Woman Faked Pregnancy to Save Baby From Holocaust

Jacqueline Meents-Lenstra wore a pillow under her clothes for months, pretending to carry a baby that would save a Jewish infant's life. Her neighbor's newborn son, Efraim Kochba, needed a way to survive the Holocaust, and she was determined to give him one.

In 1941 Amsterdam, Nazi forces detained Kochba's parents, Martha van Coevorden and Ziegfried Fritz. Before their arrest, they made an extraordinary plan with their Christian neighbor Jacqueline. She would fake a pregnancy and claim their baby as her own if the worst happened.

When Kochba was born in an Amsterdam hospital, Jacqueline took him home while his biological mother returned to a safehouse. She became a devoted first-time mom, keeping a detailed diary of every milestone, saving photos, and even preserving a lock of his hair.

Her own husband Max, who was Jewish, had been sent to a transit camp but managed to escape and reunite with his wife and baby Kochba. Together, they raised the infant as their own son.

Kochba's biological parents never survived the Holocaust. After the war ended, a legal battle erupted between his biological uncle and his adoptive parents over custody of the two-year-old boy. Despite initially being allowed to stay with Jacqueline and Max, the court reversed its decision and removed Kochba from their home.

Tragedy struck soon after. Jacqueline became ill and died of cancer at just 32 years old, never seeing the boy she saved grow up.

Kochba lived with his uncle and aunt in Israel, unaware of his adoption story until he was 13. "I called them mother and father because I did not know the story," he told reporters.

Why This Inspires

After serving in the Israeli military, Kochba tracked down his adoptive father Max in the Netherlands in 1965. The reunion was emotional and complicated. Max had lost both his wife and the child they'd risked everything to protect.

During that meeting, Max gave Kochba the diary Jacqueline had kept. "I was so moved because I felt that I had something from that time," Kochba said. The two maintained their relationship until Max's death.

This month, Jerusalem's Yad Vashem honored Jacqueline with the Righteous Among the Nations award, Israel's highest recognition for non-Jews who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. The recognition came just days before Kochba's 83rd birthday, closing an 83-year circle.

"On behalf of the entire family, I thank them," Kochba said. "This is the most moving gift I could receive."

Now Kochba hopes to connect with Jacqueline's family to personally give them the distinction, saying simply: "It is theirs. I owe it to them."