History of Sorts

I want to start by saying that I am not Jewish, though I may have some Jewish ancestry, which I am still exploring. However, the Jewish people of Geleen were my fellow citizens, just like anyone else, regardless of race or color.

Tragically, the majority of Jews from Geleen were murdered during the Holocaust—a fate that did not befall other groups to the same extent.

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Richard Kaufmann married Adele Zilversmit on 12 August 1923 in Gronau, Germany, where she owned a grocery store. Their two daughters were also born in Gronau: Henriette Regina in 1924 and Margard in 1928. The eldest daughter, Henny, was slightly disabled due to having contracted meningitis as a baby. Ida Lebenstein, an unmarried woman from Ochtrup, helped care for the children, particularly Henny. The family, along with Ida, fled Germany and were registered in Geleen, the Netherlands, on 24 March 1937 at Rijksweg Zuid 30. Richard had taken over a shop at that address on 1 March 1937, selling groceries, meat products, colonial goods, wine, liqueurs, and other items. The family likely suffered from the mine subsidence that was common in Geleen at the time. The adjacent house became uninhabitable due to subsidence and had to be demolished in 1938.

Richard Kaufmann was arrested in 1941 for reasons that remain unknown and sent to a Dutch labor camp or prison. From there, he was transferred to Westerbork in early October 1942. Adele and Marga were offered the chance to go into hiding. Still, they were too afraid, fearing that their husband and father would be deported to the East as part of a criminal case. They were among the last group of Jews arrested on 8 April 1943, and they were transferred via Vught to Westerbork on 9 April, where they were reunited with Richard. Their daughter Henny, who was in the Sint Joseph Hospital in Heerlen at the time, was overlooked by the Nazis and was hidden there for the remainder of the war.

Ida Lebenstein attempted to go into hiding in early April but soon ended up in Vught and Westerbork as well. She was deported to Sobibor in May 1943, where she was gassed. Richard, Adele, and their daughter Margard were transported together to Auschwitz on 31 August 1943, arriving on the evening of 2 September 1943. They were immediately sent to the gas chambers. In 1951, the Red Cross determined the official date of death for all three as 3 September 1943.

Richard and Adele’s shop was liquidated on 14 September 1943 and officially closed on 23 March 1944. Thanks to the courage and care of the staff at the Sint Joseph Hospital, only Henny Kaufmann survived the war.

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Sources:

https://www.stolpersteinesittardgeleen.nl/Slachtoffers/Richard-Kaufmann

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/137510/richard-kaufmann

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