Westerbork
-
There is no way to rank the sadness of Holocaust stories. Each death is a tragedy, a haunting reminder of humanity’s capacity for cruelty. Yet, some stories resonate with an indescribable poignancy, striking us deeply. One such story is that of Friedel Levie, the daughter of Jozef Levie and Else Metzger. Friedel was born in…
-
Betsy van Creveld lived in Hoensbroek during the war. Sonny Zurel was her child. The last refugees who were deported by the Nazis from South Limburg, the Netherlands, to Westerbork were two young nurses who had sought refuge in Hoensbroek. Betsie Zurel-van Creveld and her friend Cato van Lier, both from Amsterdam, were arrested by…
-
Salomon Cohen was the second of three children born to Joseph Cohen and Federika Gozina Godschalk. He was born on July 14, 1907, in Gorredijk, a small town in Friesland, the Netherlands. Like his father, Salomon followed the trade of a butcher. On June 10, 1936, he married Roosje de Wilde, the daughter of Gerson…
-
Rachel Elisabeth Italiaander (Chelly) was the eldest daughter of Isidor Italiaander and Esther Stad. She was born on July 1, 1929 in Amsterdam. Still, it wasn’t until 1939 that she had a sister, Elisabeth Julia, and in 1941, a brother, Marcus Jozef, followed. The two youngest children survived the war by going into hiding. Rachel…
-
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…
-
The photograph above is a sign that was posted in Westerbork station. The disturbing aspect of this sign is that it created the illusion that the transports to Auschwitz were return trips. The deportation of Jews from the Netherlands to Nazi extermination camps, starting on July 15, 1942, stands as one of the darkest chapters…
-
I noticed a great number of Jewish names from the Netherlands on the Joods Monument that were murdered at Sobibor on May 21, 1943. On May 21, 1942, 4,300 Jews were deported from the Polish town of Chelm to the Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor, where they were all later gassed to death. On the…
-
Aside from the fact that February 28, 1944, was 80 years ago, the date is random, and that is just what all the murders by the Nazi regime were, random acts of violence. Yes, they targeted certain groups, the biggest group being Jewish, within the groups the Nazis were still random in the selection. If…
-
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…
-
The photograph above is of Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach. She was a Sinti girl who was murdered in Auschwitz. I have written a few blogs about her in the past. This blog is about the man who took that picture. It is a still from a film called, The Westerbork Film, which was shot by…
History of Sorts 