Category Archives: Maastricht

My Fellow Citizens—The Jews from Geleen

I want to start by saying that I am not Jewish, although I may have some Jewish ancestry. I am still looking into that. However, the Jews from Geleen were my fellow citizens, as were any other one, regardless of race or colour were my fellow citizens.

However, the majority of the Jews of Geleen were murdered during the Holocaust—this was not the case for other groups. The picture above is of a plague which was placed on the wall of the town hall on August 25, 2012, to commemorate a group of 20 Jews who were deported from that spot 70 years earlier, on August 25, 1942.

The text translates to:
FROM THIS PLACE, IT WAS ON
AUGUST 25, 1942 A LARGE
GROUP OF FELLOW JEWISH CITIZENS
WERE. DEPORTED FROM GELEEN

MAY THEIR SOULS BE INCLUDED IN THE BUNDLE OF ETERNAL LIFE

Following is the story of one of my fellow Jewish citizens from Geleen and her family.

Ilse Roer
Father Max Roer, born in 1886, was a butcher (Metzgermeister) in Zülpich in the Eifel. He married Jennie Baum from Bauchem in 1920 in Geilenkirchen. Helene (Leni) was born in 1921, and her sister Ilse in 1925. Max Roer died in Zülpich in 1932.

Two of Ilse‘s mother’s half-brothers, Max and Karl Baum, settled in Geleen on the Bloemenmarkt ( Flower Market) in May 1937, followed a month later by Jennie Roer-Baum and the teenagers Leni and Ilse. Ilse’s aunt Henriette Moses-Baum had already settled in Geleen with her family in 1934, and her other sister Johanna Gottschalk-Baum, with her family, emigrated to Valkenburg in 1938. Max and Karl’s two brothers, Bernhard and Albert, emigrated to America in 1938.

The Baum family took over the Gijzen butcher shop on the Bloemenmarkt, located there since 1929. Shortly after arriving in Geleen, Max, Karl, and Jennie opened their beef, pork and lamb butchery as partners on May 15, 1937, under the trade name Gebr. Baum, register with the Chamber of Commerce in Heerlen.

On January 2, 1939, the Baum grandparents registered at the Bloemenmarkt. Grandpa Samuel died a few months after the outbreak of war, on October 11, 1940, aged 78. He and Grandma Sophie then lived in Burg. Lemmensstraat 225. After his death, Grandma moved in with her children at the Bloemenmarkt. Uncle Max married Gerta Kaufmann from Waldenrath in 1941, who also moved into the Flower Market then.

Leni and Ilse Roer were part of the first group of Jews who were transported via Maastricht to Westerbork camp and from there to Auschwitz under the guise of ‘Arbeitseinsatz’ on August 25, 1942. Leni was gassed there upon arrival. Ilse was initially spared by being employed as a tailor. She died on October 2, 1942, on the “Kasernenstraße” in Auschwitz, according to the Auschwitz death register of influenza.

I lived on the Burg Lemmensstraat 141. The Bloemenmarktt is the small shopping centre in the part of Geleen called Lindenheuvel. All of this is in minutes of waking distance from where I grew up. That is how close and tangible the Holocaust still is.




Sources

https://www.stolpersteinesittardgeleen.nl/Slachtoffers/Ilse-Roer

https://www.tracesofwar.nl/sights/136569/Plaquette-Gedeporteerde-Joden-Geleen.htm

https://www.4en5mei.nl/oorlogsmonumenten/zoeken/4241/geleen-plaquette-voor-gedeporteerde-joden

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The “Night Watch” during World War II

The one thing that always puzzled me is that the Nazis never stole one of the most famous paintings, if not the most famous Rembrandt—”Nacht Wacht” (Night Watch).

Recently, I found out the reason.

In August 1939, it became clear that war was inevitable. The Dutch government took steps for the safety of the Dutch artworks. Even though, at the time, the Netherlands was neutral.

