Simon Tak

Simon Philip Tak was a son of Simon Tak and Geertruida Johanna di Arutuin.^[1] They were married in Antwerp on 30 November 1912. He had two older sisters: Debora Johanna (1921) and Yvonne Susanna (1928). According to his index card at the Amsterdam population register, his father was a trader in jewellery.^[2] Elsewhere, it is mentioned that he was a buyer at the Bijenkorf department store.^[3] Simon's mother was a sister of Susanna Geertruide di Arutuin, the spouse of Samuel van de Hoeden,^[4] in whose practice Fritz Pfeffer worked as a dentist.

Simon was enrolled through Preparatory School No. 51 on 16 August 1933.^[5] In the August 1934 photo of Anne Frank's kindergarten class, Simon is the blond boy on the chair on the left in front of Anne.^[6] In the 1935 photo, he is sitting on the left, next to the girl with her arms crossed.^[7] He went on to the Sixth Montessori School. In school year 1936-'37, he and Anne were in class 2B with Mr Van Gelder. He was deregistered at the end of May 1937, because his family moved to Scheveningen.^[8]

Simon's father was Jewish, but because his mother was non-Jewish, from the German perspective they were seen as intermarried. As a result, Simon sr. and his three children were partially exempted from anti-Jewish legislation during the occupation and, unlike their relatives, were not deported. From January 1943, the family was back in Amsterdam, where father Simon died on 7 February 1944 at the age of 46.^[2] The cause of his untimely death is not known.^[9]

Simon married Wilhelmina Elisabeth Hollanders on 3 January 1956. Together they had two sons.^[1]

He was interviewed by Jan Wiegel in 1969 for the documentary De klas (The class), about the kindergarten class they had been in with Anne Frank.^[10]

Source personal data.^[1] Addresses: Waalstraat 39, Amsterdam; Gevers Deynootplein 52, Scheveningen; (1939);^[11] Roerstraat 6-III (1943), Amsterdam; Waalstraat 46-I (1952); Roerstraat 28-III (1956); Meer en Vaart 116-I (1959), Nieuw Vennep (1974).^[1]