{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Righteous Among the Nations}} '''Joseph Willem (Joop) Kolkman''' (1 December 1896 – 8 February 1944) was a Dutch journalist and diplomat. During [[World War II]] he worked as vice-consul in Perpignan, France and helped save numerous Jewish refugees from persecution. In 2014 he was posthumously awarded the title [[Righteous Among the Nations]] by Israel's institute of Holocaust remembrance [[Yad Vashem]].
== Biography == Kolkman was born on 1 December 1896 in [[The Hague]].<ref name=dedokwerker>{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.dedokwerker.nl/joseph_kolkman.html |title=Joseph Willem Kolkman |language=Dutch |publisher=De Dokwerker |date= |accessdate=20 April 2014}}</ref> Until the German invasion of France, Kolkman worked as a journalist for the newspapers ''[[De Telegraaf]]'' and ''[[Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant]]'' in Paris. Shortly thereafter he was sent to the city of [[Perpignan]] in [[Vichy France]] to serve as [[vice-consul]]. During the war he used his possibilities as a diplomat to help Dutch refugees, many of them Jewish, by finding them safe houses, providing them with financial aid and rescuing them from concentration camps. This enabled them to get to safety in Spain and Portugal, from which they could cross to England.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.nu.nl/politiek/3702418/postuum-yad-vashem-oud-diplomaat-kolkman.html |title=Postuum Yad Vashem voor oud-diplomaat Kolkman |language=Dutch |publisher=NU.nl |date=14 February 2014 |accessdate=20 April 2014}}</ref> Many of his actions were illegal, including the forging of documents.<ref name=embassyfrance/> He is estimated to have saved hundreds of persons.<ref name=embassyfrance/> In early 1943 Kolkman tried to flee by crossing the [[Pyrenees]] into Spain, he was however arrested by German patrol units. In 1944 Kolkman died in the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]],<ref name=embassyfrance/> although other sources mention [[Majdanek concentration camp|Majdanek]].<ref name=dedokwerker/>
A plaque remembering Kolkman is placed next to the entrance of the building of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)|Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]. In 2014 he was posthumously awarded the title [[Righteous Among the Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/140217-dutch-diplomat-gets-award-for-saving-jews |title=Dutch diplomat gets award for saving Jews |publisher=i24 News |date=17 February 2014 |accessdate=20 April 2014}}</ref> The award was presented by the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands, Haim Divon, to the Secretary General-General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [[Renée Jones-Bos]], in the presence of the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, [[Frans Timmermans]].<ref name=embassyfrance>{{cite web |author= |url=http://frankrijk.nlambassade.org/nieuws/2014/02/%E2%80%98righteous-among-the-nations%E2%80%99-voor-voormalig-waarnemend-viceconsul-in-perpignan-joop-w.-kolkman.html |title='Righteous Among the Nations' voor voormalig waarnemend viceconsul in Perpignan Joop W. Kolkman |language=Dutch |publisher=Dutch embassy in France |date=19 February 2014 |accessdate=20 April 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304140450/http://frankrijk.nlambassade.org/nieuws/2014/02/%E2%80%98righteous-among-the-nations%E2%80%99-voor-voormalig-waarnemend-viceconsul-in-perpignan-joop-w.-kolkman.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Awards == * [[Resistance Medal|Médaille de la Résistance]], France, 31 March 1947.<ref name=trouw>{{cite web |author=Jolanda Hendriksen and Hester Jansen |url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/archief/article/detail/2513846/2000/12/01/Kolkman-mogelijk-alsnog-postuum-onderscheiden.dhtml |title=Kolkman mogelijk alsnog postuum onderscheiden |language=Dutch |publisher=Trouw |date=1 December 2000 |accessdate=6 March 2014}}</ref> * [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)|Croix de guerre 1939–1945]] with palm, France, 16 April 1948.<ref name=trouw/> * [[Righteous Among the Nations]], Israel, 17 February 2014.<ref name=embassyfrance/><ref>[http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4433788 Joop Kolkman] at [[Yad Vashem]] website</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolkman, Joop}} [[Category:1896 births]] [[Category:1944 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch diplomats]] [[Category:Dutch civilians killed in World War II]] [[Category:Dutch people who died in Buchenwald concentration camp]] [[Category:Recipients of the Resistance Medal]] [[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]] [[Category:Dutch Righteous Among the Nations]] [[Category:Journalists from The Hague]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch journalists]] [[Category:Diplomats from The Hague]]