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Hélène Heymann

Hélène Heymann was an acquaintance of the Frank family from the Rivierenbuurt in Amsterdam.

Person

Vervaardiger onbekend. Collectie United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
  • Hélène Heymann
  • Born on: Dec. 5, 1897
  • Born in: Brussel, België
  • Died on: Dec. 20, 1955
  • Died in: Chicago, USA

Foto van Hélène Heymann, Chicago, 1947

Vervaardiger onbekend. Collectie United States Immigration and Naturalization Service

Rechthebbende(n) onbekend

Hélène Heymann (Heijmann) was born on 5 December 1897 as the eldest of three children. Her parents were Jewish Germans, who had emigrated to Brussels in Belgium. After her father's death in 1909, she moved with her mother and brothers to Aachen, her mother's birthplace.[1]

In February 1931, she emigrated to the Netherlands to marry Amsterdam-born Eduard Peereboom (4 December 1896 - 25 July 1960) on 25 February 1931.[2] They moved into Jekerstraat 75-II in Amsterdam on 17 March 1931. Her name was then registered as Heijmann. On 20 June 1932, their daughter Mathilde (Tilly) Lea Hélène Peereboom was born. Hélène divorced Eduard on 7 April 1937.[3]

When the Frank family and Hélène Heymann first met is unknown. They knew each other at least as early as 1937. In Otto Frank's diary of that year, the birthdays of Hélène and her daughter are noted.[4]

Hélène is mentioned twice by Anne Frank in her diary. On 14 June 1942, when Anne lists the presents she received for her birthday from family and friends, she also mentions a jigsaw puzzle that ‘Aunt Helene’ brought for her.[5] It is likely that this refers to Hélène Heymann. A clearer entry in Anne's diary dates from 6 October 1942: "Miep has also been to see Helene she runs a rest home and is trying to get a special exemption so that she doesn't have to leave."[6] A source from the Joodsche Raad (Jewish Council) reveals that Hélène had indeed opened a rest home at her home address in Jekerstraat on 27 August 1942 and that on that ground she and her daughter Tilly were granted a so-called ‘Sperr-stempel’.[7] In practice, this granted exemption merely meant a postponement of forced deportation.[8]

How Hélène and Tilly got through the rest of the war is unclear. They probably had to go into hiding at some point. Hélène's brothers Paul and Ernest had fled to the United States in 1939 and 1940 respectively.[9] Through the National Council of Jewish Women, Ernest made a request to locate his missing sister and niece. Tilly's registration card listed an address in Almelo, Tuinstraat 86, where she would have resided in June 1945.[10] Presumably, this was her hiding address. Whether Hélène also went into hiding is unknown. After the war, she registered on 22 June 1945 at Cornelis Krusemanstraat 54-III in Amsterdam.[11]

In October 1946, Hélène and Tilly emigrated to the United States via Gothenburg in Sweden, arriving in New York on 2 December 1946 and subsequently settling in Chicago.[12] Otto Frank sent Hélène a copy of the then just-published Het Achterhuis ('The Secret Annex') in June 1947.[13] In 1952, he visited her during a trip to America. As a result of a long-term heart condition, Hélène passed away on 20 December 1955. After her death, Otto kept in touch with Tilly and Hélène's brothers.[14]

Source personal data.[15] Addresses: Jekerstraat 75-II, Amsterdam (1931); C. Krusemanstraat 54-III, Amsterdam (1945);[11] 2926 Lake Park Ave., Chicago, USA. (1947).[16]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Find a Grave Index," database, FamilySearch, Mathilde Kaufmann Heymann; Burial, Aachen, Städteregion Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Lütticher Strasse Friedhof; citing record ID 245277326, Find a Grave; Website Familienbuch Euregio, Eduard Heymann en Mathilde Kaufmann.
  2. ^ Noord-Hollands Archief te Haarlem, BS Huwelijkburgerlijke stand van de gemeente Amsterdam, Archiefdeel van (dubbele) registers van huwelijken, Toegangsnummer 358.6, Inventaris­num­mer 3198, Huwelijksakte van Eduard Peereboom en Hélène Heijmann, 25-02-1931, Huwelijksakten van de gemeente Amsterdam, 1931, Aktenummer Reg. 5 fol. 44v.
  3. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, archiefkaarten, toegang 30238, inv. nr. 340: archiefkaart Hélène Heijmann; inv. nr. 1143: archiefkaart Eduard Peereboom.
  4. ^ This is Otto Frank's earliest and only surviving pre-war diary: Anne Frank Stichting (AFS), Anne Frank Collectie (AFC), Otto Frank Archief (OFA), reg. code OFA_001: Zakagenda Otto Frank 1937. 
  5. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 14 June 1942, in: The Collected Works, transl. from the Dutch by Susan Massotty, London [etc.]: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019.
  6. ^ Anne Frank, Diary Version A, 6 October 1942, in: The Collected Works
  7. ^ Joods Cultureel Kwartier, Archief Nederlandse Rode Kruis (NRK), Joodsche Raad Cartotheek (JR), toegang: 2.19.294, inv. nr. 53: Helene Heymann; Arolsen Archives, Index cards from the Judenrat (Jewish Council) file in Amsterdam, Document ID: 01020402 118: Helene Heymann; Document ID: 01020402 192: Mathilde Peereboom.
  8. ^ J. Presser, Ondergang. De vervolging en verdelging van het Nederlandse Jodendom, 1940-1945, 's-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, 1965, deel I, p. 287-297.
  9. ^ United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, Chicago, Illinois, Entry for Paul Edward Heman (Heymann), 1939, no. 148359; "Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943", FamilySearch, Entry for Ernest Heymann, 1940.
  10. ^ Arolsen Archives, Yad Vashem Archives, Documentation of the Central Location Index (CLI) of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in New York, Reference Code: 71410001, Index card Helene Heymann; Index card Mathilde Peereboom.
  11. a, b SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, archiefkaarten, toegang 30238, inv. nr. 340: archiefkaart Hélène Heijmann
  12. ^ Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," images, FamilySearch, image 823 and 824 of 1057; United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Entry for Helene Heymann and Mathilde Lea Peereboom.
  13. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_100.89: Lijst met namen/adressen van zendingen dagboek.
  14. ^ AFS, AFC, OFA, reg. code OFA_85.21: Tilly, Helene, Kasha en Paul Heymann; OFA_74.1: Fritzi Frank-Markovits, 17 oktober 1952.
  15. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, archiefkaarten, toegang 30238, inv. nr. 340: archiefkaart Hélène Heijmann; "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998", FamilySearch, Entry for Helen Heyman, 22 Dec 1955.
  16. ^ United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, Chicago, Illinois, Entry for Helene Heyman, 1947, no. 207021.