I noticed a great number of Jewish names from the Netherlands on the Joods Monument that were murdered at Sobibor on May 21, 1943.
On May 21, 1942, 4,300 Jews were deported from the Polish town of Chelm to the Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor, where they were all later gassed to death. On the same day, the German firm IG Farben sets up a factory just outside Auschwitz in order to take advantage of Jewish slave laborers from the Auschwitz concentration camps.
Sobibor had five gas chambers, where about 250,000 Jews were killed between 1942 and 1943. A camp revolt occurred in October 1943; 300 Jewish slave laborers rose up and killed several members of the SS as well as Ukrainian guards. The rebels were killed as they battled their captors or tried to escape. The remaining prisoners were executed the very next day.
By May 21, 1943, tensions and awareness among prisoners about their likely fate were increasing, setting the stage for the organized revolt that would eventually lead to a temporary disruption of the camp’s operations. Despite this resistance, the atrocities committed up to that point had already resulted in the loss of an estimated 250,000 lives.
Below are a few stories of those who were murdered that day and of some of their family members.
Salo Schijveschuurder, born in Amsterdam, 19 May 1939. Two days after his 4th birthday, he was murdered at Sobibor on 21 May 1943. He spent his 4th birthday in a cattle car on a train en route to be murdered. His parents were murdered on the same day.
Isaäc van Beezem was born in Amsterdam on 22 July 1894. He was murdered in Sobibor on May 21, 1943. He was a professional dispatch boy who reached the age of 48.
Berta Jäger was born in The Hague on 9 July 1927 and murdered at Sobibor on 21 May 1943. She was only 15 years old upon her death.
As of September 1, 1941, Jewish children were only allowed to attend schools intended exclusively for Jewish students. Schools for Jewish students were established in all parts of the country. The Jewish Lyceum at Fisherstraat 135 was opened in The Hague on October 15, 1941. This Jewish Lyceum continued to exist until November 26, 1942, after which the school was moved to Bezemstraat under the name Jewish School for Secondary Education. The school continued to exist until April 15, 1943. Berta Jäger attended and was in the second class of the Handelsdagschool department during the academic year 1941-1942. After graduating, she started in the third class of the Handelsdagschool in the academic year 1942-1943. Her nickname was Beppie.
Bernard Speijer was born in Amsterdam on 18 May 1898. The Nazis murdered him at Sobibor on July 9, 1943. His profession was that of a merchant. His life was taken from him at the age of 45.
Bernard was the son of Jacob Speijer and Esther Vischscraper. He married Marianna Catan in August 1919. They had 10 children.
Children
Jacob, September 1, 1920
Emanuel, December 3, 1921
Maurice, November 28, 1923
Esther, June 24, 1928
Greta, August 12, 1929
Dora, November 23, 1930
Joseph, November 24, 1931
Simon, February 11, 1933
Louis, 1934 – 1935
Elisabeth, September 19, 1935.
The fate of their children.
The six youngest children of the family of Bernard Speijer and Marianna à Catan were placed in the orphanage in the autumn of 1942. It involved 10-year-old Simon and 11-year-old Jozef and their four sisters, 5-year-old Rachel, 7-year-old Elisabeth, 12-year-old Dora and 13-year-old Greta.
The reason was that their mother, Marianna à Catan, had died shortly before, on August 1, 1942, at home in Ben Viljoenstraat. Of the three eldest brothers, Jacob had been convicted of illegal slaughter a year earlier, in June 1941, and the two other brothers, Emanuel and Maurice, had already been called up for the so-called Arbeitseinsatz in July 1942. The latter two had been in the army, and an attempt was made through the Jewish Council to have them “reinstated” as “military” from deportation. A postponement was successful for Emanuel, who was only deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz on October 23, but not for Maurice, who was deported to Auschwitz on August 24.
With the loss of his wife and all the anti-Jewish measures that made daily life very difficult, it was not easy for Bernard Speijer to take good care of his family. Presumably, his eldest daughter Esther, who was 14 years old at the time, took care of her as far as possible, and the decision was made to place the six youngest children in the orphanage. A few months later, when those children were already in the orphanage, father Bernard and his daughter Esther were sent to Vught and eventually murdered in Sobibor on July 9, 1943.
On September 16, 1942, Simon and Jozef were placed in the Jewish Boys’ Orphanage Megadle Jethomim at Amstel no. 21, and the girls Dora, Greta, Elisabeth, and Rachel went to the Girls’ Orphanage Ma’asiem Toviem Megadle Jethomoth in Rapenburgerstraat 171 on October 19, 1942.
On February 10, 1943, the Jewish boys’ orphanage was emptied by the Germans, and Simon and Jozef Speijer arrived in Westerbork with a transport from the Panamakade in the Eastern port area of Amsterdam on February 11, 1943.
The Jewish girls’ orphanage was also emptied by the Germans on February 10, 1943, and the four Speijer sisters also became victims. They were transferred to the railway complex at Oostburg at the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam and were transported to Westerbork, where they were registered on February 11, 1943.
With more than 2,500 other victims, the six Speijer children were transported to Sobibor on May 18, 1943, and murdered in the gas chambers after their arrival on May 21, 1943. There were no survivors.
Esther and Jacob both were murdered in Sobibor on July 2, 1943. Maurice was murdered in Auschwitz on September 30,1942. Emanuel’s date of death was registered as May 4, 1945, in Bavaria, but it isn’t known where or when he really died.
In the forest deep, where shadows mourn,
Where the sun’s embrace is all but torn,
Sobibor stands, a ghostly trace,
Of souls once here, now lost in space.
Whispers linger on the breeze,
Among the silent, weeping trees,
Names and faces live once bright,
Swallowed by the endless night.
Children’s laughter, lovers’ sighs,
Echo through the tear-stained skies,
A world of dreams—of hopes, and fears,
All washed away in blood and tears.
In hidden corners, courage grew,
A spark of hope, a heart so true,
They dreamed of freedom, fought the fight,
Against the overwhelming night.
Let not their memory fade away,
In every dawn, in light of day,
Remember those who suffered here,
Their silent cries, the world must hear.
For in our hearts, their spirits live,
A testament to all they give,
In fields of green, in skies so blue,
We hold their dreams; we see them through.
Rest now, in peace, dear souls entwined,
Your legacy, in hearts enshrined,
Sobibor’s shadows may remain,
But love and light shall break the chain.
Sources
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/427658/bernard-speijer
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/163674/isa%C3%A4c-van-beezem
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/160231/salo-schijveschuurder
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/148621/berta-j%C3%A4ger
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