Man who rescued Jews insists he wasn't a hero.

Coalhurst

Why then would a tree be growing in Israel in Cornelis
van't Land's honor? And why would Dwight D. Eisenhower
have signed a certificate of gratitute to the former Dutch
businessman?

Because, despite the 77-year-old caretaker's attempts to
downplay it, hundreds of extermination bound Jews, work
camp-destined Dutch men and Allied pilots were saved
through his efforts.

Van't Land was among those in Holland during the Second
World War who concealed, helped feed and protected
people like Anne Frank, risking their own safety in the process.
To those in hiding, the word hero wouldn't be strong enough
for men like van't Land.

"I hope that I don't give you the impression I want to be
a big shot," van't Land says. "There were hundreds of
people that were so brave."

Almost all of the Dutch population was angry when the
Nazi army occupied their country in May,1940, perhaps mad
enough to fight, van't Land recalls. But they didn't and
German troops made themselves at home for what would
be a five-year stay in Holland.

As a 37-year-old livestock feed businessman in the
community of Epe in the Gelderland, van't Land
watched with horror as the Germans began
extracting food and other supplies from his country,
to be shipped back to the motherland.

Jewish property was confiscated, and bright yellow
stars began to appear on the coats of the Jews.

The shipments out of Holland soon took on a human form,
as night roundups by German police and soldiers collected
Jewish families for the eventual trip to German gas chambers,
recalls van't Land.

Young Dutch men, usually between 18 and 30 years old, were
sent to German war factories to fill in for the many men
serving in the Nazi army. Three of van't Land's nephews
never returned.

"People just about had a heart attack when there was a
knock at the door after 8 p.m.," says van't Land of the Nazi
roundups.

Pleas for help came from those looking to hide, and van't Land,
guided by Christian morals, wasn't about to turn anyone away.
"What would you say'?

If the businessman couldn't hide these "divers," he would
refer them to one of his hundreds of customers who could
help. People were hidden in basement compartments with
false walls. They were given smuggled food rations,
and young men were given old farmers' clothes to conceal
their identities.

On one occasion, while attempting to get rations to several
Jews hiding at a farmhouse, van't Land and a friend were
almost caught.

"All of a sudden we heard vehicles coming to the farm and
then in no time they (Nazi officials) were knocking at the
door and bursting it down." The Jews were hidden in a hay
loft with a secret door just in time.

Miraculously, the Germans searched without success and
finally left. Van't Land's companion was almost speechless,
except to say: "Let's pray.  "I'm convinced that for every minute
that the love of God protected me", van't Land says.

Today, a tree in Israel grows in tribute to van't Land's efforts.

Van't Land, who had spent several years in North America
as a young man and had learned English. also became an
obvious candidate for the resistance movement to help Allied
forces in Holland.

A U.S. army watch he still proudly clutches is evidence of
his many encounters with Allied pilots who came down over
Holland.

"I went to a lot of the pilots and asked them what they wanted
to do," he says, often hiding them or helping them escape the
country.

"This was hazardous and sometimes reckless work."

Van't Land remembers locating Allied soldiers in bushland
areas by walking along whistling the Canadian national anthem.

Close calls were also a part of those efforts. Van't Land
recalls being, involved in an operation with pilots and spies
who wanted to capture German soldiers to operate a
secret electric generator.

The group scattered after surprisingly bumping into and
being detected by German soldiers. Van't Land hid in a
hay loft and the barn was surrounded.

It was in that hay loft that van't Land remembered the
scheme to escape that early Mennonite leader Menno
Simons had used in Holland to avoid being detected.
Simons acted like a farmer on a cart and the police
didn't recognize him.

Van't Land donned coveralls, wooden shoes and a fork,
threw open the barn doors and walked unscathed past
gun-ready Nazi soldiers outside.

His assistance to the Allies was recognized after the war
when he was presented with a certificate at the American
embassy in Holland. It reads: "The president of the
United States has directed me to express to Cornelis
van't Land the gratitude and appreciation of the American
people for gallant service in assisting the escape of Allied
soldiers from the enemy." It's signed Dwight D. Eisenhower,
General of Army Commanding General United States Forces
European Theatre.

Only 21 other Dutch citizens received such certificates.

For a short time, van't Land fed information on German
operations in the area to an English spy hidden in his
attic with a secret transmitter.

"He was sending his messages to England and the Germans
were walking the streets."

Van't Land's luck eventually ran out after three years of
such activity. The Nazi security police got wind of his
work and he was forced to go underground in 1943.
He remained that way for 2 1/2 years.

Fortunately, the businessman was warned and when the
police arrived they found only van't Land's wife, Alice,
nursing a child, which apparently influenced them to leave
without interrogating her.

Van't Land saw his wife only a few times over the next
several years, as he hid in the countryside with a group
of undergrounders, moving, about mostly at night.

Van't Land's fascinating story didn't end when Allied
forces liberated Holland. Unhappy with tight post-war
regulations, he decided he and his family should emigrate
to Canada.

Emigration was prevented, however. after repeated
medical tests detected a spot on his wife's lung, which
had remained with her after a bout of pneumonia as a
youngster.

Van't Land was almost prepared to forget his emigration
desires. Then he remembered Capt.George Knottenbelt,
a London pilot whom he had spoken with after the
pilot parachuted into the area during the war.

Van't Land contacted him and Knottenbelt sliced through
the red tape. In a week the Lands had received
permission to emigrate. They came to Canada in 1950
and eventually became dairy farmers in the area.