Hetty Ludel
Hetty Ludel was a classmate of Margot Frank at the Jekerschool.
Person
Henriëtte (Hetty) Ludel was a Dutch-Jewish girl and the daughter of Benjamin Ludel (1893) and Jeannette van Gelderen (1899).[1] She had an older sister, Rachelle (1920). Her father, Benjamin, was a company manager.[2]
Hetty Ludel attended the Jeker School in Amsterdam, where she became classmates with Margot Frank. She was in the same group of friends as Margot, Barbara Ledermann, and Edith Jacobsohn.[3]
In the 1935-'36 school year, their class visited the Pyramid of Austerlitz. The photograph of Hetty figure skating with Margot was taken in the winter of 1937-'38. After the war, Hetty said that she and Margot enjoyed ice skating together, as well as tennis, swimming, and cycling. They also did homework together. She remembered Anne Frank primarily as a younger sister who could be catty.[4]
The Ludel family had managed to obtain visas for the United States. They left the Netherlands in July 1940, fleeing via Lisbon to New York. They arrived there on 31 August 1940 and survived the war in Brooklyn.[5] Hetty said in an interview she had received a letter whilst in America from Margot in Holland. This would have been before Margot went into hiding. It was supposedly a sweet, childlike letter in which Margot, among other things, asked about her lipstick.[4] Correspondence between the occupied Netherlands and the United States was very difficult. It is possible that Hetty's dating in her interview is incorrect, and that this was a letter she had received from Margot back in Amsterdam. The current location of the letter is unknown.
Hetty emigrated to South Africa in 1947, where she married Mark Zurel.[6]
Hetty and her family appear in Otto Frank's correspondence after the war. There is, for example, a photograph of Hetty and Otto Frank, which Hetty gave to him in 1974 with the caption, "To my sweetest Pim with all my love your Hetty."[7] "Pim" was Anne's pet name for Otto.
Anco Mali, a non-Jewish girl, was also in the Jekerschool class. Although Anco claimed not to be as close to the rest of her group of friends as they were to each other, she considered Margot, Barbara, Hetty and Edith to be classmates.[3] In 1970, Anco wrote a letter to Otto Frank, inquiring whether he knew more about the fate of some of her (Jewish) classmates. She also mentioned Hetty in this letter.[8] Otto replied that he had good contact with Hetty, despite her emigration.[3]
Source of personal data.[1] Addresses: Rijnstraat 108-II, Amsterdam (1934);[2] 4211 Bedford Av., Brooklyn, New York, (1940).[5]
Footnotes
- a, b Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA) Dienst bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegansnummer 30238): archiefkaart Henriëtte Ludel.
- a, b SAA, Dienst bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): archiefkaarten Benjamin Ludel, Jeannette van Gelderen en Rachelle Ludel.
- a, b, c Margot Frank en de anderen, Anco Mali, Aspekt (Amsterdam, 2005).
- a, b Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Getuigenarchief, Interview Shoa Foundation Hetty Zurel-Ludel, 23-05-2011.
- a, b "New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1958", FamilySearch, New York City. Immigratieregisters 27 aug 1940–31 aug 1940: Henrietta Ludel.
- ^ Tali Feinberg, SA family’s hidden link to Margot Frank , South African Jewish Report (18-11-2021).
- ^ AFS, Kerncollectie: Eva Schloss Geringer collectie A_OFrank_III_160 : Foto z/w van Hetty Ludel-Zurel en Otto Frank 18 maart 1974.
- ^ AFS, OFA, OFA_85.26 Correspondentie van Anco de Knijff-Mali met Otto Frank, 1970-1976.
Digital files (1)
Margot Frank en haar vriendin Hetty Ludel, winter 1937-1938.
Copyright: Rechthebbende(n) onvindbaar
Photographer: Collectie kan worden ingezet voor publiek.