940. As Jewish girl, she had to wear a yellow star on her clothing. Her whole family was deported and they were all killed in the Nazi concentration camps. Leesha avoided deportation by working as a nurse in Amsterdam. She survived by hiding her yellow star. She decided to join the Dutch resistance network and took on a new identity as Elizabeth Bos. She was awarded a special medal by the Queen of Holland for her work with the Dutch Resistance.
Later, she married a Canadian Jewish soldier and moved to Israel, where she spent the rest of her life. They had two children. Leesha wrote a book in 1978 about her experience during the Holocaust called The Tulips are Red, a password used by the resistance. The excerpt you will be reading is from this book. For almost 35 years, she volunteered at the Israeli memorial museum and helped to teach the world about the Holocaust.
Leesha Rose died at the age of 94 in early February 2016.
Leesha Rose was brought up in The Netherlands. She was a teenager when the war broke out and later played an important role in the Resistance Movement. In her book, she describes the hardships of the Dutch Jews in the war, as well as the activities of the Resistance Movement.
One day, my fellow nurse and friend Marge, told me that her parents and sisters had gone into hiding and swore me to absolute secrecy. I asked her: “With whom do you make contact to go into hiding? (In Dutch it is called onderduiken, literally, to dive under). Marge answered: “One has to make connections with an illegal Resistance organization which is fighting against the Nazis in secret and underground ways. The members of this organization act and behave like normal citizens. One of their activities in their battle against the Germans is to bring Jewish people secretly to non-Jewish homes in different parts of The Netherlands where they are hidden, and cared for so that they can avoid death in concentration camps. The Underground provides them with false identity cards stolen from the distribution offices with which they can provide food for the people in hiding. The underground workers act as contacts for the people in hiding. They lead very dangerous lives for if they are discovered in their illegal work, then are deported to the dreaded concentration camp in Mauthausen”. This was exactly the information I needed for my parents and my brothers. Marge promised to make contact for me with the Underground in order to have my family placed in hiding with Dutch Gentiles and provided with the necessary false identity papers.
One day, my fellow nurse and friend Marge, told me that her parents and sisters had gone into hiding and swore me to absolute secrecy. I asked her: “With whom do you make contact to go into hiding? (In Dutch it is called onderduiken, literally, to dive under). Marge answered: “One has to make connections with an illegal Resistance organization which is fighting against the Nazis in secret and underground ways. The members of this organization act and behave like normal citizens. One of their activities in their battle against the Germans is to bring Jewish people secretly to non-Jewish homes in different parts of The Netherlands where they are hidden, and cared for so that they can avoid death in concentration camps. The Underground provides them with false identity cards stolen from the distribution offices with which they can provide food for the people in hiding. The underground workers act as contacts for the people in hiding. They lead very dangerous lives for if they are discovered in their illegal work, then are deported to the dreaded concentration camp in Mauthausen”. This was exactly the information I needed for my parents and my brothers. Marge promised to make contact for me with the Underground in order to have my family placed in hiding with Dutch Gentiles and provided with the necessary false identity papers.
Interpretation
This excerpt from Leesha Rose’s story The Tulips are Red, offers a real-life story of a resistance fighter that provides an interesting complement and contrast to Number the Stars. Leesha Rose joined the Resistance in order to try and save her family from being deported to the camps. She discusses what it was like for the Jewish people that were helped by the Dutch Resistance. We can imagine as we read her words, “they can provide food for the people in hiding” the work that the fictional characters Lise and Peter did with the Danish Resistance. Unlike Lise and Peter, Leesha was Jewish herself; also unlike them she survived to share her story.
This excerpt from Leesha Rose’s story The Tulips are Red, offers a real-life story of a resistance fighter that provides an interesting complement and contrast to Number the Stars. Leesha Rose joined the Resistance in order to try and save her family from being deported to the camps. She discusses what it was like for the Jewish people that were helped by the Dutch Resistance. We can imagine as we read her words, “they can provide food for the people in hiding” the work that the fictional characters Lise and Peter did with the Danish Resistance. Unlike Lise and Peter, Leesha was Jewish herself; also unlike them she survived to share her story.