At the end of 1939, the government ordered building art bunkers for the national collection at Heemskerk and Zandvoort. In the meantime, the municipality of Amsterdam did not sit idle and had its small bunker built near Castricum for the Stedelijk Museum’s collection (and that of some wealthy collectors).

When war broke out in May 1940, the government art bunkers were not yet ready. Fortunately—the collections made it to safety in time, and the Night Watch took residence in the Knight’s Hall of Radboud Castle in Medemblik. Medemblik was not a military target, and the artwork here was considered safer than in Amsterdam.

The Amsterdam art bunker (completed on time in March 1940) held the paintings of Van Gogh, Breitner and Mondriaan. They were safely buried under the dune sand near Castricum (when the war broke out). Previously, this entire collection had floated in ships on the Rijpweteringschevaart. After the outbreak of war, the Amsterdam art bunker in Castricum also temporarily housed the masterpieces of the Rijksmuseum, the Boijmans van Beuningen and private collectors such as the Van Gogh family. The Night Watch was moved from Medemblik to Castricum on May 12, 1940.

It was not until November 1940 that the other art bunkers were ready. They moved the Night Watch from the small Amsterdam bunker in Castricum to the official government bunker in Heemskerk. Germany occupied the Netherlands and allowed the Dutch to have their way. The Dutch Art Protection Inspectorate was left intact by the Germans because the Germans also had an interest in protecting art treasures. After the war, the Dutch masterpieces were to be displayed at the Führer Museum in Linz.

The war progressed, and the Dutch dunes became a new war front. Here, the Germans built the Atlantic Wall to protect themselves against a possible British invasion. The dunes, once considered safe, were no longer considered a suitable place for storing the most important Dutch works of art. New homes were therefore urgently sought for the paintings.

From December 1941 to March 1942, a hermitage in the marl caves of the St Pietersberg, in Maastricht, was constructed. The Night Watch was safely moved there for its protection on 24 March 1942.

The Night Watch, while in three years of storage, was rolled up. The cloth hung on scaffolding that rotated (a little each day) to prevent adhesions. The works of art were also guarded 24 hours a day by police officers and museum staff. In this storage facility, 750 paintings were in the vault, including 43 Rembrandts, 24 works by Jan Steen and 14 paintings by Frans Hals.

Thanks to the efforts of the Art Protection Inspectorate, all important museum collections survived the war. In July 1945, the artwork, was rescued, and returned to its rightful owners.

The original Night Watch has not been in the caves of St Pietersberg for 78 years, but there is a copy for viewing. Artist Jules Sondeijker made the full-size reproduction in the early 1900s with charcoal on marl. The drawing is in the museum at the Caves Zonneberg, Maastricht, Netherlands. Today, it is a tourist attraction containing artwork and anecdotes.

The existence of the hiding place and its location were no secret. In fact, the Nazis had the vault built themselves. Their intention was to take Dutch art treasures to Germany after the war. And, of course nothing was allowed to happen to it. The Night Watch was joined in National Storage No. 9 by other famous masterpieces, such as The Street by Johannes Vermeer and The Bull by Paulus Potter. The latter painting came to Maastricht from the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

sources

De Nachtwacht in de grotten
Waar bleef de Nachtwacht tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog?

Donation

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Forget me not

The picture is of a page in a poetry album which belonged to a friend of Hedi Metzger.

The text is in German and it says. “Forget me not, trust in G-d. Speaking is silver, and silence is gold. This from your memories, Hedi Metzger, Amsterdam 19-4-1939.”

Less than 2.5 years later she would be murdered in Auschwitz.

Hedi was born in Berlichingen on 24 December 1926. She was murdered 80 years ago in Auschwitz on 26 September 1942 at the age of 15.

