Ru Paré

Henrica Maria Paré (Druten, 14 July 1896 — The Hague, 25 February 1972) was a Dutch resistance member, and visual artist. Ru Paré found shelter and took care of 52 Jewish children, who all survived World War II.

Biography Henrica Maria Paré was born as the youngest of three children by Nicolaas Paré who owned a brickyard. She was usually called by her nickname Zus (sister). Paré had a talent for drawing from an early age, and when she moved to The Hague in 1919, she was instructed by the painter . The next year, she met the female singer Do Versteegh whom she befriended for life. She also participated in the painting classes at the Royal Academy of Art without enrolling,

World War II

On 20 June 1942, the Haagse Kunstkring sent a request to register at the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer (a nazi organisation to which artists had to belong). She immediately revoked her membership. She had created a false bottom in her painters box, and spend her days going back and forth with food, presents, money, and false papers. Paré had some contacts with the resistance, but mainly worked independently. All 52 children who knew her as Tante Zus (Aunt sister) survived World War II. Nine children who had been orphaned were adopted by the Levin family who emigrated to Israel. Paré kept into contact with most of the children. In 1968, Yad Vashem honoured Paré as Righteous Among the Nations at the nomination of the Levin family. She testified in 1970 at the Weinreb investigation of the NIOD that she had saved 52 children.

Do Versteegh died in 1970. On 25 February 1972, a friend discovered Ru Paré's body in the bathroom.

In Amsterdam, the Ru Paré Community, a school and neighbourhood centre has been named after her.

In 2020, The Hague named a school after Ru Paré. The renaming was a request of the politician Hanneke Gelderblom who - as a child - was taken from The Hague to Eerde by Ru Paré.