Book about Huis Zwanenburg: from holiday home to hiding place – Advertising Veghel | City newspaper Veghel

Thu May 9, 2:00 PM

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HEESWIJK-DINTHER | Huis Zwanenburg is an estate between Veghel and Dinther. The impressive driveway and its location along the Aa make it a special place. Moreover, Zwanenburg has a rich history. The Association of Friends of Brabant Castles found enough ingredients for a book. Owner of the estate Eugène van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse (70) contributed to this House Zwanenburg.

In all the hustle and bustle, Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse had almost forgotten the appointment. By chance he pulls into the driveway. He gets out of his car in despair. “Help me,” he says. After a short introduction, the estate owner remembers. He opens the doors of his monumental building and takes the book House Zwanenburg and sits down at the kitchen table. Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse explains why he created the book together with Bas Aarts, Rob Gruben, Taco Hermans, Elle Klop and photographer Sanne van Rozendaal: “The history of Zwanenburg had never been written down. A lot is known about it and now it is all together in a nice book.”

House Zwanenburg in Dinther.

Jonkheer Josephus de Kuijper
Zwanenburg has a long history dating back to approximately 1300. This history is discussed in detail in the almost hundred-page book. Interesting things come to light, many of which have a link with Veghel.
In 1997, Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse became owner of Zwanenburg. The estate has been family property for years. Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse explains: “In 1835 it was bought by my great-great-great-grandfather Jonkheer Josephus de Kuijper: hereditary secretary, mayor and notary in Veghel. He bought Zwanenburg for 8050 guilders and used it as a holiday home. De Kuijper himself lived in the current Estivo building in Veghel.”

Hiding place
The book is full of old stories, all based on truth, of course. One of the most special stories dates from the Second World War. During the war, the Van Boetzelaer family lived in Zwanenburg. They rented the estate from Eugène’s grandparents. “From 1942 until the liberation, four Jews went into hiding in Zwanenburg. One of them was Dini Oppenheimer-Frank (as far as we know, no relation to – ed.). She moved to America after the war and wrote the book MyStory“, says Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse.

Eugène van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse and his dog in front of Huis Zwanenburg.

Rutger, the eldest son of the Van Boetzelaers, attended high school in ‘s-Hertogenbosch a few years before the war. There he met the Jewish Nico Wolf from Veghel. Wolf often visited the Van Boetzelaer family. “During one of those visits, Nico asked Ursule, the lady of the house, if they were willing to take in Jews as people in hiding. She agreed and thought it was for Nico himself. However, that was not the case. Nico refused to go into hiding out of principle. He ultimately had to pay for that with his death. Nico volunteered at Camp Westerbork. He probably died in a concentration camp in Germany in March 1944.”

False identity card
Yet four Jews went into hiding in Zwanenburg. So one of them was Dini Frank. She was an acquaintance of Nico and that is why the Amsterdam native ended up in Dinther. Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse continues: “Yet it was a friend of hers, the Jewish writer Leonard de Vries, who first ended up in Dinther. Dini had given him Nico’s address in Veghel. When De Vries arrived there, Nico instructed him to walk along the Aa from Veghel to Dinther. He would then come across an old white house where trustworthy people lived. That is how Leonard de Vries arrived at the Van Boetzelaers in Zwanenburg.” The next to make the journey from Amsterdam to Dinther was Dini himself. She arrived in Veghel by train on September 7, 1942 with a false identity card. She was picked up in the dark by Rutger and his younger brother Zeger.

The announcement of the auction of the Zwanenbrug estate in 1835.

Dini’s mother and brother Rudy were picked up in Amsterdam on May 28, 1943 by Otto van Boetzelaer. Only a few people knew about the hideout. One of these was the then only 16-year-old Toos van Vugt. “She was the live-in helper. Just like the Van Boetzelaer family, Toos can be seen as a hero. Like Otto and Ursule, she has received the Yad Vashem award for helping Jewish people in hiding.” After the war, Otto and Ursule moved to their family estate Eyckenstein in Maartensdijk.

Family
Van Bouwdijk Bastiaanse tells with great dedication who all subsequently lived in Zwanenburg. It was finally released in 1960, the year in which his father Eugène senior and mother Louky moved into the estate. The family then consisted of four children: Maria, Frans, Suzanne and Eugène herself. Maurits was added later. Eugène Sr. gave Zwanenburg to his five children at the end of 1997, with Eugène Jr. taking over from his brothers and sisters on the same day. Since then, he has lived in Zwanenburg as the sixth generation. Eugène has three children. “It is certainly the intention that Zwanenburg remains in the family. The possibilities for this will be investigated in the coming years,” concludes the 70-year-old estate owner.

Book presentation
The book presentation is Saturday, May 11 at 2:30 PM in Zwanenburg. You can register here. The book will then be available for purchase at Schellen in Veghel, Paperpoint in Heeswijk-Dinther and in the Berne Abbey shop. The book costs 16.50 euros.