Marion Pritchard saved approximately 150 Jewish people from Nazi persecution in the Netherlands during World War II. An Amsterdam native, she evolved from a student of social work into a operative of the Dutch resistance, directly intervening to protect children and adults from deportation through illicit registrations, hidden housing, and force.
Wartime Activism
The occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 prompted Pritchard to leave her studies at the University of Amsterdam and join the underground movement. Her initial contributions involved distributing food, clothing, and identification documents. Her commitment intensified after witnessing the violent abduction of children from a Jewish home in 1942. To bypass German authority, she registered Jewish infants as her own children and secured ration cards for those in hiding.
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In late 1942, Pritchard facilitated the concealment of Fred Polak and his three children within the servants' quarters of a villa in Huizen, located 24 kilometres outside Amsterdam. The group remained undetected until 1944, when a Dutch collaborator attempted to expose their location. To prevent the capture of the family, Pritchard shot the informer. His body was transported to a funeral home and buried in a shared coffin, preventing authorities from identifying the crime.
Postwar Professional Life
Following the cessation of hostilities, Pritchard served with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Germany, where she managed camps for displaced persons. She married Anton Pritchard, a United States Army officer, and relocated to New York in 1947. She eventually moved to Vermont, where she pursued psychoanalysis at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. She spent her later years practicing in the United States, passing away in Washington, D.C. in 2016.
Fast facts
- Born: 1920, Amsterdam
- Died: 2016, Washington, D.C.
- Education: University of Amsterdam, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
- Occupation: Resistance fighter, social worker, psychoanalyst
- Righteous Among the Nations: 1981
- Wallenberg Medal: 1996
Questions readers ask
How many people did Marion Pritchard save?
She helped save approximately 150 Dutch Jews during the German occupation.
What official recognition did she receive?
She was honored as Righteous Among the Nations in 1981 and awarded the Wallenberg Medal in 1996.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1981
- Wallenberg Medal — 1996
- Worked as psychoanalyst, social worker and resistance fighter
- Educated at University of Amsterdam and Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
