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Appie Reens

Appie Reens was a classmate of Anne Frank at the Jewish Lyceum.

Person

  • Abraham Reens
  • Amsterdam, Nederland July 28, 1927
  • Sobibor June 4, 1943

Abraham (Appie) Reens was a son of Samuel Reens (1897-1943) and Catharina Limburg (1903-1943).[1] His father was a furniture dealer.[2]

In 1941, Appie was enrolled at the Second HBS secondary school at Roelof Hartstraat 1 in Amsterdam, where he 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, he had to transfer to the Jewish Lyceum. In school year 1941-'42, he was in class 1L2, which also included Anne Frank​​​​​​. In the school year 1942-'43 he was in class 2B.[4] Anne writes in her diary that Appie is "quite orthodox".[5] In August 1940 he did Bar Mitzvah. A certificate of this occasion is in the collection of the Jewish Historical Museum.[6] During the German occupation, he was an employee of the Jewish Council.[1]

On 27 January 1943 principal Elte reportetd tha Abraham Reens had left the Jewish Lyceum.[7]

Appie arrived in camp Westerbork on 25 May 1943.[8] There he and his parents were imprisoned until 1 June 1943. On that day, they were transported to Sobibor extermination camp, where they were murdered immediately upon arrival on 4 June 1943.[1] Of all the people on board of this fourteenth transport to Sobibor, Jules Schelvis turned out to be the only survivor.[9] After retirement, he published his war experiences (Binnen de poorten [Inside the gates]) and wrote the standard work Sobibor: A History of a Nazi Death Camp. In 1999, he founded the Stichting Sobibor.[10]

Source personal data.[1] Address: Sassenheimstraat 51 huis, Amsterdam.[1]

Footnotes

  1. a, b, c, d, e Stadarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart Abraham Reens.
  2. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaarten Samuel Reens en Catharina Limburg.
  3. ^ SAA, Archief van de Secretarie, Afdeling Onderwijs (toegang: 5191), inv. nr. 7410, volgnr. 2802: Opgave van de 2e Hogere Burgerschool met 5-Jarige Cursus, 14 juli 1941, Ingekomen lijsten van middelbare scholen met opgave van aanwezige Joodse leerlingen.
  4. ^ NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust en Genocidestudies, Amsterdam, W.S.H. Elte, toegang 181e, 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. 269-270; Wikipedia: Klas van Anne Frank.
  5. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 16 June 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  6. ^ Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam: Oorkonde uitgereikt aan Abraham Reens ter gelegenheid van zijn bar mitswa, 1940 (objectnummer M000809).
  7. ^ NIOD, Joodsche Raad voor Amsterdam (toegang 182), Afdeling Onderwijs, Inrichting voor Voortgezet Onderwijs, Bundel correspondentie van de rector van de Inrichting voor Voortgezet Onderwijs (het voormalig Joodsch Lyceum, rector: W.J.H.Elte) te Amsterdam, november 1942 - mei 1943: W.S.H. Elte aan de Joodse Raad van Amsterdam, 27 januari 1943.
  8. ^ Arolsen Archives - International Center on Nazi Persecution, Bad Arolsen, Joodse Raad Cartotheek, DocID: 130361097 (Samuel REENS).
  9. ^ Stichting Sobibor: Transport 14.
  10. ^ Wikipedia: Jules Schelvis.

 

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