Tole Madna

Tolé Madna (5 December 1898 – 9 January 1992) was an Indonesian who, during World War II, sheltered and protected a Jewish child while living in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. On 12 January 2003, Yad Vashem recognized him and his housemaid, Mima Saïna, as Righteous Among the Nations for their actions.

Biography The Münzer family. Only Gisele (left) and Alfred (not pictured) would survive the war. Tolé Madna was born on 5 December 1898 on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies. He and his family immigrated to The Hague in The Netherlands in 1916. Later, when his family returned to the Indies, Tolé decided to stay in The Hague and found work. In 1926, he married a Dutch woman, Johanna van der Roest, with whom he had three children. Tolé and Johanna later divorced.

Together with his housekeeper, Mima Saïna, Tolé treated Alfred as one of his own children. Alfred would later recount:

Johannes Madna, Tolé's son and Alfred's playmate, suggested what his father's motives were in helping Alfred, saying, "my father was a peaceful man, though a man who didn't like to take risks...perhaps he could not turn away from the helplessness and innocence of a baby...[still], it surprised me, too." When others asked Tolé on why he sheltered Alfred, Tolé responded "What else was I to do.” kept in contact with Alfred and Gitla Münzer after the war ended. Alfred last saw Tolé in 1992, who said as his parting words "be careful, my son, and take good care of your mother." Tolé died on 9 January 1992.

Legacy In 1958, the Münzers immigrated to the United States. Gitla died in 2001, while Alfred became an internist and pulmonologist working in Washington, D.C. On 12 January 2003, Yad Vashem posthumously recognized both Tolé Madna and Mima Saïna as Righteous Among the Nations. They are the first, and so far the only, Indonesians who have been honored as such.