EN

Clara van Pels

Clara van Pels was a younger sister of Hermann van Pels.

Person

Vervaardiger onbekend. Afkomstig uit privécollectie
  • Clara van Pels
  • Born on: Aug. 31, 1900
  • Born in: Gehrde, Duitsland
  • Died on: April 30, 1943
  • Died in: Sobibor

Clara van Pels (rechts) met Eva Helene Netheim, Osnabrück, rond 1934

Vervaardiger onbekend. Afkomstig uit privécollectie

Rechthebbende(n) onbekend

Clara van Pels was one of six children born to Aaron and Lina van Pels. She married the dentist Herbert Leeser[1] on 21 March 1925 in Osnabrück. Her father and her brother Hermann were witnesses.[2]  She lost her Dutch nationality through this marriage. On 25 December 1925, in Elberfeld, she had a daughter, Trude.[3] The marriage ended in divorce in 1933.[2]

She left Osnabrück in 1938 and settled in Bloemendaal. In May 1940 she moved in with her father and her sister Henny in Amsterdam.[4] By profession she was a solicitor,[2] and later a maid and housekeeper.[5]

In 1941, Clara applied to the municipality of Amsterdam for a certificate of good conduct and a declaration of Dutch citizenship. Both documents were needed because of an intended marriage.[6] The issuing of a declaration of Dutch citizenship seems to indicate that she acquired that nationality again after her divorce. On 2 July 1941 she married Günther Neumann in Amsterdam. Witnesses to the marriage were her father Aaron van Pels and the father of her sister-in-law Auguste, Leo Röttgen.[7] What the consequences of marrying a Jewish German were is not certain. Most probably Clara lost her Dutch citizenship again and eventually became stateless.[8]

She died in Sobibor with her husband.[9] Her daughter Trude survived nine concentration camps and later moved to Brazil.[10]

Source personal data.[5] Addresses: Am Domhof 8, Osnabrück; Merellaan 9, Bloemendaal (Sept. 1938); Minervalaan 49-I, Amsterdam (May 1940); Schubertstraat 46hs (Sept. 1941).[5]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Herbert Leeser was a brother of Julius Leeser, husband of Auguste van Pels-Röttgen's sister Else Röttgen. See: Spuren im Vest: Leeser Julius.
  2. a, b, c Niedersächsischen Landesarchiv, afdeling Osnabrück, Standesamt Osnabrück, Rep 492, nr. 698: huwelijksakten 1925, nr. 84.
  3. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten: Archiefkaart G. Neumann (1900); SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Woningkaarten, toegang 5445, inv. nr. 321: Woningkaart Schubertstraat 46 huis geheel.
  4. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Woningkaarten (toegangsnummer 5445), inv. nr. 233: Woningkaart Minervalaan 49-I.
  5. a, b, c SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart C. van Pels.
  6. ^ SAA, Secretarie, afdeling Algemene Zaken (toegang 5181), inv. 7645: indicateur van aanvragen van verklaringen van Nederlanderschap en goed gedrag 1941, volgnrs. 3026 en 4976.
  7. ^ SAA, Burgerlijke Stand (toegang 5009), inv. nr. 6675: register van huwelijksakten 1941, deel 20, 8v, nr. 15.
  8. ^ Zie noot 4. De aanduiding “Ned.” is doorgehaald.
  9. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaarten C. van Pels en G. Neumann.
  10. ^ Anne Frank Stichting, Getuigenarchief: Correspondentie met T. Heymann-Leeser, Sao Paolo.