I was going to do a piece on the often-forgotten victims of the Holocaust, those who did want to be captured alive and decided to take their own lives. But when I looked at the list of suicides of Jews in the Netherlands during World War II, I discovered there were hundreds. Many decided to take their own lives between 11-16 May 1940, the first few days of the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany of the Netherlands.
Rather than go into the hundreds, I decided to focus on one family.
The photograph at the top of this post is the wedding photo of Robert Paul Belinfante and Marianne Belinfante Lisser.
Marianne and Robert attempted suicide on the 13th of May 1940, in their hometown of Laag Keppel. Marianne was pregnant at the time. Robert died, and Marianne survived, but she lost the baby. Marianne passed away on 10 January 1944 whilst in hiding.
Robert Paul Belinfante was born in 1905 in Amsterdam. His father was Jewish, but his mother was not. It was a secularized family. That meant it was not bound by religious ties or traditions.
Robert studied medicine in Amsterdam. He took his medical exam on 20 May 1931. In Laag-Keppel, Doctor Bosch was active as a general practitioner. During his studies, Robert had already replaced Dr Bosch once. Bosch then came up with an offer. If Robert were to work for a year in the practice in Laag-Keppel for room and board and Bosch would be satisfied with him after that year, then young boarder Robert could take over the practice and the associated pharmacy. However, a year before his farewell, doctor Bosch suddenly died on 11 January 1933. Robert then received an opportunity to take over the practice in Keppel. He grabbed that opportunity with both hands.
In January 1933, Bob started his practice in the house of doctor Bosch Robert married his fiancé Marianne Lisser in Bloemendaal on 20 January 1934, and the young couple settled in Laag-Keppel.
Marianne Lisser was the daughter of Hartog Lisser and Abigaël Benjamins.
For several years, the Belinfantes had a good life. However, the couple must have followed the events with anxiety on 10 May 1940. Although Marianne was pregnant, the German invasion changed the perspective of a young family with Jewish roots to an extremely black scenario. Robert and his sisters Frieda and Renée were half-Jewish, but because he was married to the Jewish Marianne, he was deemed completely Jewish according to the Nuremberg racial legislation. On the evening of May 11, Robert contacted his neighbour, engineer Harry Ernst Deleth. Ernst Deleth noticed that Bob was very pessimistic. On Sunday, 12 May 1940 the Belinfantes decided to take their own lives. Robert wrote three moving farewell letters that Sunday: one to his mother in Amsterdam, one to the patients in his practice and one to Harry Ernst Deleth and his wife. Below is the text of the letter he wrote to his patients.:
Dear Friends
I would like to say goodbye to you all with a few words.
First of all, I thank you all for your trust and your friendship, which have made my task here a joy. I would rather continue my task here for a long time. But I know that in a few days, this will no longer be allowed.
That is why my wife and I have preferred to leave this sad world.
We wish you all the strength and courage in this difficult time.
It’s an important and heartbreaking story that needs to be told. It was just one story among the thousands.
Sources
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/695198/zelfdoding-in-de-tweede-wereldoorlog-namenlijst
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/637383/robert-paul-belinfante
https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/234760/marianne-belinfante-lisser
Donation
Your readership is what makes my site a success, and I am truly passionate about providing you with valuable content. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. Your voluntary donation of $2 or more, if you are able, would be a significant contribution to the continuation of my work. However, I fully understand if you’re not in a position to do so. Your support, in any form, is greatly appreciated. Thank you. To donate, click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more than $2, just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
$2.00
History of Sorts 
Leave a comment