Hedy and her brother Lothar came to the Netherlands in January 1939. They first stayed in the Zeehuis in Bergen aan Zee, then in the Burgerweeshuis in Amsterdam, and in January 1940 moved in with a foster family in Amsterdam. Their parents were Lylli Gutmann, born in 1900 in Ohlhausen, and Simon, born in 1892 in Berlinchingen. Both perished in Riga in 1943.

In the orphanage, she wrote a few lines in the poetry album of a girlfriend, who like her came from Germany.

Hedi

In the 1960s, a collector bought a batch of books at an auction in Maastricht. Hedi’s little poem was also included in the books.

Twenty of those books had an ex-libris with the name Alex Heumann pasted on the inside of the cover. Presumably, this concerns Alex Heumann (Maastricht, 29 August 1885). His birthplace could be an explanation for his language skills. (Maastricht and the south of Limburg are close to Belgium and Germany, most people would speak German and/or French aside from their native Dutch)The collection contains Dutch, German and French authors, including Poelhekke (about Alberdingk Thijm), Boutens, Veth, Rilke, Tollens, Sternheim and Molière’s Oeuvres complètes.
In addition to being a proprietary mark, an ex libris is also a way in which the owner expresses something of himself.

Handwritten Notes
Very personal are the books in which the owner has made a note, although it is usually no more than his own name, sometimes supplemented with an address or a date. They are often religious books that have been preserved as special keepsakes. Such as the prayer book that Rachel Groenstad (Amsterdam, 14 July 1900) received on the occasion of her wedding on 6 September 1925. Her new name is printed on the cover,  Rachel Drilsma, geb. Green City. Johanna van Thijn-Goldsmid (Oss, 20 May 1905) owned a somewhat more luxurious version, whose name shone in gold letters on the cover.

Sometimes only the giver of a book is known, as is the case with the prayer book ‘Tephillah Wetachanoenim’, which Ruben Velleman (Groningen, January 11, 1894) donated to his nephew Joop in 1936 for his bar mitzvah. A sticker in the book shows that the book was obtained from the ‘Hebrew and Alg. bookstore’ by J.L. Joachimsthal in Amsterdam.
Remarkably many children have left a handwritten note in a book. It usually concerns gifts that they received on a special occasion. Edith Kahn (Wermelskirchen, November 10, 1924) had come to the Netherlands from Germany in the 1930s with her mother and two sisters. The family lived in Zaltbommel, where the mother started a business in embroidered baby clothes. In December 1932 Edith had been given a Haggadah for Passover as a ‘memorial of my visit to the Jewish School’.
In the prayer book Shabbos-Tefillo by Kurt Cahn (Wesseling, April 10, 1929) there is a cryptic, but significant text: ‘Kurt Cahn, B.6-21. Camp Westerbork, Hooghalen East’. Judging by his age, he may well have celebrated his bar mitzvah in camp Westerbork. Kurt had fled to the Netherlands in 1939 together with his brother Josef (Wesseling, 25 August 1925) and sister Hannelore (Wesseling, 31 May 1935). The three children stayed for some time in the Central Israelite Orphanage in Utrecht before they were transferred to Westerbork. In Westerbork, which first served as a refugee camp and later was used as an internment and transit camp, the small theatre hall in barrack 9 was used as a synagogue. Later, the central hall of the orphanage, barrack 35, was also used as a youth shul. Religious life simply continued the Nazis turned a blind eye initially.

Poetry albums
A third category of life signs in books is found in poetry albums. This kind of touching children’s prose has been popping up more and more lately. Former girlfriends are often only too happy that they still have something tangible from their deported classmates.
For example, ‘Thea’ found two poems from former girlfriends in her carefully preserved album. One is by Frieda Mathilde Kattenburg (Amsterdam, March 27, 1932). She wrote: “Dear Thea, Even though you are not my sister; and you don’t get a kiss either; mine every day too; still as a girlfriend; I write a sentence; that I like you.” The other poem is by Anita Maria Grünewald (Duisburg, December 15, 1931), written in March 1941: ‘It is of little value; what I offer you; pick roses on earth; but don’t forget me.”

