John Stenekes

"Stenekes, who was one of sixteen children, had a sister living a few blocks away who was hiding two Jewish children... Finally the anxiety involved in hiding two Jewish children became too much for Stenekes's sister... Stenekes wanted them to stay at his house, but first he needed to consult with his wife. He told Berta that Jacques and Anna were Jewish and what their situation was. His wife did a quick calculation. They were already housing three people. Two more bodies to feed and house was too much, she thought. But Stenekes told her that unless they took the children in they would be killed. Neither spouse's moral conscience would permit that. "We didn't know where else they could go," Stenekes said. "So we took them." They hid them for over two years."