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Debora Delden

Debora Delden was a travelling companion of Otto Frank during the repatriation from Auschwitz.

Person

  • Debora Delden
  • Amsterdam, Nederland Nov. 30, 1923
  • Marseille, Frankrijk June 23, 1945

Debora (Bora) Delden was the sister of Stella Stoppelman-Delden,[1] the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Stoppelman (the landlady of Jan and Miep Gies). She was a maid and training to be a costume seamstress.[2] In mid-1943, Deborah and her sister Stella went into hiding with the Adriani family on Hoefloo in Laren. Her brother-in-law Max Stoppelmam also went into hiding with the Adrianis by the end of 1943.[3] According to her Max, during a conflict between Mrs Adriani and her son, Debora sided with the mother.[4] 

Following betrayal, they were arrested on 12 April 1944.[4] Mrs Adriani was also arrested and they were all taken to the detention centre on Weteringschans in Amsterdam. Adriani was released, but on 18 April 1944, the people in hiding were transferred to Westerbork, where they were housed in barrack 67, the penal barrack.[5] A few weeks later, her brother Abraham Delden and younger sister Rosalina Delden were also arrested. They arrived in Westerbork on 17 May 1944.[6] On 19 May 1944, the family was deported to Auschwitz in the so-called gypsy transport.[7] This transport consisted of a total of eighteen carriages. Five carriages were for the (estimated 245) gypsies, including approximately 123 children. These carriages were marked with a “Z”. The other carriages were for Jewish deportees and had a Jewish star on them. The transport of 19 May 1944 was captured on film by camp prisoner Rudolf Breslauer, including the moment shortly before the door of one of the carriages was closed. In doing so, he also captured an image of Nazi persecution that has since become world-famous: the Sinti girl Settela Steinbach at one of the carriage doors.[8]

Abraham Deldden was murdered in Auschwitz almost immediately after his arrival on 24 May 1944, Rosalina on 30 September 1944.[9] Eldest brother Aron and his wife Rebecca Visjager had already been deported to Auschwitz on 21 July 1942 and were murdered there on 30 September 1942.[10] How and when Stella Stoppelman-Delden eventually ended up in Bergen-Belsen is not yet known, but she perished there on 5 December 1944, 24 years of age.[11] Debora survived the camps in a severely weakened state. Otto Frank stayed in Katowice for several weeks after the liberation of Auschwitz and wrote “Borah Delden” in his notebook on 11 March 1945.[12] Debora Delden then made the same return journey as Otto Frank until Marseille. According to her brother-in-law, she died aboard the Monowai and was buried in Marseille.[13] However, a list of Jewish survivors compiled by the Central Registration Office for Jews states that she stayed behind sick in Marseille, after arriving on 27 May 1945.[14] There she passed away three weeks later on 23 June 1945.[2]

Source personal data.[2] Addresses: Waterlooplein 150-152, Amsterdam; Rijnstraat 209 II (’41).[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister: Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Salomon Delden. Is referred to by Anne as: S's sister. Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 17 April 1944, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  2. a, b, c, d SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister: Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Archiefkaart Debora Delden; SAA, Burgerlijke Stand, toegang 5009, inv. nr. 7040: overlijdensakten 1946, deel 10, 76v: Overlijdensakte Debora Delden.
  3. ^ Herinneringsbomen Laren: Onderduikers - Hoefloo 6.
  4. a, b USC Shoa Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education: Interview Meier Stoppelman, nr. 3780, tijdcode 01.13.00 (geraadpleegd in de Mediatheek van het Joods Historisch Museum).
  5. ^ Arolsen Archives – International Center on Persecution, Bad Arolsen, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek: DocID: 130381680 (Esther STOPPELMAN DELDEN); DocID: 130278728 (Debora DELDEN); DocID: 130381741 (Meier STOPPELMAN).
  6. ^ Arolsen Archives, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek: DocID: 130278716 (Abraham DELDEN); DocID: 130278767 (Rosalina DELDEN).
  7. ^ USC Shoa Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education, Interview Meier Stoppelman, nr. 3780, 01.19.00. Geraadpleegd in de Mediatheek van het Joods Historisch Museum.
  8. ^ Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork: 19 mei 1944: het zigeunertransport.
  9. ^ Arolsen Archives, Namensliste der jüdischen Opfer des NS-Regimes in den Niederlanden, 1941-1945, A-Z: DocID: 5148225; DocID: 5148227.
  10. ^ Arolsen Archives, Joodsche Raad Cartotheek: DocID: 130278723 (Aron DELDEN); DocID: 130278765 (Rebecca DELDEN VISJAGER); Namensliste der jüdischen Opfer des NS-Regimes in den Niederlanden, 1941-1945, A-Z: DocID: 5148225; DocID: 5148229.
  11. ^ Arolsen Archives, Namensliste der jüdischen Opfer des NS-Regimes in den Niederlanden, 1941-1945, A-Z: DocID: 5153262.
  12. ^ Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief, reg. code OFA_040: Notitieboekje Otto Frank.
  13. ^ AFS, Getuigenarchief, Stoppelman: M. Stoppelman aan Hans Westra, 25 augustus 1999.
  14. ^ AFS, AFC, reg. code A_OFrank_I_001: 18 lijsten opgemaakt door Centraal Registratie Bureau voor Joden met namen van Joodse overlevenden, 1945, lijst no. 3, lijst van Joden, via Odessa in Marseille aangekomen.

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