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Samuel Meijer Kropveld

Samuel Meijer Kropveld was an experienced surgeon from Amsterdam. As a prisoner in Auschwitz I, he worked in the hospital barracks. He ensured that Otto Frank was admitted there.

Person

Fotograaf onbekend. Fotocollectie Stijn Reurs en Cees Kleijn.
  • Samuel Meijer Kropveld
  • Born on: Dec. 8, 1885
  • Born in: Nijmegen, Nederland
  • Died on: July 23, 1978
  • Died in: Roosendaal, Nederland

Samuel Meijer Kropveld, september 1942

Fotograaf onbekend. Fotocollectie Stijn Reurs en Cees Kleijn.

Status onduidelijk

Samuel Meijer Kropveld sat his medical exams in 1910 and got his doctorate in 1921. From 1933 he was registered as a surgeon and gynaecologist. In August 1941, at the Dutch-Israeli Hospital in Amsterdam, he performed the first successful heart operation in the Netherlands. Owing to his Jewish heritage, he did not receive the publicity it deserved.[1]

In September 1942 Kropveld received a pass from the Jewish Council which showed his indispensability for the medical care of Amsterdam's Jewish population. The stamp on the back showed that he owned a bicycle.[2] He also has an Ausweis thanks to his work for the Dutch-Israeli Hospital and Almshouse.[3]

On 16 November 1942, the Jewish Council told him to leave his home in exchange for accommodation provided by the municipal's housing service.[4] On 28 December 1942 he received authorisation to move to Jacob Obrechtstraat.[5]

As an person in a mixed marriage, he was in principle protected from deportation. Nevertheless, for reasons unknown, he was put on the Westerbork-Auschwitz transport on 3 September 1944. Kropveld was one of two ‘Zugärzte’ on the train.[6] In Auschwitz he was given a job in the hospital barracks. When Otto Frank was discovered in a soiled and weakened state in November 1944, Kropveld found him a bed in consultation with the Prague neurologist Bruno Fischer. Kropveld left Auschwitz in January 1945 with the exchange transport and ended up in Mauthausen and Ebensee.[7]

After the war he was attached to the Weesperplein Hospital in Amsterdam until 1957.[1]

Source personal data.[8] Addresses: De Lairessestraat 56hs, Amsterdam; Jacob Obrechtstraat 72hs (Feb. 1943); Roosendaal (1978).[9]

Footnotes

  1. a, b “Dr. S.M. Kropveld; het begin van de Nederlandse hartchirurgie”, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 133 (1989) 45, p. 2238.
  2. ^ Privébezit familie Kropveld: Tweetalige verklaring met pasfoto van de Joodsche Raad, 15 september 1942.
  3. ^ Privébezit familie. Kropveld: ‘Ausweis’, 17 augustus 1942.
  4. ^ Privébezit familie Kropveld: Brief Joodsche Raad aan familie Kropveld, 16 november 1942.
  5. ^ Privébezit familie. Kropveld: Verhuisvergunning No. 16671 getekend door Aus der Funten.
  6. ^ Nederlandse Rode Kruis, Collectie Vervolging (NRK 2050), inv. nr. 675: Transportsamenstelling Westerbork-Auschwitz, 3 september 1944.
  7. ^ NIOD Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies, Kampen en gevangenissen (toegang 250d), inv. nr. 646: Verklaring S.M. Kropveld, 4 maart 1948.
  8. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart S.M. Kropveld; "Familieberichten", Het Parool, 28 juli 1978, p. 15'; “Dr. S.M. Kropveld; het begin van de Nederlandse hartchirurgie", p. 2238.
  9. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart S.M. Kropveld.