Several writers made good use of the double meaning of forget-me-nots. Klaartje Fresco (Rotterdam, 26 March 1934) wrote a poem in June 1941: ‘Sprinkle flowers in your path. Roses and daisies. But in between all those flowers! A few forget-me-nots for me.” Hedy Metzger (Berlichingen, December 24, 1926) used the literal meaning a few years earlier. In a heart-shaped template, she wrote to a friend from Germany just like herself, ‘Ver-giß-mich-nicht! Vertrau auf G.tt!!

For her 13th birthday in 1940, Geertruida (Truus) Spanjer (Amsterdam, 26 November 1927) had been given a poetry album. The album has been preserved and contains, among other things, a poem by her niece Selma Spanjer (Amsterdam, 19 May 1931) from May 1942, Dear Truus, Een hart klein, full of sunshine. A big smile, every day. That makes your body fat and round. Dear Truus, stay healthy.

Jiska Pinkhof (Den Helder, December 9, 1931) was the daughter of the painter Leonard Pinkhof (Amsterdam, June 19, 1898). She wrote in a friend’s album: ‘Always be a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet. Then you bring joy to others, and you are well off yourself.” Bertha Augurkiesman (Antwerp, 18 May 1930) left the following rhyme to a girl next door: ‘Dear Hennie, I am sitting here sighing; I bite my pen; what a pity I am not a poet; but oh dear Hennie; I don’t know anymore; then my best wishes; and I’ll never rhyme again.”
Finally, a heartfelt wish from Frijda Goudsmit (Amsterdam, 28 March 1927). At the end of the thirties, she and other children from the Middenweg in Amsterdam were part of the club ‘The cheerful Achttal’. In a preserved poetry album, Frijda wrote in 1939: ‘An angel comes flying. See how kindly she smiles. It’s not a lie. Happiness is what she brought.”

I will not forget.

sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/30894/hedy-metzger

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/343585/levenstekens-in-boeken

Desecrating Synagogues

The Holocaust wasn’t only the mass murder of the European Jews and other groups, it was also desecrating places of worships, especially synagogues,. It was showing total contempt and disrespect for holy places.

The above picture was taken on September 16,1944. It shows American and Canadian Jewish soldiers clear the synagogue in Maastricht , which was used as a warehouse during the war. This photo appeared in the New York Times of September 16, 1944 under the caption: “Hope springs eternal”.

The V-actions were Allied propaganda expressions based on the V-sign (V for Victory). To curb the success of these actions, the Germans devised a similar action: ‘V=Victory, because Germany wins for Europe on all fronts’. In August 1941, the synagogue in Apeldoorn. was set on fire, and daubed during on of those V-actions.

The synagogue in Deventer, destroyed by the Nazis, 1941.

Synagogue of Nijmegen, in Gerard Noodtstraat, defaced with anti-Semitic slogans and a Swastika , August 1941

Defaced synagogue in Beverwijk, circa 1942

The synagogue in Apeldoorn was set on fire and defaced by NSB members. August 1941.

Synagogue Paslaan 18, in Apeldoorn. Set on fire by NSB members in mid-August 1941.

What pains me to say is that all of these synagogues were desecrated by Dutch and not Germans. They probably were members of the NSB, the Dutch Nazi Party, buy they were Dutch and no one forced them to do this.

source

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&rows=25&page=1&fq%5B%5D=search_s_keywords_poolparty:%22Synagogen%22&sort=random%7B1663313780418%7D%20asc

Maastricht Liberated.

Maastricht is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and one of the first settlements. It was also the first city to be liberated in World War 2.

On 13 and 14 September 1944 it was the first Dutch city to be liberated by Allied forces of the US Old Hickory Division..

