Holocaust Obituary

This broke my heart.

On September 14, 1945, an obituary appeared in the Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad, a Dutch Jewish weekly newspaper. It was an obituary for several generations of one family:

George Sandelowsky (father and father-in-law), who had died on February 25 as a result of the awful conditions in Bergen Belsen concentration camp. aged 66. Occupation: Wholesale dealer.

Peterle Sandelowsky died on March 15, 1945, aged 8 months, described as “our little sunshine and hope for the future.” In fact, Peterle was only seven months old. Peterle was born in Westerbork on August 2, 1944. A short life lived entirely in concentration camps. Before you read further, I want you to let that sink in for a minute.

Gitella Cohn-Pels (mother and mother-in-law), at age 52 died on April 2, 1945.

Aron Cohn, father and father-in-law, had to be left behind to die on April 9, 1945. They had to presume, due to the fact that they could find out no further information, that he died the same way as his loving wife. However, it appears he was liberated, but he still died on June 30, 1945, in Tröbitz. Occupation: Manager.

Rosa Sandelowsky-Wulff, mother and mother-in-law, who had died of typhus in Tröbitz at age 53 on May 17, 1945. She could offer no more resistance to the Typhus she had been subjected to. On May 17, her brave heart broke. A heart that had beat her entire life for her family, for her husband and children.

I believe the obituary was placed by Fritz Sandelowsky, Eva Goldberger and Otto Sandelowsky

Such a sad and poignant story. A snapshot of a tragedy so hard to fathom.

I found this obituary on the Joods Monument website, but after doing a bit more research, I found the entire September 14, 1945 edition of the Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad. Next to the obituary were a few more notifications, most of them are looking for information on the whereabouts of loved ones.

Just a simple newspaper, but such an important piece of a historical record of the Holocaust. Never forget.

Sources

http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010858268:mpeg21:pdf

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/25101/aaron-cohn

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