Judith Kinsbergen, known as Jetty, was the daughter of Salomon Kinsbergen and Marianne van der Kar. She married Max Eugen Groszkopf in 1934 but divorced in 1938.
She was born in Amsterdam on February 6, 1908, and was murdered in Bergen-Belsen on February 13, 1945, at the age of 37. She was a talented pianist.
On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. Below are some events that had a significant impact on Judith’s life.
The Dutch Film Federation decided on January 7, 1941, that Jews were no longer allowed access to cinemas. This measure was announced in the newspapers on January 12, 1941.
The Registration of Jewish Residents was Regulation no. 6/1941 by Reich Commissioner Seyss-Inquart, issued on January 10, 1941. It required all Jewish residents of the Netherlands to register with the Population Register, which cost one guilder. Those who refused could face a prison sentence of up to five years. Furthermore, the Jewish communities and population were already aware of the registration information.
Jewish children were required to attend separate schools starting from September 1, 1941, and were no longer allowed to attend public schools. In Amsterdam, this applied from October 1, 1941.
Jewish students from the school on Cliffordstraat, Amsterdam West. Only one class of 10 students, with teacher Goubitz. From August 1941, there had to be schools exclusively for Jewish students and teachers. Outside the ‘Jewish neighborhoods,’ there were, of course, also Jewish families; especially in the West, there were still about one hundred Jewish ‘public’ children, according to the record from July ’41. The municipality opened a school for these widely dispersed children in the Staatsliedenbuurt, at Cliffordstraat number 36, in a school building that was no longer in use. It was quite eccentric compared to the other western neighborhoods of the city. At the end of September 1941, when this Jewish school no. 14 opened, only 56 children showed up. The Department of Education had likely anticipated a larger turnout, and three classes were formed with two teachers plus the principal, Moses Goubitz, who came from the Corantijn School near Surinameplein. Considering the long distances some children would have to walk daily, it is likely that many parents kept their children at home from September 1941 onwards. Although education was compulsory, including for Jewish children, oversight failed. Abel Herzberg, in his Chronicle of the Persecution of the Jews (p.242), writes: “Sometimes a child had to walk for an hour or more from home to school. Trams and bicycles were forbidden. Sometimes, a handcart from the Jewish Council would collect the heavy schoolbags from the houses. When the transfer to the Education Bureau of the Jewish Council took place in December 1942, this small school could obviously not escape the austerity reorganization. There were only 25 students left, and there was no need for three teachers; it became a one-class school, which, despite efforts to find another location, remained in the school building on Cliffordstraat, with the rest of the building being closed off. It lasted until the end of May 1943; West was also not spared by the occupiers during the large raids, so by the last week of May, hardly any children showed up. The Education Board closed this school on May 31, and the principal, Moses Goubitz, had already been replaced by Gerrit van Praag, who immediately went into hiding. Teacher Jakob Druijf, who lived in West and was unemployed after school no. 1 at Oude Schans was closed, took the handful of remaining children under his care at his home on Jan van Galenstraat. His name and his class of 10 students were still mentioned in the last report from the Jewish Education Board, dated August 23, 1943
The obligation to wear the Star of David was introduced on May 3, 1942. It required all Jews over the age of six to wear the star visibly at chest height. The Jewish Council distributed the star, which cost 4 cents each.
Judith Kinsbergen was imprisoned in Camp Westerbork from September 29, 1943, to February 1, 1944. On February 1, 1944, the SS transported Judith Kinsbergen from Camp Westerbork to Bergen-Belsen. On February 13, 1945, Judith was murdered in Bergen-Belsen.
Her death certificate lists her religion as Israeli rather than Jewish. It also states that both of her parents were deceased, and her last known place of residence was Bergen-Belsen. Rudolf Cheim reported the death, most likely a fellow prisoner. After conducting some research, I discovered that Rudolf survived and later emigrated to the United States after the war.
Sources
https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/Judith-Kinsbergen/01/53318
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/213131/judith-kinsbergen
https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/77818/judith-kinsbergen
https://wiewaswie.nl/nl/detail/101885971
https://archives.cjh.org/agents/people/123190
https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/395be9a5-597e-4246-9563-a4c910284b12
https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/central-location-index-part-9-132005908-rudolf-martin-cheim/4896
https://collecties.kampwesterbork.nl/persoon/14830776
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