These are just some impressions of the liberation of Maastricht. Picture above: Wijck and Maastricht are liberated on 13 and 14 September. German prisoners of war are taken away by American soldiers of the Old Hickory division. This American infantry division played a leading role in the liberation of South Limburg.

American soldiers of the 113th Cavalry Group transport prisoners of war in East Maarland.

‘Maastricht 14 September 1944. The house of the NSB member Spoor is stormed.’

Wycker Brugstraat, direction Sint Servaasbrug in Maastricht. The building on the right in the background is on the west bank, corner Maastrichter Brugstraat/Kesselskade. Photo taken to the west, after September 14, 1944.

An American soldier in the photo with a woman in Maastricht.

Location: Vrijthof, north side. Photo taken to the east, towards Grote Straat. The boy is probably a member of the scouting company.

source

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=Bevrijding%20Maastricht&rows=1&page=4

The Bombing of Maastricht

Maastricht is the largest city and the capital of the province of Limburg in the Southeast part of the Netherlands. On 18 August, the United States Army Airforce attempted to bomb a railway bridge, but it went horribly wrong.

Friday, 18 August 1944, was a warm sunny day that started nicely but ended in a drama when at the beginning of the evening, a group of American bombers attacked the railway bridge over the Maas [Meuse].

The aim was to make the retreat of the German troops more difficult because the Allies had the wind at their back in France and were doing everything they could to make the escape of the Germans more difficult and to prevent them from bringing in supplies. The fact that this required bombing in populated areas, with a real chance of civilian casualties, was an acceptable risk.

Instead of hitting the bridges, the bombs wreaked havoc on neighbouring residential areas. 26 American B-17s dropped about 160 thousand pounds on the railway bridge, but it was almost entirely unscathed. It was different in the surrounding neighbourhoods where the population paid a heavy toll: 129 deaths, countless seriously injured, and hundreds of houses on both banks of the Maas had been wiped off the map.

Due to the anti-aircraft fire near the city, most bombers continued to fly at high altitudes. They found it was virtually impossible to pinpoint the precision attack on the bridge. Many of the 156 bombs ended up in the perimeter of the bridge, with only one direct hit accounted for on the target.

Many residents of Maastricht were concerned about the approaching violence of war. Some had decided to take shelter in the caves of the Sint-Pietersberg for the time being.

Trees Dubois was aged 12 when the bombing happened. In an interview she gave for a local newspaper, she recalled the following:
“I was very scared—my father sent me to the bomb shelter. I went out with the neighbour. She returned halfway through to get something. She didn’t survive.”

sources

https://www.gld.nl/nieuws/2139953/het-bombardement-op-maastricht-dat-fout-ging-zwarte-vrijdag

https://nos.nl/75jaarbevrijding/bericht/2300046-zwarte-vrijdag-veel-doden-bij-bombardement-maastricht

The treatment of Dutch Jews after liberation.

I came across this document which made me glad on one hand, but on the other hand it was also disturbing.

But before I go into the details I have to give some background information first. The south of the Netherlands was mostly liberated by October 1944. At that time the Netherlands was made up of 11 provinces(a few decades ago a 12th province was added)

The most southern province is Limburg with the capital Maastricht. In October 1944 the province was governed by the military commissioner.

He received the letter on October 16,1944. It was send to him 3 days earlier.

The letter mentions a bombing which took place on October 5,1942. This was a so called friendly fire bombing by the RAF. It killed 83 in my home town Geleen, and it left thousands homeless. The RAF thought it was Aachen in Germany.

I hadn’t realised that some of the bombs also were dropped on the neighbouring town of Beek.

The letter says that after this bombing, some homeless families in Beek were housed in the homes of Jewish families who had gone in hiding. But now after liberation the Jewish families claimed back their property, understandably so stated the mayor of Beek.

However he said there was one complicated case. A local butcher had his house and shop destroyed by the October 1942 bombing. He was assigned the house and the butcher shop of a Jewish butcher, who had left(turns out he was also in hiding). This arrangement was ordered by the NSB(Dutch Nazi party) mayor of Beek at the time.

