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Historical records matching Gerrit Kleerekoper
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About Gerrit Kleerekoper
Gerrit Kleerekoper (February 15, 1897 - July 2, 1943) was a Jewish - Dutch gymnastics coach. He was married with two children and worked as a diamond cutter.
He led the Dutch women gymnastics team to win the gold medal at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Kleerekoper's team scored 316.75 points, defeating Italy and the United Kingdom.
Many years later Alida van den Bos, one of the gold winning gymnasts, told in an interview how important Kleerekoper's contribution was:
"The training for the Olympics always took place at indoor gymnasiums even though the Olympics that year took place at an outdoor stadium. A few months prior to the Olympics, Kleerekoper made us only practice outdoors because he said that you never know how the weather will be the day of the Olympics and that we must be prepared for hot weather or any weather. The practice outside was very good, because we noticed that you have a lot more energy outdoors than needed."
On July 2, 1943 Gerrit Kleerekoper along with his wife Kaatje and his fourteen-year-old daughter Elisabeth were murdered by the Nazis at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland. Twenty nine days later, his 18 year old son Leendert was murdered at Auschwitz.
- Gerrit Kleerekoper
- Biographical Summaries of Notable People
- Birth: Feb 15 1897 - Amsterdam
- Death: July 2 1943 - Sobibór extermination camp
- Residence: Amsterdam
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Gerrit Kleerekoper's Timeline
| 1897 |
February 15, 1897
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Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands
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| 1923 |
January 15, 1923
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Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands
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| 1928 |
October 14, 1928
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Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands
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| 1943 |
July 2, 1943
Age 46
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Sobibór, Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
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