Westerbork
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The picture above is one of the most iconic images of the Holocaust, For decades it was believed that the girl in the picture was Jewish. In December 1992, Dutch journalist Aad Wagenaar started to research her identity. By following the number on the outside of the wagon, number 10, 16 or 18, the description…
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Franz Josef Engel (1898–1944) was an Austrian actor and comedian whose career and life became emblematic of the vibrant Jewish artistic culture that flourished in Europe in the early 20th century and was later decimated by the Holocaust. His story is one of creativity, survival, and profound loss—a narrative shared by many Jewish artists who…
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Philip Mechanicus was born, three days before Adolf Hitler, in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 to a Jewish family. After he left school, he started to work for the social-democratic daily newspaper Het Volk in the shipping and records department. He worked his way up to become a journalist. After finishing his military service, he worked in…
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In the 1920s, it was not uncommon in the Catholic south of the Netherlands for one or two children in a family to join a monastery or convent. However, having six out of eight children devote themselves to religious life was extraordinarily rare. What makes the Löb siblings’ story even more remarkable is that their…
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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…
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When you look at the photograph above, you may be forgiven for thinking it shows a class of children doing arts and crafts at school. They are children doing arts and crafts, but it is not in a school (at least not a regular school) it is a group of children in the Westerbork Transit…
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I was going to write an article about Ursula Gerson, who was murdered in Auschwitz on September 6, 1944, at the age of 8. But then I saw there were more Dutch Jewish children and Jewish refugees, who fled Germany and Austria with their parents, who were murdered that day. Duifje Gans was murdered in…
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“Dolle Dinsdag” or “Mad Tuesday,” which occurred on September 5, 1944, was a pivotal and chaotic day in the Netherlands during World War II. The day is remembered for the widespread belief among the Dutch population that liberation from Nazi occupation was imminent, leading to scenes of jubilation, panic, and disarray. This essay delves into…
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Among the 97 transports from Westerbork, the one on September 3, 1944, holds particular significance. It was the last major transport from the camp and included Anne Frank, whose diary would later become one of the most poignant testimonies of the Holocaust. Westerbork: A Transit Camp of Despair Westerbork was initially established in 1939 as…
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On 3 September 1944, Anne Frank and her family were put on a transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz. It would be the last train to leave Westerbork. The train arrived three days later at Auschwitz. The women selected from this transport, including Anne, Edith, and Margot, were marked with numbers between A-25060–A-25271. Anne Frank’s final…