But now the Jewish butcher had returned, after liberation, and he wanted his shop and his house back. The mayor asked the military commissioner for advice on what to do in this situation.

What made me glad in this story is that some of these Jewish people had survived the war. What disturbed me was the fact that advise was asked. To me it should have been a clear cut case of just giving back the property to the rightful owner , there should not be a question about it.

This is something what a lot of Dutch Jews experienced after the war, Their property would be occupied by others and more often then not, their houses or apartments would not be returned to them.

source

https://www.rhcl.nl/nl/info/nieuws-map/update-inventarisatieproject-archief-militair-gezag

https://jck.nl/nl/page/beek

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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Father’s Day

This blog is about my Dad because it is Father’s Day.

There is so much I could say about my Dad, and yet there is so little. For a long time, he had not been a part of my life—18 years, to be precise. Especially in the last years of those 18, I started to feel hate for the man. That hate turned into bitterness, and at that stage, I realized I had to do something about it. I was just married, and my wife deserved better than to have a bitter man.

I found out where my Dad worked in a restaurant in Valkenburg, the Southeast part of the Netherlands, and it was a few miles from where we lived. My wife and I, although she was still my girlfriend at the time, went to Valkenburg and sat down on the terrace of the restaurant where he worked.

I have to admit I was impressed to see him at work. He was carrying six meals, balancing three on his left arm and three on his right arm. It was like watching an artist at work.

Father did spot us. He came over and offered us a drink. It was a bit strange situation, awkward even, so we left after we finished our drinks.

A few months passed, and I decided to contact my Dad. But as is often the case, fate beat me to it. In early January 1996, my paternal grandmother died—she was a woman I didn’t know. My Father called me and asked if I would accompany him to the funeral. I chatted with my wife and siblings, and we decided to go, especially—because our Mother gave us the blessing to go.

At the funeral, I could not feel but sorry for the man who I recognized as my Father. We had a chat afterwards and said we would meet again but had not set a date.

Alas, fate hit again and on 26 January 1996, my Mother suddenly passed away. This time it was my Dad’s turn to come to the funeral. My Mom was very loved by friends and neighbours which was evident at her funeral because the church was packed. There were even people outside, my Dad was in the hall of the church.

When we walked out, he was there with his arms wide open, ready to embrace us.

The tragedy of my Mom’s death was also the moment that rekindled my relationship with my Dad. There were a few more unfortunate events though, both my wife and I were hospitalised, I in March and my wife in May of 1996. This however strengthened the bond between my Dad and I. He also ended up in hospital a few weeks later. So 1996 was a turbulent year for the family.

What copper-fastened our relationship was the fact that one day my Dad visited me at home, we had a good chat and he asked me for forgiveness for the mistakes he had made. To me, this was a very brave act, because I just didn’t know how I may react to that. I also noticed that maybe I lost track of him, he definitely kept track of me, and he even knew the grades I got for my school exams.

In 1997 my wife and I immigrated to Ireland, just to make sure that she would be close to her parents. At that stage air travel between Ireland and the Netherlands had become very affordable, therefore, it would be possible for me and my Dad to visit each other whenever we wanted.

Our relationship grew stronger and stronger. I had come to understand my Father, his Dad was killed during World War II when my Father was still only very young, he was only 5 at the time. So he never really got to know his own Dad, and he never had a Father-Son bond with his own Dad. How could I hold a grudge, knowing this? I couldn’t, was the answer.

Despite having a few health scares he held on, Alas in 2015 he passed away. It was Father’s Day 2015 that was the last time I saw him and talk to him. This time we used modern technology, we had a chat via Skype. Little did we know then that so many would similarly celebrate Father’s Day in 2020 and 2021. due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Six days later, he died.

