Gerrit Kleerekoper was a Jewish - Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

 gymnastics

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 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

Gymnastics at the 1928 Summer Olympics

At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, eight events in gymnastics were contested. For the first time at the Olympic Games, women competed in gymnastics. The rope climbing and sidehorse vault events were dropped from the program.-Medal summary:...

 in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. 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."

The members of his Olympic gold winning team were: Alida van den Bos

Alida van den Bos

Alida "Alie" Johanna van den Bos was a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.In 1928 she won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team.She was born in Amsterdam and died in Amsterdam....

, Estella Agsteribbe

Estella Agsteribbe

Estella "Stella" Agsteribbe was a Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in her native Amsterdam.She was Jewish...

, Jacomina van den Berg

Jacomina van den Berg

Jacomina "Mien" Elisabeth Sophia van den Berg was a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics, earning a gold medal.She was born in and died in The Hague. -References:...

, Petronella Burgerhof

Petronella Burgerhof

Petronella "Nel" Burgerhof was a Dutch gymnast who won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team in the 1928 Summer Olympics....

, Elka de Levie

Elka de Levie

Elka de Levie was a Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.De Levie was born in Amsterdam...

, Helena Nordheim

Helena Nordheim

Helena "Lea" Nordheim was a Jewish Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in her native Amsterdam....

, Ans Polak, Petronella van Randwijk

Petronella van Randwijk

Petronella "Nel" Phillemina Johanna van Randwijk was a Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. She was born in Utrecht and died in The Hague.-References:*...

, Hendrika van Rumt

Hendrika van Rumt

Hendrika "Riek" Alida van Rumt was a Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics in her native Amsterdam. She was born in Amsterdam and died in Amsterdam....

, Jud Simons

Jud Simons

Judikje "Jud" Simons was a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.In 1928 she won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team....

, Jacoba Stelma

Jacoba Stelma

Jacoba Cornelia "Co" Stelma was a Dutch gymnast. She won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics. She was born in The Hague and died in Brielle.-References:*...

 and Anna van der Vegt

Anna van der Vegt

Anna "Annie" Maria van der Vegt was a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.In 1928 she won the gold medal as member of the Dutch gymnastics team.She was born in The Hague and died in Rijswijk....

.

Five members of the gold winning team were Jewish and in 1943 were murdered at Sobibor

Sobibór extermination camp

Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...

 and Auschwitz by the Nazis during Operation Reinhard.

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

Sobibór extermination camp

Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...

 in Poland. Twenty nine days later, his 18 year old son Leendert was murdered at Auschwitz.