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Betty Bloemendal

Betty Bloemendal was a classmate of Anne Frank at the Jewish Lyceum.

Person

Vervaardiger onbekend. Fotocollectie Joods Monument
  • Bertha Louise Bloemendal
  • Den Haag, Nederland Aug. 12, 1929
  • Auschwitz Oct. 1, 1942

Betty Bloemendal en haar broer Philip Eduard Bloemendal, 1941.

Vervaardiger onbekend. Fotocollectie Joods Monument

Rechthebbende(n) onbekend

Bertha Louise (Betty) Bloemendal was the daughter of Abraham Bloemendal (1895-1944) and Jochwet Feige Beder (1898-1942).[1] Betty had an older brother Philip Eduard Bloemendal (1928-1942).[2] The Bloemendal family lived in The Hague and moved to Amsterdam in 1939. There they lived in De Baarsjes, a neighbourhood in Amsterdam West.[1]

In 1941, Betty was enrolled at the First HBS secondary school at Keizersgracht 177 in Amsterdam, where she was to start in the first year after the summer holidays.[3] Because Jewish students and teachers were forbidden to attend regular schools as of 1 September 1941, she had to transfer to the Jewish Lyceum. In school year 1941-'42, she was in class 1L2, which also included Anne Frank​​​​​​.[4] Betty's brother Philip attended the Jewish HBS-A secondary school at Mauritskade 24. In the 1941-'42 school year, he was in class 2B. There he was in the same class as Peter Schiff, a friend of Anne's.[5]

Betty was one of the classmates invited to Anne's thirteenth birthday party. Together with Henny Metz she gave Anne the book Lydia's moeilijkheden (Lydia's struggles) as a present.[6] According to Anne, she looked "rather poor" and lived on Jan Klasenstraat [sic] in Amsterdam West, but "none of us know where that is." She further writes that Betty was a particularly intelligent girl, "but that is because she works so hard, since her cleverness isn't all it seems."[6]

Betty's mother was arrested on 3 June 1942 at the market in Ten Katestraat, which was forbidden to Jews. Most likely, she did not return home afterwards and was deported to Westerbork in August 1942.[7] Betty and her brother arrived at the same camp a month later, on 9 September 1942.[8] Her father was allowed to stay thanks to a doctor's certificate stating that he had TB. He would die of the disease in early 1944 at a hiding place in Velp. Anne writes in her diary on 21 September 1942 that she heard from Bep Voskuijl about the arrest of her former classmate.[9] On 28 September 1942, Betty was deported to Auschwitz with her mother and brother,[10] where they were immediately killed upon arrival on 1 October 1942.[11]

Betty was a cousin of Philip Bloemendal, who later became the 'voice' of the Polygoon newsreel.[12]

Source personal data.[1] Addresses: The Hague; Reinier Claeszenstraat 2 II, Amsterdam (22 August 1939).[1]

Footnotes

  1. a, b, c, d Stadsarchief AMsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Bertha Louise Bloemendal.
  2. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Philip Eduard Bloemendal.
  3. ^ SAA, Archief van de Secretarie, Afdeling Onderwijs (toegang: 5191), inv. nr. 7410, volgnr. 2802: Opgave van de 1e Hoogere Burgerschool met 5-Jarigen Cursus, 12 juli 1941, Ingekomen lijsten van middelbare scholen met opgave van aanwezige Joodse leerlingen.
  4. ^ NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocuast- en Genocidestudies, Archief 181e (W.S.H. Elte), inv. nr. 2f: Absentenregister klas 1LII Joods Lyceum, 1 maart – 17 juli 1942; Dienke Hondius, Absent: herinneringen aan het Joods Lyceum Amsterdam 1941-1943, Amsterdam: Vassallucci, 2001, p. 269; Wikipedia: Klas van Anne Frank
  5. ^ NIOD, Archief 181e (W.S.H. Elte), inv. nr. 16: Rapporten van de cursus 1941/42, klas 2B.
  6. a, b Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 16 June 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  7. ^ Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Persecution, Bad Arolsen, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek, DocID: 130261957 (Jochwet BLOEMENDAL BEDER); Joods Monument: Jochwet Feige Bloemendal-Beder.
  8. ^ Arolsen Archives, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek DocID: 130261915 (Bertha L BLOEMENDAL); DocID: 130261989 (Philip E BLOEMENDAL).
  9. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 21 September 1942, 1st, in: The Collected Works.
  10. ^ Arolsen Archives, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek DocID: 130261915 (Bertha L BLOEMENDAL); DocID: 130261989 (Philip E BLOEMENDAL); DocID: 130261957 (Jochwet BLOEMENDAL BEDER).
  11. ^ Arolsen Archives, Incarceration Documents, DocID: 5147304.
  12. ^ Dienke Hondius, "Betty Bloemendal uit Bos en Lommer, klasgenoot van Anne Frank", t.g.v. tentoonstelling in het Stadsdeelkantoor Bos en Lommer, 18 maart 2009; Wikipedia: Philip Bloemendal.

 

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