Father’s story did not end there. He was cremated on 2 July 2015. The following day, my siblings and I decided to go to his birthplace, Maastricht, to celebrate his life. When we were there we saw that Andre Rieu would start a week-long of concerts, starting that day. We thought that this would be the perfect way to celebrate Dad, but we also knew it would be impossible to get tickets. We tried all the surrounding restaurants at the Vrijthof, where the concert would be held, they offered a dinner and the concert.

All of the restaurants said ‘no’ the tickets had been sold out for months. For some reason though, the last place we tried also said no, but he also he would try to get something sorted for us. He told us to come back just before the concert would start, but we were to come via the back entrance of the restaurant, We did as we were told and the man had arranged a table for us on the terrace, so we could see and hear the concert and also enjoy the meal. I thanked the man and explained to him why we were there that day. That must have touched him because when we wanted to pay, the waitress said there was no charge. We felt that moment our Father looked out for us.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Fathers out there. Enjoy it and make the most of it because you don’t know what tomorrow brings.

Paying the ultimate price for helping others.

Maastricht is one of my favourite cities. I grew up only about 10 miles away from it and would have visited it numerous times. It is, the most south eastern city in the Netherlands and is well known for its close proximity to Belgium and Germany. It is also the the home of violin virtuoso Andre Rieu and his Strauss Orchestra.

In Europe it is known for the treaty which was signed there on February 7,1992. It shaped the future of the EU.

But I am not going to talk about any of that. I want to add a name to the Maastricht narrative and would love it if in years to come people would say “Maastricht, oh yes that is the place where Derk van Assen and his wife Berendje are from”

Derk and Berendje van Assen were heroes in every sense of the word. They paid the ultimate price for helping their neighbours.

Derk was active in the underground resistance from the beginning of
the war, in May 1940. Initially without being part of an organised group, but later he joined the Versleyen group, a group of tax officials
within the L.O (National Organisation for help to those in hiding); he
was also a member of the Trouw group, the national Christian
resistance group.

In Derk’s Christian believes and humanist principles, all people were equal and he was prepared to risk everything to save the lives of Jews and others. Using his many talents Derk contributed during the war to illegal newspapers, organized national information networks and offered professional document forgers a place to work in his home. Derk and Berendje were friendly with Isidore and Frederika Schaap, who had come to Maastricht in 1939, together with their daughter Hetty. Isidore headed a branch of a Ladies fashion firm that was based in Rotterdam and Berendje was one of his customers.

The Shaap family had totally integrated; in the ways of the more the more Burgundian lifestyle of the southern Netherlands and sometimes they even went with Derk and Berendje to the Reformed Church on Sunday mornings.

In the summer of 1942, the Schaaps received orders to report for deportation ,Derk helped them find a place to hide. They spent their first couple of nights hiding with a family who owned an optician’s shop in Maastricht. During this time their identity cards were altered and the “J” removed, which gave them the freedom to travel with less risk. The next following day, the Schaap family took a train to Utrecht, to the home of one of Derk’s cousins. They soon moved to a family in Hillegom, South Holland, also relations of the van Assens. The Schaap family then had to split up Isidore and Frederika moved to Amsterdam, where they were later arrested.

The Police Commissioner of Maastricht had requested that Isidore Schaap and Frederika Roza Schaap-Kamerling, both residents of Maastricht, be located, detained and brought to trial. They were suspected of having changed their place of residence without the required authorization. This description referred to Jews who had gone into hiding.

On 26 July 1943 Derk was arrested in Maastricht after having been
under surveillance shadowed for some time by the SD (Sicherheitsdienst). The SD had recruited “Blonde Mien”, a resistance activist. Mien was tasked to gather information about Derk’s contacts, but before she could do so Derk was apprehended and incarcerated in the local prison. In this prison, Oberscharfuehrer Richard Nitsch interrogated Derk for seven weeks, during which time Derk’s colleagues were planning his escape. However, the authorities discovered the plot and to abort it Nitsch and two other SD men executed Derk in Horst, Limburg, on September 14, 1943.

