History of Sorts

Betje Bierman was the second child of Levie Bierman and Sara Italiaander. She was born in Amsterdam on September 8, 1897, and married there on April 10, 1918, to diamond cutter Abraham Katwijk, the son of Jacob Katwijk and Sara Gobes, who was also born in Amsterdam on May 1, 1894.

After Betje and Abraham were married, they found housing with the widow Jas at Lange Houtstraat 24a but moved on August 26, 1919, to Nieuwe Kerkstraat 34 I, and on November 21, 1921, to Bernard Kochstraat 10 II, a side street of Cornelis Krusemanstraat. In November 1925, the family moved to a residence at Saffierstraat 36 II in Amsterdam-Zuid, which would prove to be their last known address in the Netherlands.

The Katwijk couple had two children, Sara and Jacob. Sara married non-Jewish Hendrik Frans Sonnenschein in December 1940 and survived the war. However, their son Jacob, an apprentice diamond worker, was arrested during the raid on June 11, 1941. He was sent to Kamp Schoorl and ultimately ended up in Mauthausen, where he was killed on September 16, 1941.

Betje Bierman and her husband Abraham Katwijk remained alone at Saffierstraat 36 II. A date stamp of August 2, 1942, on their Jewish Council registration cards, indicates they visited the Information Department of the Jewish Council (or a district office), likely in response to a summons to determine whether there were grounds for a temporary exemption. There was no reason to grant them a “Sperre” (exemption), which was noted on their registration card with a red cross. They continued to live at Saffierstraat 36 II in Amsterdam. It is unknown whether they tried to go into hiding.

According to a police report from Monday, March 6, 1944, they were taken from their home that evening. The police report stated: “… at 7:30 PM, officer V.d. Berg (SD) brings two persons from their home, named Abraham Katwijk, born May 1, 1894, and Betje Bierman, born September 8, 1897, in Amsterdam, residing at Saffierstraat 36 II here. They remain at the main station for pickup.” At 8:30 PM, it is reported that the individuals, “as mentioned in the 7:30 PM report, are transported by detective Olafsen of department 1-a-II by car to the main station,” where at 8:40 PM, it is noted during a check at the main station that “Abraham Katwijk is in possession of an amount of Fl. 144.33, 7 gas coins, and one electricity token.” It is not recorded whether these items were confiscated.

On March 9, Abraham Katwijk and his wife Betje Bierman were transferred to Westerbork, where they were placed in punishment barrack 67. On March 23, 1944, they were deported to Auschwitz in a transport of 599 prisoners. The arrival of this transport in Auschwitz is estimated to have been on March 25 or 26, 1944.

In the same transport of March 23, 1944, was also Isaac de Leeuw (born March 27, 1920), a Holocaust survivor who later testified about Abraham Katwijk. Upon his return in January 1946, he stated that Abraham Katwijk was put into forced labor upon arrival in Auschwitz. However, it is unclear whether Abraham worked inside or outside the camp, and his exact date of death is not known.

For this reason, the Dutch authorities determined after the war—based on Isaac de Leeuw’s testimony and other survivors’ accounts—that Abraham Katwijk could not have been alive after August 31, 1944. The municipality of Amsterdam was instructed to issue a death certificate for Abraham Katwijk, recording his date of death as August 31, 1944, in Auschwitz.

Abraham’s wife, Betje Bierman, was deported to Auschwitz on the same transport on March 23, 1944. Betje Katwijk-Bierman was also not immediately sent to the gas chambers and was employed somewhere in Auschwitz or Birkenau.According to a post-war statement by Mrs. Esther de Valença of Blasiusstraat 64 in Amsterdam, who was in the same transport on March 23, 1944, Betje Katwijk-Bierman reportedly perished in Auschwitz after the liberation in early February 1945.

Based on this statement and other survivors’ testimonies, the Dutch authorities instructed the municipality of Amsterdam to issue a death certificate for Betje Katwijk-Bierman, recording her date of death as January 24, 1945, in Auschwitz.

Sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/172930/betje-katwijk-bierman

https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/75883/betje-katwijk-bierman

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KZ87-XY2/betje-bierman-1897-1945

https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/document/130317089

https://collecties.kampwesterbork.nl/persoon/12646989

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/b7c30877-dabe-4a91-9886-07c317905cda

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