Martha (Marty) van Collem was born six days before Anne Frank in Amsterdam. She lived with her father Henri van Collem (1894-1945), mother Lotte van Collem-Randerath (1900-1993), and older sister Ilse (1926-2016) at Stadhouderskade 127, above the Wilhelmina billiard factory.^[1] Her father held the position of proxy holder there for her great-uncle who had founded the factory in 1898.^[2] Marty recalled that from 1934, they always had people in the house who had fled Germany after Adolf Hitler's rise to power. It was from these refugees that the Van Collem family learned stories about the treatment of Jewish people and the concentration camps.^[3]

Anti-Jewish measures

Marty van Collem attended Montessori education since kindergarten; first at the Wilhelmina-Catherina School at 263 Weteringschans, later at the Jewish Montessori Lyceum. From 1941, when Jewish students had to go to separate schools, a wall was placed in the Wilhelmina-Catherina School down the middle of the building. This separated the Jewish and non-Jewish children. The Jewish children were called the 'backers' because they entered the building at the back.^[4] Marty too remembered having to enter the school through the back.^[5]

In class photos from the Jewish Montessori Lyceum in autumn 1942, Marty van Collem stands smiling among her classmates. All of them are wearing a Star of David, which had been introduced in May 1942.^[6] From 30 June 1942, Jewish people were no longer allowed to ride bicycles.^[7] It was almost an hour's walk from her home on Stadhouderskade to the Jewish Montessori Lyceum on Guido Gezellestraat.^[5]

Liberal Jewish Congregation

Marty van Collem's parents had been involved in setting up the Liberal Jewish Congregation (LJG)^[5] which had been founded in Amsterdam on 31 October 1931.^[8] At the LJG, the Van Collem family also got to know the Frank family. Marty was the same age as Anne, her older sister Ilse was the same age as Margot. The families would see each other regularly at the synagogue and visit each other on religious and public holidays.^[9]

From the age of six, Marty van Collem attended Jewish classes. There she was taught by Rabbi Ludwig Jacob Mehler (1907-1945), among others. Anne Frank is also said to have gone to Jewish lessons, but Marty van Collem could not remember her there.^[10]

Deportation

The Van Collem family was rounded up on 20 June 1943 during the large raid in Amsterdam South and East. From Amsterdam, they were deported that same day by train to Camp Westerbork. The Van Collem family stayed there for almost seven months. Marty did not really have to work yet because of her young age, but she remembered having to dig potatoes and taking care of the children in the barracks. Finally, on 1 February 1944, the Van Collem family were put on a transport to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they ended up in the Sternlager.^[9]

Meeting with Anne

After Marty van Collem had been in the Sternlager of Bergen-Belsen for about a year, she heard from Hanneli Goslar that Anne Frank was also in Bergen-Belsen.^[5] At the time, Anne was staying in the Kleine Frauenlager , which was adjacent to the Sternlager, but separated by a fence with wire netting and barbed wire with straw or reeds in between.^[11] Marty remembered how she had contact with Anne there. She could not see Anne, but she could hear her and remembered Anne telling her about hiding in the Secret Annex. Her older sister Ilse and Hanneli Goslar were also there, according to Marty.^[12]

Conditions for Anne in the Kleine Frauenlager were much worse than in the camp section Marty was in. Therefore, Hanneli and Marty collected a parcel of food and clothes which they threw over the fence. The parcel was caught by someone else, much to Anne's grief. Hanneli then made another parcel which she threw over the fence the next day, which did reach Anne.^[13] Whether Marty and her sister were also present at the time is not clear.^[14]

The lost transport

On 3 April 1945, Marty's father died in Bergen-Belsen.^[1] On 10 April, Marty, Ilse and their mother were put on a transport to Theresienstadt, which never arrived. This train journey is also known as the 'lost transport'. For thirteen days, the train with 2,500 prisoners roamed more than six hundred kilometres through Germany, before finally being liberated by the Soviet army on 23 April 1945 near the town of Tröbitz.^[15]

After the train journey, a typhus epidemic broke out among the former prisoners.^[16] Marty and her sister also contracted it and were hospitalised by Soviet soldiers after a 14-day fever. Marty's mother was also seriously ill with phlebitis (arteritis) on her leg and was sent to a hospital in Liège. With the help of the Dutch Red Cross, Marty and her sister arrived back in the Netherlands in late June 1945.^[17]

The Secret Annex

In the Netherlands, Marty's mother got on well with Otto Frank. Marty recalled being shown around the Secret Annex with her sister by Otto Frank in the summer of 1945.^[9] It is also thought that Marie-Anna Liese Isaac (Anneliese Schütz) translated Anne's diary into German at the Van Collems' house.^[18] Anneliese Schütz was a close friend of Lotte van Collem-Randerath.^[9]

Marty soon decided to emigrate to Israel, ending up in Bergen-Belsen for a second time. There she obtained false papers that allowed her to travel to Palestine via France. She arrived there on 24 February 1948 and lived there for the rest of her life.^[9]

Source: personal details. Died May 2019 (exact date unknown).^[1] Addresses: Stadhouderskade 127hs, Amsterdam. From 1948: Eilat, Israel; Ramat Hasharon, Israel.