Aside from the fact that February 28, 1944, was 80 years ago, the date is random, and that is just what all the murders by the Nazi regime were, random acts of violence.
Yes, they targeted certain groups, the biggest group being Jewish, within the groups the Nazis were still random in the selection. If they had use for a person he or she would be spared, at least temporarily. However, sometimes even if they would have use for them, they’d still be murdered.
Following are stories and photographs of victims who were murdered on this day 80 years ago.
The above picture is of Serica Bianca Gabay and her mother, Dina Gabay Smeer. Serica was born in Alkmaar, the Netherlands on April 30, 1943.
She was betrayed along with her mother by her mother’s cousin in early 1944. Serica Bianca Gabay was murdered on 28 February 1944 in Westerbork, and she was cremated on 2 March 1944. The urn with her ashes was placed on the Portugese-Jewish cemetery in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel on field 1924, row CU 2, grave nr. S. 14. She was only 9 months old when she was murdered.
Her mother Dina, was murdered eight months later in Auschwitz on October 31, 1944.
Robert Spiero was born in The Hague on May 23, 1941. Murdered in Auschwitz on February 28, 1944. He reached two years of age.
Benjamin Herman Gans was born in Amsterdam on February 9, 1926. He was murdered at Auschwitz on February 28, 1944. He was 18 years old.
Benjamin Gans was in hiding with the Koning family at Bloemendaalschestraatweg 123 in Bloemendaal, the Netherlands. In mid-1942 his younger brother Philip also joined him there. Their parents and sister, Rebecca, were in hiding in Baarn. In the spring of 1943, Benjamin and Philip also went to that address. Due to betrayal, the family was arrested on the night of July 24, 1943. The youngest son Philip was the only one to survive the concentration camps.
Werner Roth was born in Hindenburg, Germany on 12 August 1920. He was murdered at Auschwitz on February 28, 1944. He was 23 years old.
Although Sgt. Salomon Vanderveen technically wasn’t murdered by the Nazis, the circumstances of his death were a direct result of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. In a way, his death could be considered even a greater tragedy because he escaped the Nazi rule. He was born in Rotterdam, on December 13, 1919. He lived with his younger brother and stepmother (both survived the war) in Pijnacker, the Netherlands. On May 10, 1942, two years after the invasion, he escaped from the Netherlands. He joined the KNIL, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. When he joined I don’t know, and how he escaped imprisonment by the Japanese I don’t know either.
However, I do know he joined the No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron, which was a combined Dutch-Australian bomber squadron under the operational command of the Royal Australian Airforce.
On February 8, 1944, the last large group left, led by A.B. Wolff, with their planes via Camp Beale in California to Australia. The group consisted of 38 pilots, 16 observers, 19 gunners, 9 aviation radio operators, 2 ground operators, 3 liaison officers, 5 officers and non-commissioned officer pilots classified as telegraph operators and a technical officer. The group included 23 officers and non-commissioned Naval Aviation Service (MLD) officers. The group was intended for the NEI Pool Squadron in Canberra, Australia. The B-25 Mitchell N5-191 crashed on February 28, 1944, during the crossing between Camp Beale and Hawaii. First Lieutenant Pilot C.W. de Veer, Sergeant J. de Wal (MLD), observer-navigator First Lieutenant Salomon van der Veen, and air gunner-sergeant H.Th. Klopper died. Only Sergeant L.Ch. Huisman survived the accident.
Despite escaping two invading occupying regimes, Salomon van der Veen faced death on February 28, 1944.
Sources
https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/157459/salomon-van-der-veen
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/208342242/salomon-van_der_veen
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