In the meantime, Berendje was also arrested and imprisoned, first in
Maastricht, then in Haaren and finally in Vught. From there she was
deported to Camp Ravensbruck in Germany where she died on 2
February 1945.

Two heroes who gave their lives for others. After the war Derk and Berendje were decorated by the Air Chief
Marshall and Vice Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces for
“assistance to officers of the marine, land and air forces to escape
from imprisonment, or to avoid being taken prisoner by the enemy”.
On 6 September 1989 Derk van Assen and Berendina van Assen –
Grolleman were awarded the honorary title of Righteous among the
Nations by Yad Vashem.

Frederika Roza Schaap-Kamerling born Wildervank, 28 February 1894 – Murdered in Auschwitz, 28 January 1944.Reached the age of 49 years.

Isidore Schaap ,born Rotterdam, 24 April 1894 – murdered in Auschwitz, 8 April 1944. Reached the age of 49 years.

I could not find out what happened to their daughter Hetty.

sources

https://righteous.yadvashem.org/?searchType=all&language=en&itemId=4013739&ind=66

Click to access b11884_att-van-assen-biography-eng.pdf

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/en/page/130959/isidore-schaap

https://www.tracesofwar.nl/sights/67272/Monument-Derk-van-Assen.htm

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Clara de Vries-Jazz Musician murdered in Auschwitz.

It is funny sometimes how you are researching one thing and it leads you to something completely different.
I was looking at the origin of a Dutch TV show called ‘Ter land.ter zee en in de lucht” which translates to on the land, in the sea and in the air. It was a light-hearted entertainment show where candidates from all over the Netherlands demonstrate in open air how long and far, they can keep going (sometimes only a few meters) in a self-constructed sort of go-cart, before crashing mostly in to water. But for most it was really more for showing off the design of their ‘vehicles’ rather than winning.
While I was researching it ,I noticed a piece of music used for the show called the beach party, which was performed by a Jazz musician called Willy Schobben, a Jazz trumpetist from Maastricht which is a city I know well because I grew up only a few mile away from it.
When I looked up Willy Schobben, I discovered he married Clara de Vries in 1936, like Willy Clara was also a Jazz trumpetist, and by all accounts an exceptionally talented one. Louis Armstrong once said of her “That Louis de Vries, he had a sister Clara with a ladies-band. Oh boy, she could play that horn!” Her brother Louis, another Trumpetist, was often referred to as the Dutch Louis Armstrong. Unfortunately, he died in a car crash in 1935.
Clara was the sister of Louis de Vries and Jack de Vries, received trumpet lessons from her father Arend de Vries. So, she had quite a musical pedigree.
She played in several Jazz Bands like: Shirmann Jazz Girls; Clara de Vries and her Jazz-ladies; The Rosian Ladies; the Swinging Rascals; and several other bands.

Her talent though was soon to be destroyed, Clara was Jewish and when the German invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 her fate and that of many other Jews was sealed. Added to that she played Jazz, which was considered degenerate art by the Nazis. Jewish musicians were also forbidden to perform for non-Jewish people and later they were forbidden to perform their art at all
On February 9, 1941 Clara was still giving concerts outside the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam in the Café-Cabaret Alcazar. The NSB, the Dutch Nazis, had heard there was a Jewish musician playing in the club and raided the place. Which led to fights and 23 people were injured.
Clara however, refused to stop playing concerts.
On October 15, 1942 Clara and her family were arrested and sent to Westerbork, A few days later, on October 21 she was put on transport to Auschwitz where she was murdered on arrival a day later, on October 22.
Except for her brother Jakob, all her siblings and parents were murdered.

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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sources

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/507961/about-clara-johanna-suzanna-de-vries

Clara de Vries

http://www.nettyvanhoorn.nl/sweet_and_hot_music.html

http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Vriesde