An extraordinary woman of incredible courage passed away on 11 December 2022. At only 19 and 20 years old, Joke (pronounced Yo-ka) Folmer guided hundreds of fugitives including downed Allied aviators from the north of the Netherlands to the Belgian border. They usually rode bicycles. She passed a few of the aviators to Dutch-Paris because she knew one of the young men in the group from high school.

After her resistance network was betrayed, she was sentenced to death and deported to the concentration camps. Luckily, her paperwork got lost during transport so the sentence was not carried out. She was liberated by the Russians and made a harrowing journey back home to the Netherlands with other Dutch resisters.

Folmer was awarded the Bronzen Leeuw, the Verzetsherdenkingskruis, the Medal of Freedom with Gold Palm, the George Medal and the Croix du Combattant.

I had the great honor of talking with her in 2016. She was a tremendously charming and modest woman who told me that she’d put the war behind her until aviators who she’d helped somehow found her by mailing a letter to “Joke, Holland” (a miracle of postal delivery that I can’t explain).

She also told me that she had to have all her senses on high alert when guiding fugitives – including her sense of smell. Germans, for example, smoked different tobacco than civilians. Sometimes, when she became afraid, she gave herself a stern talking to and carried on.

She combined kindness with courage. The world is a better place for having had her in it.