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This painting shows my grandfather, Joost “Grandpa Joe” Oppenheim (left), and Karel Gaethofs (right).
My grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. When he was eight years old, he and his brother Fred were taken in by the Heuvalman family as pretend Catholic orphans. The Heuvalmans already had many children of their own, including Jeanne, who was closest in age to Joe. The two formed a close bond during the war.
After the war, my grandfather and his brother were fortunate to reunite with their mother, who had survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Their father, tragically, had been murdered in Auschwitz. With sponsorship from their aunt, the boys and their mother eventually emigrated to New York.
I’m told my grandfather rarely spoke about his childhood until much later in life, but he maintained a lifelong connection with the Heuvalman family—especially Jeanne. Jeanne later married Karel Gaethofs, pictured here, with whom my grandfather also developed a strong friendship.
Jeanne passed away in 2016, and Joost in 2022. I had just graduated college and was planning to travel in Europe, so several months later I visited Karel. While we were looking through old photographs, I came across the picture that inspired this painting.